How to FIND and FIX an oil leak
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- Опубліковано 22 сер 2024
- Timecodes:
0:26 - why oil leaks happen?
3:50 - how to find an oil leak
Common oil leak sources
7:47 - Rear main seal
9:28 - Valve cover gasket
10:30 - Oil pan gasket
12:03 - Oil leak after oil change
13:09 - Timing cover gasket
14:26 - Can I drive with an oil leak
16:59 - What happened to my engine
So my engine developed a sudden oil leak and I decided that it's a great opportunity to make a little car novice oriented video that covers everything about how to find and fix an oil leak on your car. We're also going to cover the most common oil leak sources on a car (rear main seal, valve cover gasket, oil pan gasket, oil leak after oil change, timing cover gasket, etc.) and we are going to talk about whether it's safe to drive with an oil leak?
So first thing's first, why do oil leaks even happen? Well, your engine is made of many different parts and it needs oil run. Otherwise it would fail. To keep the oil inside the engine all those different parts have seals and gaskets between them. These gaskets and seals, eventually fail, just like anything else, and oil leaks past them onto the road surface below your engine. In order to stop the engine leak you need to replace the faulty seal or gasket. If you are tempted to use one of those "magic" oil stop leak things that come in a bottle, please don't. That's not a proper way to fix an oil leak. They can harm your engine and cause leaks in other places and are only a temporary fix.
How do you find an oil leak? Well there's a little trick that I like to use to make sure that an engine is actually leaking oil and not just burning oil. The trick is to get a big piece of cardboard and put it under your engine and let your engine run. You then look for oil drops on the cardboard. This can not only confirm whether you have an oil leak or not but it can also help you determine the location of an oil leak on your engine.
Once you have a suspected oil leak area, clean that area well, use a good light source and pinpoint the location of the oil leak. This is half of the job done already, the other half is to replace the offending gasket and stop the oil leak. Depending on the kind of car you have and the location of the oil leak this can be an easy diy job or it can be something that will need professional attention.
Common oil leak sources
1. Rear main seal
Your rear main seal is located between your engine and transmission and seals the end of your crankshaft preventing oil from escaping the crankcase. The rear main oil seal is not expensive itself (5-50$) but the labor involved in replacing it is usually much more expensive because the entire transmission or the transmission and engine combo need to be removed in order to replace the rear main oil seal. Oil leaks from the rear main oil seal are usually small and are more common on high mileage engines.
2. Valve cover gasket
The valve cover gasket is another common oil leak location but this one is usually easy to fix (unless you have a boxer engine). The valve covers sit on top of your engine and are usually easily accessible and replaceable on most engines.
3. Oil pan gasket
Leaks from the oil pan are also relatively common and the leak usually occurs at the oil pan gasket which is sandwiched between the oil pan and the engine block. Replacing the oil pan gasket can be an easy diy job or a very complicated and time consuming job depending on the make and model of the car. In front wheel drive cars with large displacement transversely mounted engines, replacing the oil pan can be very difficult and can even require removing the entire front sub-frame.
4. Oil leak after oil change
This one happens more often than you think and people regularly report seeing oil leaks after regular maintenance/ service / oil and oil filter change. If this is your case than you can only really suspect the three things that get touched during a regular oil and oil filter change and service and those are the oil pan (oil sump) bolt, the oil filter itself and the oil filler cap. Usually the culprit is the oil drain bolt on the oil pan that sometimes doesn't get tightened properly at a workshop or gets the wrong kind of washer on it causing an oil leak.
5. Timing cover gasket
An oil leak from a timing cover gasket is possible only on engines with a timing chain and not on engines with a timing belt. Depending on the placement of your engine (transverse or longitudinal) this can be an easy or a difficult task.
Is it safe to drive with an oil leak? If it's a small oil and your engine has enough oil in it than it's safe to keep driving until you reach somewhere when you can properly fix the oil leak. If the oil leak is big and your engine is loosing oil quickly than it's best to stop and get your car towed.
#d4a #oilleak #diy #mechanic #oilleakfix #gasket #rearmainseal #valvecover #mr2 #4age #aw11
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0:26 - why oil leaks happen?
3:50 - how to find an oil leak
Common oil leak sources
7:47 - Rear main seal
9:28 - Valve cover gasket
10:30 - Oil pan gasket
12:03 - Oil leak after oil change
13:09 - Timing cover gasket
14:26 - Can I drive with an oil leak
16:59 - What happened to my engine
Love it! Thank you for stating that engine additives are NEVER the answer!
