Need Help ASAP please.... oil leak

Fla02LS

Fla02LS

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Drove over to visit my parents today. As i was leaving i sat in their driveway with the car idleing for about 5-10 minutes while talking to my father. When i pulled out my father stopped me and told me i had a leak, i thought nah, thats just water from the a/c system. He said NO, i got out and there was about a 12-13 inch puddle of oil coming from around the front/mid engine area. I got home and put the car up on ramps, there was oil on most of the plastic covering underneath and oil drops on a few of the bolts to the oil pan as well as the oil drain plug. I ran the car while on the ramps and did not notice anything leaking but i could tell from the looks of things underneath there is a decent leak somewhere. It isnt coming from the filter or a loose drain plug. I am going to remove all the plastic "coverings" underneath tomorrow to get a better look as they obstuct most of the view.

Is there any leak prone areas i should concentrate on? VCG have been replaced recently but a 12-13 inch puddle is a pretty substantial leak. Would rather spend the time and locate it myself than go to dealership.. Thanks in advance!
 
Check the levels on the power steering. If it is substantially lower, your pump is probably leaking. Or even the reservoir.
 
I'll go check the fluids, but i immediately checked engine oil and it was indeed low. Leak almost seems like it came from the front passenger engine area underneath and the plastic coverings are covered. Again, the size of the puddle is what is alarming me. My wife's car has a slight leak but its only a small drops every now and then. This was easily a big dinner plate size puddle, not little drops and to the best of my knowledge with the color and smell it was engine oil. Gonna run outside. Please help with any other areas i should look at. I'm in that "Oh sh!t" mode.
 
The front seal and the oil pressure switch should be on your suspect list. I doubt it would be VCG as you should smell burning oil if so.
 
joegr said:
The front seal and the oil pressure switch should be on your suspect list. I doubt it would be VCG as you should smell burning oil if so.
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I have had a slight oil burning smell but i attributed that to some leaked oil from when the VCG were replaced and some oil may have dripped onto some other components during the fix and its slowly burning off. Smell has been diminishing since the VCG job (how long does oil take to burn away completely?)

Anyway, just did a thorough inspection underneath and above, seems like it easier to see things at night. The power steering is fine, ran my hand around the valve covers and no oil. Most of the oil seems to be coming from around the oil pan itself. No evidence of oil leaking from further up. There is fresh oil all around the perimeter of the pan and about 1/3 of the bolts have oil on them kinda with a drip coming off. There was a smaller puddle 3-4 inches directly under a front corner of the pan. Have oil pan gaskets been known to fail and leak? I got 150k miles. It seems pretty easy to replace a pan gasket. Only 17 bolts.

Where exactly is the front seal (crankshaft seal?) and the oil pressure switch located? Will i need to remove the plastic housing from underneath the engine compartment. Thanks
 
Is the oil pressure switch part of the oil filter adapter housing? If you are referring to the front seal, i see no evidence of a leak from there.

Also, is it not odd that the entire oil pan is covered in oil and all around the perimeter is oily and the bolts to the pan have oil drips?

Also its the splash shields that are in the way of getting a good look underneath
 
VCG leaks were still occurring on your 05? I thought by 03 they were pretty much gone?

Just a side note, oil dripping down the block can simply collect on your oil pan bolts and drip off of them. May not necessarily be the pan gasket, but don't rule it out. Is there oil on the block above the pan or does it start at the pan top?
 
Pull the plastic covers off, you're probably going to have to remove them to fix the problem anyway.
 
Matt Man said:
VCG leaks were still occurring on your 05? I thought by 03 they were pretty much gone?

Just a side note, oil dripping down the block can simply collect on your oil pan bolts and drip off of them. May not necessarily be the pan gasket, but don't rule it out. Is there oil on the block above the pan or does it start at the pan top?
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The VCG have been replaced. I looked at the recommended area's (front seal,oil pressure switch) and nothing showing oil. There seems to be two connections into the oil filter adapter with sensors, but they both were clean. The area around the filter itself is clean so the filter is seated ok. I looked above the oil pan and didnt see once bit of evidence of oil coming from anywhere. Again, the ENTIRE perimeter of the oil pan seems to have fresh oil on it, the size of the puddle earlier indicated a large area leak.

Tomorrow during the day i can take some pics so you can get a better idea of what and where i am talking about.

If i cant figure out what it is soon i'm gonna have to take it to the dealer and pay $$$. An uncertain oil leak isnt something i wanna push for too long.
 
When you speak of the 'oil pan' are you referencing the sheet-metal pan under the front part of the sump?

KS
 
cammerfe said:
When you speak of the 'oil pan' are you referencing the sheet-metal pan under the front part of the sump?

