Best way to hunt down an oil leak? Options

[caribou17]

Well i did an oil change on the car today its the first I've done on the Celica because i just got it not to long ago, Anyways, Theres a lot of oil underneath, I had the car parked in the same spot for 9 days while i was away and i just got back a few days ago and there was NO oil on the ground at all,,,Should i try and clean it up underneath and then try and see where its coming from? ( i also have to use someone else's lift for the car so i kind of want to know what i should be looking for etc)

[Special_Edy]

Well i did an oil change on the car today its the first I've done on the Celica because i just got it not to long ago, Anyways, Theres a lot of oil underneath, I had the car parked in the same spot for 9 days while i was away and i just got back a few days ago and there was NO oil on the ground at all,,,Should i try and clean it up underneath and then try and see where its coming from? ( i also have to use someone else's lift for the car so i kind of want to know what i should be looking for etc)

So it wasnt leaking oil before you changed the oil and oil filter earlier today. And it started dripping oil( define "alot of oil") after it was parked immediately following the oil change.



It sounds to me like you left one of 3 things off, loose or damaged-

The spin-on oil filter- it needs to be as tight as you can turn it by hand( an extra 1/4 turn with the wrench is best). Make sure to smear some oil around the rubber seal. Whenever possible you want to fill the oil filter with new oil before you screw it on, because you want to reduce the amount of time upon startup that the filter is filling and the engine is running without oil. It should be located on the front of the block next to the exhaust.

The Oil Filler Cap- Oh yes if you leave this loose it will vibrate off the engine and oil will spray everywhere.

The Oil Drain Plug- The drain plug needs to be torqued down or it will usually start leaking. It should screw in by hand until it bottoms out, then you need to torque it down with a wrench. I dont remember the exact torque spec but I tighten mine hard with only 1 to 2 fingers on the wrench/ratchet. Using less than 5 fingers limits the amount of force you apply. If yours is damaged you can buy a new drain plug for a couple dollars at the parts store.

To gain access to the leak you will of course need to remove the plastic liner under the passenger side engine compartment. Next I would drive the car to a self service carwash(the kind you feed quarters) and pressure wash the engine compartment. Make sure to always leave the engine running if you wash it or it may not start again. Dont directly spray electrical components, wiring, hoses or gaskets on the engine with high pressure water. You want to be especially careful around the distributor and spark plugs. Make sure to blast the underside too to remove all the grime. Finally you would rinse it real good with water. Now that its clean any leak will be much easier to detect with the engine relatively clean. It will also make the engine easier/cleaner to work on.


Anyways.....
Good luck with it and let us know how it goes. So long as the oil light doesnt come on with the engine running then no worries.

[Smaay]

clean the engine really good. then look to see where its coming from

[trdproven]

its really hard to say if the leak happened before or after the oil change cus it couldve been leaking ever since and you just noticed it now. i'd go with SMAAY. Although special edy is right if something wasnt done right during the oil change.

[caribou17]

Well i did an oil change on the car today its the first I've done on the Celica because i just got it not to long ago, Anyways, Theres a lot of oil underneath, I had the car parked in the same spot for 9 days while i was away and i just got back a few days ago and there was NO oil on the ground at all,,,Should i try and clean it up underneath and then try and see where its coming from? ( i also have to use someone else's lift for the car so i kind of want to know what i should be looking for etc)

So it wasnt leaking oil before you changed the oil and oil filter earlier today. And it started dripping oil( define "alot of oil") after it was parked immediately following the oil change.



It sounds to me like you left one of 3 things off, loose or damaged-

The spin-on oil filter- it needs to be as tight as you can turn it by hand( an extra 1/4 turn with the wrench is best). Make sure to smear some oil around the rubber seal. Whenever possible you want to fill the oil filter with new oil before you screw it on, because you want to reduce the amount of time upon startup that the filter is filling and the engine is running without oil. It should be located on the front of the block next to the exhaust.

The Oil Filler Cap- Oh yes if you leave this loose it will vibrate off the engine and oil will spray everywhere.



The Oil Drain Plug- The drain plug needs to be torqued down or it will usually start leaking. It should screw in by hand until it bottoms out, then you need to torque it down with a wrench. I dont remember the exact torque spec but I tighten mine hard with only 1 to 2 fingers on the wrench/ratchet. Using less than 5 fingers limits the amount of force you apply. If yours is damaged you can buy a new drain plug for a couple dollars at the parts store.

To gain access to the leak you will of course need to remove the plastic liner under the passenger side engine compartment. Next I would drive the car to a self service carwash(the kind you feed quarters) and pressure wash the engine compartment. Make sure to always leave the engine running if you wash it or it may not start again. Dont directly spray electrical components, wiring, hoses or gaskets on the engine with high pressure water. You want to be especially careful around the distributor and spark plugs. Make sure to blast the underside too to remove all the grime. Finally you would rinse it real good with water. Now that its clean any leak will be much easier to detect with the engine relatively clean. It will also make the engine easier/cleaner to work on.


Anyways.....
Good luck with it and let us know how it goes. So long as the oil light doesnt come on with the engine running then no worries.

