My car is leaking oil...

[vtluu]

So I did an oil change Saturday... and barely 4 quarts (out of nearly five) came out of the car. :shock: Previously I'd notice a drop of oil now and then under where the car is parked in the driveway; figured it was just tranny fluid left over when WORKS worked on the car a few weeks ago, since that was when I first noticed it, but it now it definitely seems like the car is losing oil at a slow (but noticeable) rate. :( I haven't been able to spot from where the oil is dripping; one idea I had was to park the car overnight on ramps, with a piece of cardboard/newspaper underneath it so that if I find oil in the morning, I can get under there and look to see exactly from where it came.

Any other ideas what the problem might be and/or how I might go about diagnosing it?

[Bullet]

Did you figure out where it was leaking from?

[ace33joe]

It may be some oil consumption. If you drive harder, it consumes more oil. There are some engines which consume almost a quart per thousand miles. I guess you can clean seal areas like oil pan, valve cover, and then see whether they are wet after a few days of driving. Since our car has an oil cooler, you might want to check those connections too. Hope it's not a big problem.

[e8]

It may be some oil consumption. If you drive harder, it consumes more oil. There are some engines which consume almost a quart per thousand miles. I guess you can clean seal areas like oil pan, valve cover, and then see whether they are wet after a few days of driving. Since our car has an oil cooler, you might want to check those connections too. Hope it's not a big problem.

What he said. If you run your car hard, it will consume oil.

[SouthernCrane]

Hey Tam, I too thought I had an oil leak, but it must have been just a bad seal on the oil filter or something, because I have not seen any leaks after I changed my oil [knock on wood].

Hope it's nothing serious.

[vtluu]

Hey Tam, I too thought I had an oil leak, but it must have been just a bad seal on the oil filter or something, because I have not seen any leaks after I changed my oil [knock on wood].
Thanks, I'm hoping that's what it is, too. I'll keep everybody posted.

[EVO GRIM]

Yea I found some drips on the driveway, turned out that the oil plug was loose. Never showed up on the dipstick though. Seems like it would take a lot of drips to be a quart low.