whats the best way to find the source of an oil leak?

[suprafanatic]

my car has recently been leaking either oil or power steering fluid, i cant tell which, looks the same.... the fan is blowing it around all over the engine, mainly on the front of the motor and down. its really not leaking a whole lot but when i go to turn or come to a stop and then go sometimes it smells like burnt oil. i cant find the leak since almost everything is covered in the liquid. any ideas? when the car is parked its dripping down directlly under the crank pulley and toward the passenger side some.

 

[sneakypete]

could be the front seal behind the crank pulley. try cleaning off the dripping oil so you can pinpoint the exact location

 

[suprafanatic]

i cleaned the dripping oil off, jack up the car and started it, reved, no oil was driping. it only happens when i actualy drive it i guess. but if it was the pulley seal would the oil be all the way up on the cam gears? theres even some oil blown on the upper intercooler pipe above the valve covers.

 

[sneakypete]

i cleaned the dripping oil off, jack up the car and started it, reved, no oil was driping. it only happens when i actualy drive it i guess. but if it was the pulley seal would the oil be all the way up on the cam gears? theres even some oil blown on the upper intercooler pipe above the valve covers.

could be your valve covers. or the oil could be splashed by the fan making it hard to find the source. try running the car to operating temp and then shutting it off. inspect all oil related seals and gaskets facing the front of the car for drips. check behind crank pulley and behind cam gears.

 

[IJ.]

Dye in the oil and a uv light.

 

[Quin]

Mine did that when the cam seals stopped playing nice.

 

[Boost Lee]

BHG?

Nate, may be a bit tough to do...but look at where the oil has "sprayed".
Examples...Power Steering tank - If there's oil sprayed only on the side closest to the turbo. Then you know it's something on that side of the motor.

Curious...Is your BOV spitting oil out anywhere, eh?

-Jeff

 

[suprafanatic]

no the bov isn't spitting oil..lol... its on both sides of the motor, the power steering is covered in it, also the a/c is covered in it, all over the belts, the water pump, cam gears.

 

[ILikeCarsYesIDo]

Leak detector stuff. Kragens/AutoZone/PepBoys.

 

[sneakypete]

any when the car is running you dont see any spray or mist? seems like a hefty leak. you should see some activity

 

[suprafanatic]

its at the shop, they said the crank case seal and main front seal is leaking