Engine: D5: How likely is this engine to be scrap?

[Donald MacIver]

Hi all, been offered a project 2007 S60 D5 185 manual which has suffered from sump damage after a slight off and making contact with a rock. The sump was holed, unknown to the driver, and they continued to drive for about 500 yards before the engine cut out. According to the driver the car’s computer shut off the engine due to lack of oil pressure. What’s the chances of the engine being salvaged? Is it worth putting on a new sump to check if it will run or would I be better trying to source another lump for it? Thanks in advance for any advice. 😉

[capt jack]

Tricky one. 500 yards at say 30 mph would mean the engine ran for about 20 seconds after impact turning at say 1500rpm, so thats perhaps 500 revs with a rapidly dropping oil level. Is that enough to starve the engine / turbo of oil long enough to do major damage?

A new pan is available on Ebay for £40. A website called Click Mechanic quotes 2 hours labour for a garage, so say £150 to £200. So perhaps £250 to replace the sump.

A non-runner S60 07 reg is worth perhaps £300 or £400?

07 S60 diesels are being advertised on Autotrader for between £2500 and £3500 depending on mileage.

So arguably to buy the car and get the sump replaced would come in around £600 to £700. Which is a total bargain IF the car is otherwise good, and IF the engine is OK.

Second hand engines sell on Ebay for £400, but it would make sense if fitting a new motor to get a decent recon with a warranty. Say you budget £1200 to £1500. If the car can be bought for a few hundred, then it definitely makes sense to get a reconditioned engine.

I'd say that if the car is otherwise superb, with a low mileage, and you plan to keep it then provided that it can be bought cheaply, and that you can get a reconditioned engine with a total outlay of less than £2000, then that makes sense.

Trusting to luck that no damage was done seems to me to make less sense. You could spend on the car and a new sump, only to find you still need the engine anyway.

Cheers

Jack

[gammakeith]

If it were me I would take the risk and put a new sump on and go from there. Engines can be hard to kill. A friend's son has a Honda that the oil light came on and "it started rattling". He put 1L of oil on and but it was still rattling so put a further 2L in. That stopped it rattling :-) Three months later it is still running fine.....

Keith

[BobS]

Hi,

If it was me providing the sump hole is small and all the bits of the sump are out. I would temporary patch the hole then fill with oil and check oil pressure etc. Only run the engine long enough to check if its ok.

It should give you an indication if it is worth fixing.

Good luck
Bob

[ASt85]

Originally Posted by BobS

Hi,

If it was me providing the sump hole is small and all the bits of the sump are out. I would temporary patch the hole then fill with oil and check oil pressure etc. Only run the engine long enough to check if its ok.

It should give you an indication if it is worth fixing.

Good luck
Bob

As with BobS above - the sump effectively has little or no positive pressure and is usually at a marginally negative or barely normal air pressure. The pressure is developed in the oil ways throughout the engine, returning to the vented sump in a diesel engine or a negative pressure PCV sump in a petrol engine. Oil will not have been pumped out but lost due to gravity - the only time oil is lost under significant pressure is if a gallery wall is lost or the filter is blown off.

If the statement re 30 seconds running is true then the chances are there has been no damage to the engine as there would have been oil throughout the system prior to the impact.
If the hole in the sump is roundish make is a circular as possible and wind in a suitable SHORT bolt with a soft copper washer to prevent leakage - do not over over tighten as doing so will pull out the thread created as the bolt goes in - then scour/roughen the metal around the repair, coat that repair with a fast cure resin - making sure all traces of oil are removed before applying the resin - refill and try.

The technique used worked on both the sump and the petrol tank of a Ford Capri that was damaged when a piece of a drain cover holed both of them one bright Sunday afternoon for several years

[Tomoose]

I'm also in the 'bodge the sump and see how it runs' camp

30 seconds with no oil is borderline I reckon, but if it runs quietly on start up then it'll be 'reet.

[capt jack]

Any thoughts on what might have been the consequences for the turbo running for that time with the oil heading south?

Jack

[John Greystrong]

I'd be a bit more concerned that the engine cut out, I wouldn't take his word for it that the ECU stopped the engine. Get the codes read first, if there's nothing in there about low oil pressure then he may have run it for longer than he said.

[Tomoose]

Originally Posted by capt jack

Any thoughts on what might have been the consequences for the turbo running for that time with the oil heading south?

Jack

If it wasn't very hot or working hard at the time of failure then it could be just fine. It'll soon be apparent once its back up and running. I'd definitely rather sacrifice the turbo than replace the whole engine though!

[Donald MacIver]

Thanks for all the comments and advice - going to take this on as a bit of a project, been to see the car and its in good nick for its age, so worth trying to put back on the road. Think ill try patching up the sump first and chucking some oil in and try starting her up, see what she sounds like. I've lined up a replacement lump in case the original is beyond repair, so one way or other hopefully she'll be back on the road.