I have a leak that ends up at the bottom of my oil pan. Has anyone had a leak like this and know what it is?









Modified by tbonez at 5:58 PM 8/27/2007

 

rear main seal most likely.

have to pull the tranny/clutch/flywheel/oil pan to replace it.

if you decide to do it yourself, go ahead and do the oil pan gasket, throwout bearing, clutch and flywheel (if needed)

good luck

 

I agree it's probably the rear main seal.

I wouldnt worry about it until it causes some other problem such as your clutch slipping or a ton of oil leakage if this is your daily driver.

If it's something you can afford to have down-time with, replace it...which entails taking off the tranny.

You don't need to replace the clutch related stuff, just look at it to make sure it's all good. A tranny on a D series is SO easy to take out once you've done it once (easily a one person job as long as you have some jack stands and one or two jacks).

You never need to replace a flywheel either. Getting it machined is the right thing to do when replacing the clutch, but that isnt even neccessary.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

 

LOOKS LIKE THE 'REAR MAIN SEAL' IS BAD. THIS IS THE SEAL ON THE BACK OF THE ENGINE. KEEP IN MIND THE FRONT OF THE ENGINE IS WHERE THE CAM COVER IS. YES, TECHNICALLY YOU'RE STANDING ON THE DRIVER'S SIDE NEXT TO THE FENDER, BUT THIS IS THE FRONT OF THE ENGINE. THE EXHAUST MANIFOLD IS TO YOUR LEFT AND THE INTAKE TO YOUR RIGHT. THE TRANSMISSION IS ALWAYS AT THE BACK OF THE ENGINE. CYLINDER #1 IS CLOSEST TO THE TIMING BELT. OKAY, SO IT COULD BE ONE OF THREE THINGS EVEN THOUGH I SAY IT'S THE REAR MAIN SEAL. EASIEST WOULD BE THE OIL PAN GASKET. IT'S POSSIBLE. SECOND WOULD BE THE REAR MAIN SEAL ON THE ENGINE. THIRD COULD BE THE FRONT MAIN SEAL ON THE TRANSMISSION. SANDWICHED BETWEEN THE ENGINE AND TRANSMISSION ARE THE RESPECTIVE SHAFTS THAT COME OUT OF EITHER ONE. ON THE ENGINE SIDE IT'S THE CRANK AND ON THE TRANS. SIDE IT'S THE MAIN OUTPUT SHAFT. EITHER WAY IT'S A GOOD IDEA TO CHANGE BOTH SEALS AND PERHAPS THE CLUTCH (DEPENDING ON YOU FUNDS) SINCE YOU HAVE TO SEPARATE THE TRANSMISSION FROM THE ENGINE TO DO THE SEALS. THERE SHOULD BE A SMALL INSPECTION COVER ON AROUND THE BOTTOM HALF OF THE BELL HOUSING OF THE TRANSMISSION. IF YOU CAN GET THIS OFF (A FEW 10 MM BOLTS) AND SPRAY A LITTLE BRAKE PARTS CLEANER TO CLEAN UP THE OILY MESS THEN PERHAPS YOU CAN SEE EXACTLY WHICH SEAL IS LEAKING.

GOOD LUCK.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tbonez &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> Has anyone had a leak like this and <U>know what it is?</U>

Modified by tbonez at 5:58 PM 8/27/2007</TD></TR></TABLE>

Im going to say oil

 

Hey dumbass, turn the caps off.

Make sure nothing from up above is dripping down onto the bell housing. If your clear topside, remove the flywheel cover and see if its plastered everywhere. If so, and your certain the oil pan gasket is not leaking(or over filled?) and the oil filter/pressure switch are not leaking, tranny will have to come off. New clutch (if there is oil on it), and new seal depending on where the oil is coming from.

Could be the input seal for the tranny, or the rear main, what kind of oil is it?

 

main seal

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by slowcivic2k &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Hey dumbass, turn the caps off.

Make sure nothing from up above is dripping down onto the bell housing. If your clear topside, remove the flywheel cover and see if its plastered everywhere. If so, and your certain the oil pan gasket is not leaking(or over filled?) and the oil filter/pressure switch are not leaking, tranny will have to come off. New clutch (if there is oil on it), and new seal depending on where the oil is coming from.

Could be the input seal for the tranny, or the rear main, what kind of oil is it?</TD></TR></TABLE>


I agree, you need to do your own investigation to determine where it is coming from people could tell you all day long that it is something but without looking inside bellhousing and observing other things you wont really know. hell I thought I had a bad headgasket and pulled the head replaced gasket got the head milled and everything, got it all back together and a week later same thing. ended up being a cam seal running down the side of the head and then running down head gasket. tricky son of a b... so even somebody right there looking at it could mis diagnois it but at least you will have a better chance then looking at pics. but good luck man

 

Might as well throw this in just in case someone happens to actually search in the future...


Case porosity, or the ability for a metal to absorb liquids is a problem that some cars tend to have. Oil spots on blocks and other metal parts seem to come from no where, and when dye is applied, it leave no trace of its source, except where the porous metal allowed oil to seep by. As crazy as it seems, it is very true, and happens more than people think. This is something to also consider, just in case someone has a hard time pin pointing a leak.