For the record the analogous example of cold medicine for a cold... Literally just covers the symptoms lol.
My '83 El Camino has been dripping oil HEAVILY! Time for a rear engine seal! THANK YOU ,SIR!
Oh and that oil cooler relief system is a killer for sustained high rpm driving as it bleeds oil pressure off the system and through the cooler then into the sump. I had one on my 7MGTE and removing it netted a noticable increase in PSI at high rpm. I made a custom sump-to-sump oil cooler system with a VDO oil pump and an autometer relay control oil temp gauge. Very reliable and does not interfere with engine oil pressure nor does it require pressure to cool the oil!
Absolutely nobody loves this stock system :) I love what you did, I will likely do something similar and get rid of this thing as it has more disadvantages than benefits l.
The distributor is also a pretty common one on older cars, happened to me a while back. Oil escaping from the distributor dripped down into the alternator and not long after that failed too.
Definitely the second most common place for the 4AGE & GZE engines to leak after the valve cover.
Excellent Video, Lots of useful info. Thank you very much.
on oil leaks, I had a particularly maddening one on my 1999 SAAB 9-5. I had oil dripping down the timing cover, behind the front pulley, and onto the oil pan. because the timing cover on the 9-5's is basically sandwiched against the inner fender, I couldn't see where the leak actually was.
I replaced the o-ring on the oil cooler bypass plunger assembly, the oil cooler hoses, the front main seal, and the valve cover gasket, and still had a seeping oil leak.
Turned out at some point the upper accessory belt pulley disintegrated, and drove the accessory belt into the soft aluminum timing cover. I didn't end up finding the damage until I pulled the engine to do a timing chain and balance chain replacement. Someone had 'repaired' the damage with some JB weld they had shoved into the crack and sanded flat. turns out JB weld is porous enough to pass oil through, and was similar enough in color to the aluminum that I couldn't spot it in the car. 😐
Hope that po doesn't run into you somewhere :) :)
Well done in catching it before the oil warning light came on. 4age's can gulp air on high G's and quickly damage main bearings at low oil level. "Go there and see it for yourself" (Gemba) is wise advice.
Just ordered a crank sensor bracket from your store, glad to be able to support you by purchasing such a mint product
Just received the order. Thank you! It will be shipped out first thing on Monday.
You sure that will fit on your bicycle ? 😂😂
My recently bought bike had an oil leak from the pan somewhere. Turns out the previous owner did an oil change and threw away the copper washer and left the bolt loose. I was happy it was a $3 repair 😊
It looks like the oil pressure switch was over torqued at some point and had a small crack that you couldn't notice, and it spread over time.. great video like always :)
Thanks for your video. new subscriber added/ I have been working on small engines, motorcycles, and cars as a hobby for 40 plus years and never seems to have textbook problems and more life your rare type of oil leaks, Nevertheless I guess problem-solving and investigation is more my interest I supposed. Its very satisfying to fix our own things.
Your car has a great sound, mate!
Oil leaks can be categorized by class I, II, III
Class I oil leak is when you see wetness on the parts but there are no droplets and none has fallen to the ground.
Class II means there is wetness & droplets but none of the droplets fall to the ground
Class III means the leak is severe enough for the droplets to start falling on the ground or worse, it's spilling out onto the ground.
Class IV: “Game Over” - This is when oil is suddenly squirting on all directions and all gone in less than 60 seconds.
Thanks fof your video. Helped me a lot.
I have a 2016 Rav4 that has 98k KM with a engine rear main seal oil leak (I suppose).
The best way to fix any oil leak is to.
1. Get some very strong engine cleaner.
2. Clean your engine and gearbox
3. Then all the oil leaks will be visibly seen on your engine or gearbox
Once my dad ran into a very lucky stone in the forest. So lucky that this stone chipped off a piece of the oil pan. And not a single welder with a welding machine for several kilometers around. well, he drove to a place where they sold oil (apparently in barrels), bought oil and drove to civilization adding oil every ten minutes. And arrived after all. If anyone is interested, it was on a moscvitch 2141.
