Another Oil Leak

[89LxiAg]

I've had a small oil leak for a while now and could never seem to find where it was coming from. Now it has gotten worse, so I need to figure this out.

The symptoms are: the oil pan has small drops of oil hanging from it, the transmission has drops hanging from it, there are drops hanging off the shifter linkages, and drops on this u-shaped piece where the tranny meets the engine. From above, I can see wet spots near the upper side of the transmission housing(left side of engine when viewed from front), but I can't see far enough down the right side to tell anything.

I just had the clutch replaced and the mechanic told me that the rear main seal is fine, there was no oil inside the clutch/flywheel area at all, so we can count that out. He mentioned that he thinks it is the head gasket, but my car has had no symptoms other than this oil drip (no overheating, no gummy-coolant-filled oil).

Also, I recently(this passed year) had the oil pan gasket, cam seal, crank seal, and timing belt replaced. Any help would be greatly appreciated, until then I'll keep an eye on that oil level. I wouldn't want to lose the engine because of a stupid seal leak. Thanks again.:huh:

[KaMiKaZeE]

Try putting the car on jackstands, using some engine degreaser and lots of paper towels to really clean it up underneath, and then start the car while it is still in the air and just let it idle until you see a drip. Then shut the car off, wait for it to cool, and follow the path of oil on the clean engine to the source.

[guaynabo89]

Originally posted by 89LxiAg
I've had a small oil leak for a while now and could never seem to find where it was coming from. Now it has gotten worse, so I need to figure this out.

The symptoms are: the oil pan has small drops of oil hanging from it, the transmission has drops hanging from it, there are drops hanging off the shifter linkages, and drops on this u-shaped piece where the tranny meets the engine. From above, I can see wet spots near the upper side of the transmission housing(left side of engine when viewed from front), but I can't see far enough down the right side to tell anything.

I just had the clutch replaced and the mechanic told me that the rear main seal is fine, there was no oil inside the clutch/flywheel area at all, so we can count that out. He mentioned that he thinks it is the head gasket, but my car has had no symptoms other than this oil drip (no overheating, no gummy-coolant-filled oil).

Also, I recently(this passed year) had the oil pan gasket, cam seal, crank seal, and timing belt replaced. Any help would be greatly appreciated, until then I'll keep an eye on that oil level. I wouldn't want to lose the engine because of a stupid seal leak. Thanks again.:huh:

I had the same problem:lol

FOr me it wasn't that serious. It was the distributor o-ring. It would only leak a little while the engine was running. It never left any spots, but I had oil on the same exact places you mentioned.


GEt a new oring and use sealant on top of that and degrease your whole engine to see if thats it.

O-ring costs about 2.50 at the dealer plus a tube of sealer.(4-5 dollars)

Only problem would be setting your timing if you dont have a timing light. You can mark the location of the bolts on the diistributor and set it back that way. Then whenever you have time you can take it to a mechanic to set your timing.

[89LxiAg]

Thanks for the help guys. KaMiKaZeE, it took me 5 hours to clean and find the leak, but now that 13 years of dirt and oil are gone I see that it was actually power steering fluid that was leaking out of the speed sensor housing on top of the transmission.

I put the clamp back onto the hose, that wasn't quite on very well, and I think it will soon stop. I think I have a little left draining off the engine, so we'll see. Thanks again guys.