Sorry i should've said that is WAS leaking BEFORE the oil change. By the looks of it, it has been leaking for awhile,,,I see around these 2 hoses running along near the frame under the car there is a great amount of oil around those 2 hoses,,,Another thing i should add is that, Its all Underneath, from my engine bay above you wouldn't notice it at all.

EDIT: Thanks for the reply btw!

This post has been edited by caribou17: Jul 16, 2012 - 11:57 PM

[trdproven]

i'd clean it up and check. is it leaking from the dizzy, valve cover, power steering, etc. Did you check all your fluids for abnormal levels?

[caribou17]

i'd clean it up and check. is it leaking from the dizzy, valve cover, power steering, etc. Did you check all your fluids for abnormal levels?

Yes all my fluids are normal, I can't say how fast the oil is leaking yet, but it is still at the same mark as when i changed it yesterday,,, I am going to clean it real good underneath like everyone said, and go from their i guess

[richee3]

I can't remember what it's called right now but there's a white spray you can put on the engine after you clean all the oil off. The leak will easily show against the white spray so you can find it with ease. The guys at the auto parts store will know what it's called.

[Tigawoods]

I bet its the same leak I have.


Where do you see most of the oil? Crankshaft side?

[caribou17]

I bet its the same leak I have.


Where do you see most of the oil? Crankshaft side?

Yes thats where most of it all is,,,Where is your leak?

I can't remember what it's called right now but there's a white spray you can put on the engine after you clean all the oil off. The leak will easily show against the white spray so you can find it with ease. The guys at the auto parts store will know what it's called.

Right on ill have to go see if i can get some, thanks for the heads up i didn't know i could buy that stuff.

[Tigawoods]

I will let you know in a couple weeks.
My primary guess is that its the crankshaft seal.
But I still have a feeling its on the back of the engine

[trdproven]

can be there...but you can use those UV dye crap but you have to catch the leak really fast or it will be all over and you wont be able to use the UV dye method until it disappears.

[caribou17]

Okay well i just checked my spark plugs, and in the second cylinder there was a lot of oil in there, the spark plug was covered in oil,,,,I'm guessing this isn't normal???


You can see the dirty dark oil on top.


Anyone?

[Box]

Sounds like bad oil rings or valve seals on cylinder two.

[Bitter]

Start with a valve cover gasket with tube seals and new plastic half moon seals at the ends of the head. Goto the dealer for these, their prices are not unreasonable and parts are best quality. Once that's done clean the whole engine down thoroughly and let it run and keep an eye on it. 5S engines leak from valve covers REALLY badly when they get older.

Do that first, then report back.

[Box]

Ah yes, definitely try valve cover and spark plug tube seals first.

[caribou17]

Alright well i did what you guys said and got new seals (valve cover gasket and tube seals),,,I took the valve cover off for the first time and its not as terrible as i thought it would look,,,I'm also wondering your guys's opinion for cleaning out all the sludge? what exactly is the method for that?

ANYWAYS BACK TO THE PROBLEM

I ran the car for about 15 minutes only and there was no oil at all coming from the valve cover and i checked the second cylinder and spark plug and they were clean like when i put them in,,,so ill let you guys know if it stays this way... Thank you guys for all the help!!


Old seals


My odometer reads 260 000km how does this look?


Anything i should be looking for?

[caribou17]

Well the spark plug seals that i changed definitely solved that problem,,,,Now i can get back to focusing on the original leak i posted about haha. Thanks for all the help guys

[Bitter]

Little dirty, nothing horrible. Run some auto trans fluid in there for a few oil changes to clean some of the gunk out, about 1/2 quart in place of 1/2 quart of oil, so 3.5qt oil and .5qt auto trans fluid. Doesn't matter what kind you use.


for the valve cover itself, get one of those carb dip buckets and a plastic tub with lid big enough to hold the valve cover, dump the carb cleaner in the tub over the valve cover and let it sit over night, in the morning pull it out and go at it with the garden hose and some purple power with a scrub brush, toss it in the over at 250 to dry for 30 minutes OR just let it sit in the sun for a few hours. It'll be nice and clean again.

Great time to sand and paint it if you wish.

[caribou17]

Little dirty, nothing horrible. Run some auto trans fluid in there for a few oil changes to clean some of the gunk out, about 1/2 quart in place of 1/2 quart of oil, so 3.5qt oil and .5qt auto trans fluid. Doesn't matter what kind you use.


for the valve cover itself, get one of those carb dip buckets and a plastic tub with lid big enough to hold the valve cover, dump the carb cleaner in the tub over the valve cover and let it sit over night, in the morning pull it out and go at it with the garden hose and some purple power with a scrub brush, toss it in the over at 250 to dry for 30 minutes OR just let it sit in the sun for a few hours. It'll be nice and clean again.

Great time to sand and paint it if you wish.

Ive never heard of AT fluid used to clean, thanks for the tip,,,,Im guessing i can repeat the same procedure for the bottom half of my oil pan too?,,, Thanks for the help!