The underside of my engine is coverd with oil and old sludge. How many places can leak engine oil and how can I determine the source of the leak(s) when it is such a mess?

 

I would start by thoroughly cleaning the underside until there is no oil leaking residue remaining. After it's clean, just idle the engine a while or take it for a short drive and then have a look around. If it's a bad leak, it will probably show itself immediately. If it's a slow leak, it may take a while. Keep in mind that when driving, the movement of air will push the leaking fluid to the rear of the leak.

 

do u use synthetic oil? Yeah? Maybe try dyno.

 

Is there a simple way to do this? I don't have a lift, only ramps, so I have to crawl around on the floor with Gunk engine cleaning fluid dripping all over me...

 

The bolts for the oilpan..?

Got loose on my old engine witch ha a cork gasket, i belive the gasket kompresses and get flat over time.

Also check the timing chain cover.

As earlier mentioned, wash clean so you can see where it comes from.

//Ricky.

 

spray it, let it drip onto a drip pan and then get back under there and scrape, wipe and wire brush what you can get to. You really have to get it clean.
I would start on the top of the engine to make sure your valve covers or intake is not leaking. Look around your distributor also. Once the top is clean then start looking around the timing cover and oil pan like Ricky said. That is all the easy cheap items to fix and replace.

Simple green cleaner works also.

 

There is probably no way to do it w/o getting dirty. You could start by taking the car to a self car wash and after spraying the underneath with degreaser, get the pressure wand underneath and spray the hell out of it.

 

How many miles on the engine? Did it used to not leak?

 

OK, I have had great results with this technique. It's pretty much the same as what you have been seeing in the previous replies, but with a little twist that works awesome. Here's what ya do:

Clean the engine with whatever method you choose, different situations require different methods; For your situation, I would go to WalMart and get a couple or three cans of engine degreaser, and follow the directions on the can. If you don't wanna mess up your driveway, do it at one of those do-it-yourself carwashes. (I reccomend this, if you can get away with it, some places won't let ya do it.) Anyway, do whatever you have to do to get the engine nice and clean, the cleaner you can get it, the easier it is to find the leaks.

Now comes the part that sometimes makes people raise their eyebrows. While you are at WalMart getting the degreaser, pickup a couple or three cans of the spray-on foot powder. Yes, spray-on foot powder. let the engine cool down, and spray the foot powder nice and heavy on all the mating surfaces of the engine, just spray it *****-nilly all over the engine. Pretend it is a can of spray paint and "paint the engine white". Once you have a nice thick layer of the foot powder all over the engine, any oil leak will be so obvious that a blind man could see it 10 miles away! Once you know where the leaks are, start fixing them. Sometimes just tightening a few loose bolts will fix a leak, (although sometimes overtightening bolts will make a leak worse, like on valve covers.) Sometimes you need to replace a gasket or seal. Good luck, it's worth the effort involved to fix leaks!

Scott

 

Take the car to a quarter car wash. Wear your scuba outfit. Also bring a couple of spray cans of engine degreaser. Reach under the car with the spray can and soak the underside of the engine as well as you can. If you can hit some 'hard to get' spots from the topside, go for it.

Let soak for 10 minutes or so. Set cycle to 'high pressure soap', hold the wand under the car, and shoot the he!! out of it. There is nothing that low on the engine that will be harmed by the high pressure spray.

Check it out, and if you need to go another 'round', have at it. That should get you clean enough to spot the sources of your engine oil leaks. Sealing them up is another thing altogether. There are LOTS of potential leakage areas...everything with a gasket or seal.

 

easy off oven cleaner is a great, cheap, degreaser. Dont use it on plastic or rubber parts.
if anyone taking bets..front seal is worn

 

After you get it clean if you still can't locate it get some dye from the parts store.A cheap kit even includes the black light to light up the die.Glows like phosphorus.

 

Also put some cardboard on the ground after you clean everything, this will help you pin point the area of the leak to look ...

 

Don't know how many times I've post this but engine leaks are hard to find. The oil always travels to the lowest point, sometimes that could even be the oil drain plug. So you see the oil drip on the end of the drain plug and a small puddle directly under the plug. You don't have to be a CSI expert to figure this one out..or do you ?

Like I said I have posted this many times. You can purchase a kit at NAPA for about 20 bucks for finding oil leaks, brake leaks, water leaks etc. etc.

The kit is very easy to use. For an oil leak I would simply clean up the motor from the intake, valve covers down, no need to get to get it real clean.

Next you pour one of the dyes from the kit into the oil. Next for easier detection garage so you can turn the lights out and it will be darker in there ( the kit comes with an IR or some other type of flashlight and yellow glasses to see the dye )

Next start the car up with the garage door open, let it run for a couple of minutes and then shut it off. Close the door turn the flashlight on with you yellow glasses on and you will see exactly where the leak is.

The procedure sounds time consuming but once you have bought the kit you can find the leak ( oil, power steering, brake lines etc ) in about 5 minutes, I highly recommend buying the kit, to everyone

 

It sounds almost as easy as the footspray method.........

Scott

 

In San Jose we have a steam clean service. It runs about $125 (last time I used 'em was 6 years ago). Money well spent.

 

I Had mine done at this place when we did the motor swap... Was 50.00 well spent....cleaned up my tranny leak..no prob...

 

I paid $175 for steam cleaning in Phoenix, 6 years ago (when I bought the car). $50 to get it done would have been better! But it is a lot simpler to get all that cr@p off the frame, if you have the cash to do it.