KS
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Yes, by oil pan i am talking the sheet metal on the bottom where the oil drain plug is threaded. It is a irregular kinda shape and has 17 bolts around the perimiter. Oil filter is mounted directly in front.

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In 'ol terms "dropping the pan" this is what it would be referring too. Pan is #2, gasket is #3.
 
I guess regardless of the location of the leak it was the rather substantial amount that got dumped onto my parents driveway that concerns me. I drove it back home to my house, drove fine, and thats were i put it up on some ramps. Didnt dump a big puddle in my driveway.

I mean a leak is a leak, but this is like nothing and then all of the sudden DUMP. I'm guessing a good 12oz or so at once.

Oh, and one more thing. It was the cars first startup for the day and was driven only 2-3 miles, got to my parents, idled for about 5-10 minutes while talking, backed up to leave and puddle. Nothing is adding up to me.
 
Matt Man said:
VCG leaks were still occurring on your 05? I thought by 03 they were pretty much gone?

Just a side note, oil dripping down the block can simply collect on your oil pan bolts and drip off of them. May not necessarily be the pan gasket, but don't rule it out. Is there oil on the block above the pan or does it start at the pan top?
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Actually, the 03s had the problem too. The 04 to 06 seem to be pretty stable, but every once in a while (like this) you hear of a problem.
 
Fla02LS said:
I guess regardless of the location of the leak it was the rather substantial amount that got dumped onto my parents driveway that concerns me. I drove it back home to my house, drove fine, and thats were i put it up on some ramps. Didnt dump a big puddle in my driveway.

I mean a leak is a leak, but this is like nothing and then all of the sudden DUMP. I'm guessing a good 12oz or so at once.

Oh, and one more thing. It was the cars first startup for the day and was driven only 2-3 miles, got to my parents, idled for about 5-10 minutes while talking, backed up to leave and puddle. Nothing is adding up to me.
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Did you check to see if any of the oil pan bolts are loose?
 
Hope you don't do what my buddy did yesterday, he just dropped 5gs on his tdi jetta and he hit a manhole without the cover on it and tore his oil pan halfway off his car is lowered 2 inches so it caught right in there :lol:
 
leak.JPG

The circled area is where its leaking. And now its a steady drip while running. Maybe one of those gaskets (#5)?

leak.JPG
 
fastmark1993 said:
Hope you don't do what my buddy did yesterday, he just dropped 5gs on his tdi jetta and he hit a manhole without the cover on it and tore his oil pan halfway off his car is lowered 2 inches so it caught right in there :lol:
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If you have a dent in your pan anywhere near the possible leak, I can almost guarantee that the pan is the culprit. I had a very small dent in mine and didnt think anything of it. I looked around for other leaks and only found that the pan had a small hole in it where the dent was. I think the lower pan cost around 180 at the stealership.
 
Oil filter adapter gaskets. Two of them. F*cking $20 gasket costing $300 to replace. The LS sucks. Had a Fusion rental and was fine with that car. My passion for the LS is just about over. Regardless what you may say the LS is getting dated and its looks are getting old. And with the price of gas, especially premium getting so damn high, a V8 sedan just isnt practical. That Fusion literally got 10 mpg MORE than the LS while driving the exact same route. V8 and rwd isnt nearly as attractive as it used to be, you got V6 cars now with over 300hp and better mileage. Of course the younger drivers will still think they are the sh!t driving an LS. Oh well. The only positive is that the LS is paid off.

CANT WAIT FOR THE CHEVY VOLT!! See ya later gas pumps. My only wish would be that my LS lasts long enough for the Volt to come out and then gets totaled. Take that insurance money (if the LS has any value left) and run to the Chevy dealer. I'd stick with Ford but they arent going electric. They are stuck on this hybrid crap which is still gas dependant. Pass.
 
Fla02LS said:
CANT WAIT FOR THE CHEVY VOLT!! See ya later gas pumps. My only wish would be that my LS lasts long enough for the Volt to come out and then gets totaled. Take that insurance money (if the LS has any value left) and run to the Chevy dealer. I'd stick with Ford but they arent going electric. They are stuck on this hybrid crap which is still gas dependant. Pass.
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The Volt still uses gas. Not as much, probably, but it is still a hybrid.
 
LS4me said:
The Volt still uses gas. Not as much, probably, but it is still a hybrid.
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Incorrect. The Volt is 100% electric. It drives in 100% electric mode all the time. Hybrids alternate between gas and electric during driving, the Volt has a 300 mile range per charge using only the electric motor. It does have a small (couple gallon) gas tank, but all it really does is charge the battery system, doesnt use gas as a power source. Its like having an onboard generator to charge the batteries in case you cant make it to an outlet. They say the cost for a full charge is around $2 in electricity. Thats less than one penny per mile. No hybrid can touch that.
 
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