Oil Leak

Shadow248 · #1 10-08-2001, 10:07 PM

I meantioned before in another thread that there is an oil leak on our SVX. My girlfriend told me about it, but she said that she was told about it by a mechanic. What she told me didn't make any sense, and she said that she couldn't see any oil leaking. So i figured when i got home this weekend, i would check it out. Sure enough, there is an oil leak. It is emerging from the two holes in the front end undercover. I could not get the car jacked up far enough to get under and remove the cover in the short time i had to look at it. But it is leaking, and there was enough built up that at high speeds, it blows back onto the header pipes and burns which makes for a really bad smell. Anyway, other than the timing system, i can't think of anything that is on the front of the engine there that would leak oil like that...plus when i checked the oil, it was plenty full, no noticeable change in the oil level from when i checked it three weeks ago. I can see the timing covers from the top, they are perfectly clean.

So...basically i am asking, any suggestions as to what the problem might be? Anyone had this problem? Any suggestions? Any miscellaneous ramblings on the meaning of life?

I appreciate any help, because this weekend when i return home, i intend to do something about this apparent leak.

dromano · #2 10-08-2001, 10:15 PM

I think you will find the source of the leak when you remove the under cover. Sounds like a tranny fluid hose leaking. Also check the hose between the power steering fluid tank and the cooler loop. Good luck.
David

#3 10-08-2001, 10:20 PM

Shadow248,

Turn the wheel all the way left
Look in front of the wheel. NOt the CV boot but right in front of that. My Rack is leaking and looks as if it is coming from the center of the car. Mine also blows on the pipes.

Try that.

Wayne

Aredubjay · #4 10-09-2001, 08:59 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by dromano
I think you will find the source of the leak when you remove the under cover. Sounds like a tranny fluid hose leaking. Also check the hose between the power steering fluid tank and the cooler loop. Good luck.
David

David, that was also my guess. There are a plethera of tranny hoses (cooler, cooler return, etc) that could be leaking. Is the "oil" red or reddish brown? And, yes the P/S hoses can also be a culprit. I believe (someone confirm this) that there is a P/S cooling loop also that may be leaking.

dromano · #5 10-09-2001, 09:34 AM

The cooling loop is metal, it's bolted to the frame and a/c condenser, the hose from the p/s tank to the cooling loop is subject to abrasion by the bracket for the fuel collection canister.

Shadow248 · #6 10-09-2001, 10:24 AM

I do believe it is in fact motor oil, because the oil i cleaned off of the front end undercover is very very dark brown, almost black. The smell that i smell sometimes when the car is running is distinctly motor oil burning.

dromano · #7 10-10-2001, 08:04 PM

The stuff you cleaned off probably is a blend of lubricant and dirt. It could be any of 3 leaks. You should be able to see the leak soon after removing the under cover. Let us know what you find. If the engine side of the under cover is in need of cleaning you will find lots of 'grime' coating that side. When I first removed my under cover it looked like sludge central, after six spray coatings of Simple Green full strength the under cover was spotless. Too bad it has extra holes compliments of a previous owner. New under civer is $200 +, I'll live with the extra holes till I find a used one for 50 or so.

Because your oil level isn't going down, the most likely source is tranny fluid. There is no leak source above the under cover for engine oil except the crank and cam shafts. If the timing belt covers are clean the leak is ATF or P/S fluid.

Get the under cover off!!

huck369 · #8 10-11-2001, 09:20 AM

Could even be as simple as the oil filter not seated good, as it's on the front of the engine as well.

Aredubjay · #9 10-11-2001, 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by huck369
Could even be as simple as the oil filter not seated good, as it's on the front of the engine as well.

Good call, Huck. Sometimes the simplest thing is the most obvious.

Aredubjay · #10 10-11-2001, 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by huck369
Could even be as simple as the oil filter not seated good, as it's on the front of the engine as well.

Good call, Huck. Sometimes the simplest thing is the least obvious.

Mr. Pockets · #11 10-12-2001, 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Shadow248
I do believe it is in fact motor oil, because the oil i cleaned off of the front end undercover is very very dark brown, almost black. The smell that i smell sometimes when the car is running is distinctly motor oil burning.

Shadow,

If you are convinced that it is motor oil you are finding (and if it's coming from the timing belt cover, then i would suspect that you're right), my guess would be the front engine seal. Mine leaks a little bit, too, but not enough to concern me that much yet. I got an estimate to have the timing belt and front cam seal replaced - I think adding the cam seal and labor was an additional $20, bringing the repair to $300 or so.

svx_commuter · #12 10-13-2001, 06:05 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Shadow248
I do believe it is in fact motor oil, because the oil i cleaned off of the front end undercover is very very dark brown, almost black. The smell that i smell sometimes when the car is running is distinctly motor oil burning.

How bad is blowing out? You said it smells on the exhaust. This may be similar to the problem I had on the 97 OutBackSport. The oil seal on the oil pump had actually come out, moved forward, and leaked oil alot. Enough to blow out onto the exhaust. The reason the seal came out was because the oil pump was bad. The plate on the back, next to the pump rotor came loose. This allowed higher pressure at the seal and it leaked more. It was worse on the highway. The timing belt has to come out to fix this. If the oil seal is coming out of the housing, the pump has to be replaced. I had mine (97OBS) done at Faulkner by the new Wegmans.
I would really like to replace the oil pump inmy SVX. I think it is a good insurance replacement.

dromano · #13 10-15-2001, 09:27 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Shadow248
I do believe it is in fact motor oil, because the oil i cleaned off of the front end undercover is very very dark brown, almost black. The smell that i smell sometimes when the car is running is distinctly motor oil burning.

Shadow, did you get the under cover off?

Shadow248 · #14 10-15-2001, 09:37 PM

The oil is emerging from the timing cover. Specifically, from the small pulley in the middle front, the oil is coming out from the timing cover behind that pulley. So hopefully it is just a gasket or seal of some sort. I didn't see any cracks in the cover itself, and the pulley looks and sounds fine too. Also there isn't much oil on the timing cover itself...it appears to be a very slow leak...the area that i cleaned all the oil off last week remains clean this week. And the smell is gone. So that's good. Any suggestions?

huck369 · #15 10-16-2001, 05:01 AM

Deffinately sounds like a front crank seal, it's about a $8.00 dollar part, but you have to remove the timing belt to get to it, so replacing the timing belt at the same time saves labor costs, if it has several miles on the motor, you might want to replace the water pump as it would be easily done while everything else is off.