Alright max gurus. I had my oil changed this weekend and today I was leaving the office and noticed a 4" x 4" puddle under my car, so I back up and got out to check it. OIL! I drove home and checked my garage and sure enough...6" x 6" puddle of oil. So I looked underneath to get some idea where it might be leaking from. It looked like some was dripping off the oil drain bolt, so I tried to tighten it and sure enough it wasn't on very tight. I tightened it as much by hand as I could and will go back out later to check for more leaking. Also, 2 oil changes ago the tech noted that I was a qt. low. So I thought maybe I do have a leak cause I'm not burning any oil that I can notice. But after this last change the tech didn't say anything about my oil being low. Could it just have leaked from the drain plug not being in tight enough or do I really need to investigate deeply? What other common oil leaks do our cars get? I thought I read on here a while back about oil resending unit leak as a common problem or something? Thanks for any help.

 

Clean the area out thoroughly - brake cleaner or air intake cleaner works well. Then look for the source. It is very common for the oil pressure sending units - right near the filter to start leaking. This is a cheap part (under $15) and can be replaced in a few mins. You can get the part from Autozone, etc. (as well as the dealer of course).

 

thx for the feedback. I went back out and checked on it and it is leaking again, it really looks like it is coming from the oil drain bolt, has anyone ever had to replace that? Should I take it back to the guys would did the oil change and say

 

well make sure they remove the old 11026-01M02 and put on a new 11026-01M02 after each oil change. part of changing oil. you replace the oil filter(15208-9E000) and the oil(5w-30)4.4qts. and the Drain Plug Gasket(11026-01M02)

 

Update: went back to Wally world today at lunch and had them check the drain plug washer (gasket) and they said it was on there, but that it was cracked and leaking oil out the side (slow drip). They replaced it with a large, very visible washer/gasket and changed the oil again. All in all, I learn that I need to change my own oil from now on. Anyone who changes there own oil, do you replace the washer/gasket everytime, if not how often does it need to be?

 

Most people do not replace the gasket each time - even though thats the "correct" thing to do... just replace it if you notice its getting too worn (disintegrating) or if you notice a leak like you just had. Some people don't even use a washer. If it doesn't leak, it doesn't really matter.

 

your supposed to replace it every oil change.