Today i just noticed oil leaking from my car, What could be wrong?

Answer 1

First you need to know if it is engine oil, transmission fluid, power steering fluid, brake fluid or antifreeze.

Answer 2

Hiya

It will be a seal or gasket of some sort, that is letting the oil escape.

Best to check the oil level on the dipstick, see how much oil is in the engine, fill it up with more oil till it is on maximum level and then drive it to a local garage to get it fixed.

This way you won't damage the engine by running it on little or no oil.

Candidly there are several places oil could leak out, so it does need someone who is knowledgeable about cars to help you - and that's usually a reputable garage.


Hope this helps

Answer 3

Congradulations .... you have an oil leak. First of all - find out where it's coming from. Park the car and immediately put an array of large paper (newspaper is fine) under the engine overnight. In the morning, remove the paper carefully and find the one with the oil drips directly over it is the leak. It could be as simple as an oil filter that is not tight enough, or as nasty as a cracked oil pan. If it is coming from the oil filter, just get the oil and filter changed as usual.. Otherwise, if you ain't joe mechanic, show your mechanic exactly where you found the drip - that should save a few hundred bucks for diagnosis.

Answer 4

It could be comming from either engine, gearbox and if ur car is rear wheel drive, rear axle.

Does oil leak onto ur drive or garage floor? if yes then it could be any of the three, Its easy to know where oil is from if u put ur car in garage because u will know by where the oil is in relation to the car, up front engine,and or gearbox if transverse engine / gearbox, slightly behind location of engine will be the gearbox and at the back of car will be rear axle. If its the engine, it may just want the sump screws tightened, sump could be damaged, sump drain plug seal either missing or not tight enough, if leak is bad then its the sump or sump plug washer missing as the oil sinks to bottom of engine / sump so it cannot be above the level of oil in the engine, u could also poss have front or rear crankshaft oil seal gone but only if low amount of oil overnight. Engine oil after a few miles turns blackish and if u smell it u will smell petrol / smoky smell from it Just remembered, it could also be front casing gasket..

Gearbox oil is lighter, but the smell is different i cannot explain the smell, but the oil should be clearer than engine
Oil can leak from gaskets on casing, front and rear oil seals, drain plug could be loose, but highly unlikely.

Rear axle, more likely to be lose backplate, just tighten up bolts, it has a oil seal as well but I dont think it is at fault.

No disrespect meant to the guys who mentioned Rocker gasket, head gasket, oil will only leak out from these when engine is running, when car is in garage and engine switched off the oil slowly drains back down into the sump, so as I said, if it is the engine that is leaking, then the oil cannot leak from any higher than the oil level when engine stopped.

There are some exceptions though, slanted or engines on their sides, then yes it could be anything from sump up to rocker gasket, VW beetles have these type of engines.

Answer 5

Oil leak could sprang from various places. From the oil filter seal, oil pan screw washer (screw you remove to drain oil), oil pan gasket, cylinder gasket, valve gasket, etc). If you have a clean engine you should probably be able to see where it's leaking. Another way to find out would be to look from the bottom from where the oil is dripping and trace the source upward. But if you have a dirty oil smudged engine you might have to get your engine clean (yourself or professionally) then just check the engine after you drive to see where the leak is coming from. Some people who does the engine steam cleaning will also do a pressure check for you to see where the leak is coming from... approx cost around $100-150.for cleaning and checking.

Answer 6

There are many reasons for oil leakage from a vehicle such as worn or bad gaskets to loose oil pan plug or oil filters. The cause is usually determined by tracing the leak to it's source. If you or someone you know and knows what they're doing can't do this it would be wise to take your car in for servicing as once a leak starts they only get worse if not fixed. Good Luck!!!

Answer 7

numerous reasons some minor some more serious -gearbox oil seal,drive shaft seals in differential,sump gasket leaking,rocker box gasket,crankshaft oil seal,cylinder head gasket etc.most older cars loose some oil at various points of minor significance.if the oil leak is heavy get it looked at

Answer 8

youve obviously got a leak,the problem is where. you may need to get it on a ramp and have a gud look underneath if it isnt blatently obvious lookin under the bonnet.also keep your eye on the dipstick and keep the oil level topped up as an engine with no oil will get poorly very quickly.

Answer 9

did you recently have an oil change? If yes, possibly they didn't tighten the oil pan plug, or oil filter on a little cockeyed. If these two can be eliminated, valve cover or oil pan gasket.

Answer 10

First you would need to find out where it is leaking from, you can go to your local auto parts supplier and get some cheap spray degreaser and spray it on then wash it with the water house. If you e-mail me after you figure that out I would be more than happy to give you further advise. My e-mail (incase it doesn't show it) is [e-mail].

Answer 11

most of the time it is the front seal or rear seal, this is not an easy thing to replace especially on a front wheel drive

added: also could be a valve cover gasket but 90% of the time front seal goes then the rear