What the hell was happening? I quickly turned off the engine & looked under the car and there was oil everywhere. What a mess!
It so happens that when I was undoing the distributor clamp, I must have bumped the plastic oil pressure gauge line, resulting in it splitting on the underside of the plastic line. It had just spewed oil all over the floor. I reckon it was close to 2 litres before I could stop it.
Amid much swearing and with dustpans, scrapers, paper towels and rags, I managed to clean most of it off the floor. See the photo below.
To fix the line wasn't that easy. There was enough length to attach it to the connector but the plastic line was so rigid I could not even wind it onto the brass connector. I tried a bit of heat but the hose melted. Next plan was to use another piece of plastic hose slightly larger in diameter so as I could slide the old in. With a bit of superglue and cable ties, I have a fix but I am not totally convinced it is not leaking slightly. A few drives will tell if I need to rethink as I really don't want to replace the whole line & be fiddling around at the back of the gauges panel.
Here are some pics. (click to enlarge)
