Delica Canada | Mitsubishi Van Club

I will preface this post with a small disclaimer ... I am pretty handy (for a girl ) but I am not very experienced with engine mechanics (especially diesel) but I am VERY willing and eager to learn!lol I would appreciate any and all input.

I purchased a 1992 Delica L300 on May 10, 2017 from a private seller for what I believe was a reasonable price. Since acquiring the van on this date, I have diligently checked every day for leaks underneath the vehicle and there have been NONE.

On Friday, May 19, I was driving the van and had to make an emergency stop (screeching tire stop) ... no big deal everything seemed fine. Yesterday (Saturday, May 20) morning a good neighbour sent me a message stating that my dream machine was bleeding. I went down to the parking garage to investigate and discovered an orangey/browny liquid leaking from somewhere underneath the van. I drove the van outside and crawled underneath for further inspection but was unable to determine the source of the leak.

While under the van, I noticed a broken cable (pictures attached). I am not sure what this cable is for (possibly oil pressure sensor?) When I touched the broken cable to examine it, bright green fluid and some oil drip from it.

I drove the van later yesterday afternoon to dinner and on the way home, the oil light came on but it sort of flickered and seemed to be be connected to when I was braking. Weird.

I got home and parked the van at which time I put cardboard and paper towel down to be sure of the colour of leaks and saw only oil (I haven't checked yet today to see if any further leaks have occurred).

Have I purchased a lemon? Any thought, ideas, comments on any of the above?

Thanks!
Cheryl

Welcome!

You're right, that wire *is* the oil pressure sender wire. It should have spade plug on the end, and be plugged into the oil pressure sender just above it (the suspiciously shiny philips-head screw in the picture). Without it plugged in the oil *pressure* light on the dash can't come on.

Some Delicas also have an oil level sensor. I've not seen one in person, but it should on the side of the sump and look like this (only, presumably, much dirtier): Usually the oil level warning light is amber, while the oil pressure light is red- but I wouldn't put it past Mitsubishi to wire up both sensors to the same light. If your oil level was low I'd expect the oil level light to come on when you brake, as all the oil gets pushed forwards away from the sensor.

Your brown liquid might just be some water that was pooling somewhere in the shell, that's come out due to the heavy braking? Maybe go around the doors and sills and clean out any drain holes. Do you have a sunroof? The sunroof drains get clogged sometimes. Open the sunroof all the way and look for the small drain tubes in the corners.

Coolant leaks: Check the colour of the coolant in your radiator (when it's cold). It should be clean and bright green. If you repeatedly find coolant near the oil pressure sender, it's coming from the water pump.

Thank you for your reply! I have since gone down and checked the van again and there was some oil underneath.

The red oil light is still coming on when I start the vehicle. I checked the oil and it is quite low ... especially compared to yesterday when I checked and it was perfectly fine. I am wondering if something "blew" when driving it yesterday?

I also looked at the brake fluid level which seems low as well as the coolant ... also low. Gah!!!!!

cags005 wrote:
I also looked at the brake fluid level which seems low as well as the coolant ... also low. Gah!!!!!

If your brake fluid is really low you're e brake light will remain on. One of the first issues I chased with my L300. It led me to a leaking master cylinder (another story and thread)

UPDATE ....
So after I checked the oil again, this time with proper lighting, and I discovered that that the level is NOT low and is at the proper level YAY! Unfortunately the red oil light was still coming on when I started the vehicle. I also discovered what looks like a "spray" of oil underneath the passenger seat and I suspect that the oil dipstick was not seated back into the dipstick tube properly and "squirted or sprayed" out whilst driving home yesterday, which lead to oil dripping down from the spray to underneath the vehicle. I climbed back underneath the van and tried to clean up some of the fresh oil that had leaked at which point I observed the broken oil pressure sensor cable was touching some metal on the vehicle. I moved the cable away from any metal and ensured that it was pointed straight down away from any metal. I restarted the van and voila, no more oil light. I learned this little gem from another post on this awesome site.

I checked the coolant in the radiator and it is fine. The coolant expansion bottle however seems to be low so I am wondering if that is where the original leak started from.

The brake fluid reservoir is also low and is another possible suspect for the original leak.

I'm having a hard time finding any shops in the Vancouver area who can see me in a timely manner which sucks because I need my van!

cags005 wrote:I observed the broken oil pressure sensor cable was touching some metal on the vehicle. I moved the cable away from any metal and ensured that it was pointed straight down away from any metal. I restarted the van and voila, no more oil light.

Excellent work, that totally explains the light being on despite the wire being broken. An auto electrician should be able to crimp a new spade connector to that broken wire in about 2 minutes and it'll be fixed. Or buy yourself a cheap electrical terminal kit from Canadian Tire (http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/maste ... p.html#srp) and fit a new terminal yourself (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WN-lBkjkAc)

cags005 wrote:The coolant expansion bottle however seems to be low so I am wondering if that is where the original leak started from.

On the sloping side of the expansion bottle are High and Low marks. It should be at the low mark when cold. If it keeps dropping below this, try fitting a new radiator cap- but keep an eye on the area around the alternator for leaks, just in case that bit of coolant in the oil sender wire wasn't a one-off and you have a leaky water pump.

cags005 wrote:The brake fluid reservoir is also low and is another possible suspect for the original leak

Brake leaks show up in the driver's footwell (where they soak into the carpet and strip all the paint off the floor, leading to rust) or at the wheels (look for wet, dirty stains on the brake components). There shouldn't be any brake fluid near the engine. I wouldn't panic about this one, it's probably just that the previous owner never checked the fluid level. I'd top it up and then just check it every now and then. If it goes down again then you can panic