mysterious oil leak
02-20-2009, 02:31 PM
#1
2nd Gear Member
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Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: massachussets
Posts: 467
mysterious oil leak
ok so i have been mysteriously loosing oil for awhile now with no visiable oil leaks. i normally park on flat ground, but this past week i had to pull alittle farther in my driveway which is an incline. today after about 5 days of sitting i moved my car and checked for oil drips like i always do and there was three pretty big oil spots
i jacked the car up and i couldn't find where the oil was coming from. there wasn't any oil residue anywhere. i'm stumped where is the leak coming from?
i jacked the car up and i couldn't find where the oil was coming from. there wasn't any oil residue anywhere. i'm stumped where is the leak coming from?
02-20-2009, 08:57 PM
#3
1st Gear Member
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Maryland
Posts: 116
yeah it could be PS fluid coming from the rack, or PS pump. check around the oil pan gasket and you're rear main seal, also check for any dripping from your oil filter. if you can get a good look under there.
02-21-2009, 03:52 PM
#5
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Join Date: Oct 2008
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i'm pretty sure its oil because it was brown and had the consistancy of oil. i haven't changed the power steering fluid, but thats a redish color so unless its incredibly dirty its not that. oil filter is nice and tight with no visiable leaks and the oil drain plug is good 2. its like its leaking all the time, but pooling somewhere and when the front end of the car is raised alittle it drips from where its pooling. so where could he be pooling???? my head gasket is new i meani gues it could be leaking from there but its kinda hard to get under there and check. i gues if i stay on top of it its not a big deal just trying to gather some info for the spring when i can better asses the situation
02-21-2009, 04:51 PM
#6
TECH SAVANT
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Saint Augustine, FL
Posts: 10,938
It's not uncommon on all cars that when the rear main seal is weeping or leaking the oil will pool up a bit in the bellhousing...
i'm pretty sure its oil because it was brown and had the consistancy of oil. i haven't changed the power steering fluid, but thats a redish color so unless its incredibly dirty its not that. oil filter is nice and tight with no visiable leaks and the oil drain plug is good 2. its like its leaking all the time, but pooling somewhere and when the front end of the car is raised alittle it drips from where its pooling. so where could he be pooling???? my head gasket is new i meani gues it could be leaking from there but its kinda hard to get under there and check. i gues if i stay on top of it its not a big deal just trying to gather some info for the spring when i can better asses the situation
02-21-2009, 05:18 PM
#7
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Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: massachussets
Posts: 467
i know i have a small leak where the drive shaft connects to the transmission (correct me if i'm wrong but that is the output shaft seal?) because there is an oilly mess under there. i'm not talking about drippin oily mess but you can tell that a small leak is present and the output shaft is flinging it as it spins. again not enough to cause drips from sitting for five days. SH*T i hate these problems because they are a pain to find.
just to make sure its not my rings how do i perform a leak down test??? i have a compression tester and i'm pretty good at jury rigging things. i used the search funtion but i didn't get to many hits don't konw why. sry for the long post i'm bored as hell waiting for my girlfriend to come back from cheerleading practice
lol
just to make sure its not my rings how do i perform a leak down test??? i have a compression tester and i'm pretty good at jury rigging things. i used the search funtion but i didn't get to many hits don't konw why. sry for the long post i'm bored as hell waiting for my girlfriend to come back from cheerleading practice
lol
02-21-2009, 06:58 PM
#8
4th Gear Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: SoCal
Posts: 1,030
i know i have a small leak where the drive shaft connects to the transmission (correct me if i'm wrong but that is the output shaft seal?) because there is an oilly mess under there. i'm not talking about drippin oily mess but you can tell that a small leak is present and the output shaft is flinging it as it spins. again not enough to cause drips from sitting for five days. SH*T i hate these problems because they are a pain to find.
just to make sure its not my rings how do i perform a leak down test??? i have a compression tester and i'm pretty good at jury rigging things. i used the search funtion but i didn't get to many hits don't konw why. sry for the long post i'm bored as hell waiting for my girlfriend to come back from cheerleading practice lol
just to make sure its not my rings how do i perform a leak down test??? i have a compression tester and i'm pretty good at jury rigging things. i used the search funtion but i didn't get to many hits don't konw why. sry for the long post i'm bored as hell waiting for my girlfriend to come back from cheerleading practice
lol
02-21-2009, 08:56 PM
#9
2nd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: massachussets
Posts: 467
Ya i know. i'm getting a small puff of blue smoke when i start the car after sitting for awhile 2 so i figured i'd do a leak down test as well. hopefully give me an excuse for stroking my car. what seal could it be????it could only be the the oilpan gasket, timing cover, head gasket, or vavle covers. right? so the leak down test how do u do it? do u need a compressor?