"without oil your engine will fail within a minute" *laughs in volvo*
In my 2007 Kia Optima (4-cylinder), I can no longer pull in fresh outside air (heat or A/C) without the strong, unpleasant scent of burning oil. I don't notice much/any oil drippage on the ground, nor have I noticed any blue smoke come out the tailpipe. Based on that information, would I be correct to deduce that the valve cover gasket must be the source of the leak? How else could oil be getting on the exhaust headers? Or, am I wrong to assume that it must be getting on the exhaust headers?
Hi thanks for your video, I noticed an oil leak on mine after I got a major service done I could smell it through my vents and had a few droplets on my driveway, garage is telling me it's either my gearbox or crankshaft but won't know until they strip it down
Maybe a bit of oil was spilled on the exhaust manifold during the major service? Leaks can come from many places and must be located before stripping things down. A leak can't be found anymore once you take it all apart, that's silly.
Great job explaining
this dude is the best
I think I just hit a pothole and I checked the dipstick. It is very dry. What is the source of the problem?
Just left my old 3 seater Rav 4 to the garage as I smelt weird burning smell underneath the exhaust was all wet. They have to remove had the engine to find the leak! Will let me know what the problem is and go from there.
Welp my MR2 just had the same exact leak I was also driving very spirted as well
Can confirm bottles of oil leak/gasket fix products work depending on the severityof the situation. So ✌️
yu make sense I purchased a bottle but plan to go to a mechanic thank you
0:43 here is someone who mentioned the good old Toyota K Engine! (predecessor of the A Engine)
new battery but battery light came afterwards no headlights,radio,air conditioner but have signals. dashlights, door lights. also the next day the new battery was toatally dead. what do you think culd be the problem
I have a 2003 Honda civic 4 door 5 sipped I've keep everything always repaired on this car always. Took it to Honda for front seal to be replaced they said all things I had repaired needed to be repaired i didn't tell him all areas were repaired paid 3000 dollars car runs good person couldn't do front seal he did chr k to see where it was a leak so I just walked away from our Honda dealer. Now trying to find someone to replace front seal. What to do now.
Can we some part Weld to stop leak ?
Hello. I have a 2004 Subaru WRX that suddenly began to leak oil, according to the dealer. I could not find any oil dripping onto the ground, and the car’s oil level stayed full over periods of months. Car is driven each day. I still get the burning oil smell each day. I see old, dark oil in a few spots on top of engine, could that be source of the smell?
If you're smelling it, it's likely getting onto the exhaust manifold somehow, that's the only for the burning smell to occur. Thr exhaust manifold gets very hot and it sort of cooks the oil. Even tiny drops produce a noticeable smell.
driving 4 answers thank you! I thought the same thing. Not sure how the old oil got there but it needs to go. What would you use to remove it? It’s in a couple of hard to reach places atop the engine. Thanks again!
Thats exactly what my acura is doing. I cant see any oil on the ground and the oil is still full 2 days later so why is the dealership saying i have an oil leak? Could it be oil from a previous leak that was fixed and never cleaned? I would like to check myself to see what's going on.
Okay, when I don’t know anything I’ll listen to you. Cmon explaining why an engine needs oil …
Thank you so much!
You welcome ..!
I was told I have an oil leak however I see no oil on the ground. When I check the oil the oil line is still full. Idk what to believe so I'm gonna try that oil test to make sure. But there is no evidence of an oil leak other than someone saying there is. And apparently there's multiple oil leaks. The parts arnt expensive but the labor is and i don't have that kind of money so I'm trying to figure out whats the best approach. Do you have an suggestions?
Rear main seal?
@@d4a yeah and some other places
Poor audio quality. Easy to fix and its cheap and helps the channel to grow to.
Are you deaf? Audio is perfectly find for me. Why don't you focus on what the tutorial is about
*Usa Wants To Know Your Location*
if a gasket is missing couldnt it cause a slow leak??
Depends on what gasket (oil pan, valve cover, etc), but it would most likely be more significant than a slow leak.
5 speed
DUDE GET TO THE eFFIN point!!! HOW DO U SPEND TEN MINUTES ON EACH POINT?
He's very thorough and helpful to ppl that don't know much about cars!!! Best video I've seen.
Borrrrriiinnnnggg
TOO MUCH TALKING. LOOKS LIKE YOU THINK WE JUST CAME OUT OF CAVES.
If you don't know how to turn off caps then you obviously did just come out of a cave
Typical mechanic:.. don’t use sealer that might save you thousands of dollars...
With my respect ... U talk too much bro ..try to resume
Cars are overrated