Everytime I park my car there is a small puddle of oil on the ground. The car was not driven alot for six months, but from February it has been a daily driver. I had oil change and replaced oil sending unit about a month ago, but the leak continues. I don't even park in my driveway anymore, but on the street that I park I have drawn various maps that I think the town might start to zero in on me.

The strange thing is that when I check the oil level every morning it's still the required level. Does anybody have an idea, what else could be causing this leak, and why the level does'nt go down?

 

wut color is the oil, and it could be the trans oil

 

yea or powersteering line

 

The color is black. The car is a 5 speed and the gear oil was changed last year. The only test I have done is taste the oil on the ground and it tasted like regular oil (don't know the taste of gear oil). I will probably pay $20 to R&Straus for a checkup, but thanks since I had overlooked the gear oil.

 

Thanks, don't know why I had'nt thought of that myself. My brain was stuck on regular oil leak.

 

may i ask how do you what oil taste like?
lol

 

well as far as im concerned, no fluid in your car should be black, good luck

 

do you wipe the stick, dip it, then check it? and the level is always at 'full'?

unless you use royal purple...oil is pretty black....

 

even royal purple will is dark, synthetic valvoline is the lightest in color oil but color means nothing

 

you're crazy, was tasting it REALLY nescascarry? though it did make my morning....

You need to get under the car SAFELY, and look around with a droplight to figure out exactly where it's coming from, we can geuss and suggest things all we want, but without the car.......

 

Have you checked the oil pressure switch, that could be your problem.

 

yea but the switch would leak oil, he woul dnotice he was losing oil when he checks the stick im betting on the powersteerin banjo fitting on the back of the pump or the pressure switch side of the power steering hose is the oil leak on the passenger side close to where the firewall would be??

 

It could be gear oil, which has a distinct smell.

Have you checked to see if you have a leaking transmission seal?

I just replaced by driver's side seal which has been leaking for almost 3 years.

I have been monitoring it and the leak got worse, so I replaced it.

No more leak!

 

I would also bet it's gear oil. It can often turn black due to particle contaminants (bearing metal dust), and if it was changed recently from nasty black oil the fresh fill will also go black as the rest of the contaminants wash out.

I really hope your 5 speed doesn't need rebuilt. Leaking black oil from the tranny axle seal just gives me a very uneasy feeling...

Dave

 

I have a very similar problem. But my leak is coming from right near the passenger wheel, and I figured it was a bad oil pan gasket or something along those lines..

 

I had the car checked by a mechanic and he says the rear seal is bad and they have to drop the engine to check it out. He quoted me $800. He checked the oil level and it was good and had no explanation why it was not going down. I made
sure when I change the oil the last time, that I put 41/4-41/2 quarts.

The oil pressure switch was changed with the last oil change. I am debating whether to put in more money on the car and fix it, or get another new used car....

 

Did you fix it?

 

By working on car regularly you get a feel of how thing smell or in the case of oil taste. I would recommend drinking half a quart so that you can know how it tastes. lol

 

I will take it to another mechanic tommorow for a second opinion. The mechanic I took it today said it was the rear main seal. Quoted me $800...

 

No, not yet. My oil level doesnt go down, so I'm just keeping an eye on it for now and plan on replacing the real main seal when my new clutch goes in. It might be the coolant thats draining even. The other day I noticed that the fan kept cutting on rather quick, so I parked it and let it cool down to check the coolant and the resevoir was empty and I couldnt feel any down the radiator filler neck, so I filled up the resevoir to the ABSOLUTE top, I mean right below the cap and drove it normally for the rest of the day. Checked it that night and it was empty.

I have a multitude of things that it could be, but I'd say to you keep your eye on your fluid levels for the next few days.

 

The mechanic also suggested that I change the clutch when I get the rear main seal done. The car drives fine, and the oil level is good, so I will probably wait and get different opinions.

 

Just got my clutch done and I thought the rear main was leaking, ends up the oil pan gasket was seaping/sweating oil out, few cranks on the old wrenchy wrench, gone. Also if you can afford to be without the car for a few days i recommend finding local school that do automotive, especially the pay ones (post graduate trade schools) they do excellent work and charge almost nothing in comparison to a shop, and the car doesn't leave until it's right.

Edit: if the total work time is book quoted at 6 hours, they will only charge you for 6 hours of labor at 1/2 the going labor rate. Doesn't matter if it takes them 2 days, if it says 6 hours that's all you pay. The money goes to the student doing the work btw.

 

Does it look like this?





Mine is leaking oil and it looks like this. The mechanic told me it is the sump gasket that needs replacement. But another guy had exactly similar problem, and his mechanic told him it was the seal from the back of the timing chain cover, and is a labour intensive job. He is sending his car in for the repair next week, I want to hear what has he got to say after that.

 

Different companies such as Summit Racing sell an additive you can place in the oil, transmission or whatever, then with a blacklight it will fluoresce so you can see where it is actually leaking. Just put it in one place first-one trial, one result.

 

ya man, you got to be gettin pretty desperate to be drinkin oil. ****, i got some cold molson over here bro!!!!

 

lol i know what you mean.. i work at a oil shop.. and plus i work on my car alot to

 

very nice pics and they do help us narrow it down, but can you take a pic from an angle further back by the control arm, from that pic I can't tell, but it could be oil-pressure switch (most common) (1), lower (1) or upper (4) oil pan, or either timing cover (4 or 5), or front crank seal (3). 5 being the most difficult to fix, 1 being the least

 

I took it to a mechanic and he said it's a rear main seal, cost about $400-500. He also said that the gear oil was what was leaking. I thought a leak due to the rear main seal would cause the engine oil to leak, and not the gear oil...

 

yes you're correct, take it to someone else for a second opinion, that looks like engine oil to me, plus if it is gear oil I don't know how it made it to that side of the engine. Also, if your rear-main is that bad your clutch would probably be slipping like a ****. I'd highly recommend you take it to tavarish, he knows these cars inside and out, won't screw you, and is in the nj area.

 

since alot of max's have the same problem im thinking it could be excessive blow by causing the the oil to come out of one of the seals thats why this oil happens to leak only when driving not sitting in the driveway ive cleaned mine twice over with brake cleaner and looked and looked nothing after i replaced my PCV valve and tightened my air intake clamps all the way i havent had a oil leak oddly enough try it out

 

Doubt it. Actually if there's anything you should check it's a pointless bolt that's impossible for me to explain where it is and it's very hard to locate, but I'll try. It's on the inner timing cover, on the back side, about 3-4 inches up from the bottom, it screws into a passageway for the oil-pump, and if it was to come loose (or you forgot to re-install it while doing your 3.5 swap.......) then it will spray oil in in all the same spots as in the pics when your car is running. First time I went to start my car after the swap (which uses the 3.0 timing covers) I had 4 quarts instantly dump in all the same places. But I'm not trying to say that it's not your timing cover, oil pans, etc, just a suggestion. Either way tavarish will be able to pinpoint the leak.

 

All the gears enter smothly, and no slipping of the clutch. How can I get in touch with Tavarish?

 

pm him, that's his .org name