Cars & Motorbikes Oil leak fixed

Correct. I was misled by Y-mans post of a 2013 engine bay shot. Even that is pushing a 3 year Warranty.

 

All good.

Let's just hope the car gets fixed without OP getting taken for a ride.

 

Hmm you'd think wouldn't you...

@hash_investor was it originally registered in Vic by any chance?

 

there is no oil in the coolant. its totally clear. oil is on the garage floor. I have been driving the car like this for a while now, probably for around 8-10 months.

When I bought the car initially I noticed the leak after 3 months and told the servicemen while back for the first service. They said they tightened a bolt and it got fixed. But then it appeared again after a couple months. The next service they told me there is a leak which you need to schedule a check for. I got busy and never did that.

Now while getting the rego another mechanic told me about it. I am now serious because he refused to do the rego because of the issue. He advised me not to drive the car not because the engine will crack but because the oil may over heat and catch fire.

I am now thinking about playing a trick on the mechanic. I will tell him the sump gasket needs fixed and will see if he finds the issue. This way he will either fix it or give me a reason if issue is somewhere else

 

No, its in NSW since beginning. I am the second owner for sure

 

Not mine then.

 

By the sounds of it, best you can do is learn from this and move forwards. If a car has an issue and you don't sort it, it's going to get worse and more expensive .

Find a mechanic you trust, take it in and ask them if you should fix it or flip it.

Not lubemobile / ultratune etc, go with a local mechanic who has been there for many many years and has a good name.

 

What colour is the oil? And is the car using enough oil that it's needed to be topped up?

 

oil is of oil colour ... you know. brownish/blackish. i haven't topped up the oil ever. its been going for a while but the last time I checked oil for this very reason didn't show any alarming level

 

Be careful about Karma.....

He might fix an imaginary sump gasket that is not needed, and still not diagnose the head gasket, and you will be forking out for the sump for no reason....

And he might even say the headgasket is leaking too.

Best policy is be honest, and you might get some honesty, too.

A local workshop which has been there a long time is more likely to be honest, of course.

A head gasket usually doesn't leak externally.

A rocker cover gasket always leaks form the top. It can leak internally and drown the spark plugs but mostly externally and down the sides of the engine in various spots.

A sump can only leak from the bottom; it's not too hard to determine the likely cause of most leaks - even if you can't see the origin point.

Sometimes it is very hard to tell where the origin point if the car has had an oil leak for a long time...oil gets pushed around by the wind/air flow as the car drives etc - it can even flow up in some circumstances, but less common.

You may have to get the undercarriage professionally steam cleaned first, then drive around for a week or so, and get it checked again to see if there is a new leak that can be pin-pointed.

Head gasket leaks are usually indicated by such things as water in the oil - coffee colour, oil in the water/coolant - drops of oil and also coffee colour, water in the spark plugs, misfire (from water drowning the spark plugs), water loss (into the spark plug ports) and generally loss of power.

A compression test will also determine if there is a head gasket leak.

 

Just be careful doing the headgasket too if the car has a fair few kms on it .
What can happen is you remove the head -
then most wisely a good mechanic will send the head away for pressure testing(to check for leaks),then they will service the head and surface grind it.
This often will increase the compression ratio -thus causing more pressure on the old bottom end section of the engine.
Next thing that can happen is the car can either/&/or start burning oil,blowing smoke ,fouling spark plugs,using more fueletc.
just be careful as often its better off doing the whole engine.

 

So I have an update...

I went to a mechanic last week to show him the leak. He saw a lot of oil underneath the engine and cleaned it to find the leak. Could not see the leak again while engine turned on for half an hour. Blamed the previous mechanic that he did not do enough cleaning on last service and sent me home.

I was happy to hear that but saw fresh drops of oil on the garage floor again next morning. So I called him again and asked to bring in the car. He inspected again and blamed the sump.

He resealed the sump and oil filter housing seal to make sure it does not happen again. I think the leak has since stopped but I see the car is heating up more than it used to be. I can see the gauge going up and down a few times in the span of 5 minutes. The fan is continuously running now and I have noticed it because I had never heard the fan of this car before. It seems like the engine heats up a lot and fan cools it down and it all happens very frequently.

Seems like I will have to go there again

 

At that age the thermostat can often stick - most likely the cause, but may also be a build-up over the years of crap in the radiator....

Bet prepared for a possible radiator and thermostat replacement in the near future.

 

But that never happened before this mechanic touched my car. I was there all the time he was working, I know he removed the sump / cover, put some kind of blue color solution on it and put it back. He had to remove the oil off course before he removed the sump but then refilled the oil and changed the filter too. I wonder if the type of oil he put in can cause the heat up...

 

According to my info, the gauge can move around the middle point if there is some air left in the engine after some work done.