Oil pan gasket or something else?

[Sarthos]

My car's leaking oil and it's getting really annoying... I have to put cardboard under the car if it's gonna sit for more than a few hours cause it leaves a decent sized pool under it if it sits for a while.

As far as how much it leaks, maybe it goes through a quart in about a week or a little more, I don't really watch it that close... It's not like the thing just pours out oil, if I sit by the car and try to watch it drip it does take quite a while between drips, it just adds up after sitting for a day or so

But it leaks whether the car is running or sitting, and the drops seem to be coming from around the back driver's side corner of the engine block. Since this is near all the timing stuff, I was afraid it could be a crankshaft seal or a balance shaft seal, something like that, but I was informed that either of those would almost empty the car in a few hours. So, in all likeliness, is this an oil pan gasket? I know they're a pain to install, so I don't wanna do it if it's likely to be something else.

[H.M.]

Don't know what the leak is from your description, but I replaced my oil pan gasket and it wasn't too bad.

It was certainly worth the effort to stop the leaks and I'm glad I did it.

[Sarthos]

Really? I think I ended up having to remove part of the exhaust manifold to get the new one on. And I think the transmission crossmember which was a bitch to bolt back on, since jacking the car up lets the car flex the necessary 1/1000th of an inch to make the bolt holes not line up

[jewelproject]

have you checked your oil pressure switch? its right above the oil filter on the block.

[nope]

have you checked your oil pressure switch? its right above the oil filter on the block.

He said driver's side.

To the o.p., my car does something very similar, you should look and make sure it isn't coming from more toward the top of the engine, my car has a bad cam seal and it will leave a big mark on the ground after about 20-30 minutes, but it won't continue to drain after that, just a very slow drip. Leaks a bit more than a quart a week, but if that's how much you're leaking that could very well be your problem. Get in there and see where your leak is really coming from, and if it isn't your oil pan you might think about doing your timing belt soon and replace all of those seals in there.

[Sarthos]

Didn't check the oil pressure switch because of the location.

With a leak up on top of the engine like that though, wouldn't it only leak when the engine is full? Cause if I leave the car sit long enough or don't put oil in it for a while, it can drain several quarts. It also seems to continue at the same rate whether the car sits for a few hours or a few days. That's why I was thinking more towards the bottom, since I would think a leak towards the top would leak faster when the engine is full of oil, and leak almost nothing if I lose a quart or two.

[nope]

Oh, you're probably right then if it leaks even when you haven't driven it. The only way to know is to get in there and figure it out tho. If it's really nasty in there, then you need to degrease the whole thing and then look to see where it's leaking. With a really bad leak tho, you should be able to just wipe it all down with a rag and it should be clean enough to see where the leak is from.

[Sarthos]

That could work, the leak is bad enough to be problematic, without being bad enough to just pour all over the place. Just gradually does it..

[Fleetw00d]

If you can drain several quarts, you'd better check to make sure the pan doesn't have a hole in it somehow. With it sitting, I would bet that the oil level isn't up to the bottom of the block (I could be wrong). I'm assuming you've checked/changed the drain plug washer?

[Sarthos]

Pretty sure there's not a hole in the pan on account of the thing being able to sit for 5 minutes without draining out all the oil

Plug seemed fine and it didn't seem to be coming from quite that area. Could always get a magnetic plug though just cause it's magnetic.

Edit: I just had it suggested to me the leak could be coming from the front crankshaft seal... Is anyone familiar with such a leak, I haven't really heard of people replacing the front seal as much as the rear seal, and I would think a front seal leak would leak faster, especially with the engine running

[red07frontier]

I had a similar leak on my car before I built the engine. It was in the back drivers corner there and it was the rear balance shaft cover. Its a little housing that bolts to the block and has the gear for the timing belt.

Just a fyi though, and oil pan gasket usually wont leak that much when sitting. Its usually a seal or something where their is oil pressure present.

[Sarthos]

umm... isn't oil pressure highest at the bottom of the system?

[red07frontier]

Not when the engine is off and the oil level is not higher that the top of the pan.

[Sarthos]

I thought the oil level was considerably higher than the top of the pan.

Anyway, I jacked the car up and tried to find the leak. Ran my finger all around the crank pulley and right around there and my hand got lots of dirt and mud and greasy stuff but no oil. Ran my finger around the edge of the oil pan and found a few drops of fresh oil on the back edge. Could be starting from somewhere else and leaking down, but since I found it where I found it my first assumption is gonna be the oil pan gasket.

[markrutherford]

I have a leak like this as well. Did the oil pan gasket and switch and my cam seal. Still has a leak. But its a small leak. Im thinking either i need a new pan or oil pump gasket