Being owner of a vehicle is fundamental, we most of the time need it to get to our job and for most of our daily trips. This vital portion of our annual budget frequently causes us surprises, being aware of oil leaking on your car is one of them… In truth, an oil leak is not usually harmless and can quickly lead to the breakage of your engine if you don’t realize it. If you are aware of oil leaking on your Chevrolet Malibu, you have come to the right place, we will first help you to locate the cause of the oil leak and, secondly, we will help you to remedy it, if it is possible.
Identifying the origin of the oil leaking on your Chevrolet Malibu
If you find out fluid leaking from under your Chevrolet Malibu, the first thing to do is to check all of your levels (power steering, engine oil, brake fluid, coolant) to see if any of them can fairly quickly be recognized as the source of the leak. To limit the risks, it is definitely crucial to check your levels every 2 weeks to avoid any risk of engine breakage.
In our case we will only be focused on case you notice oil leaking from your Chevrolet Malibu, as far as engine oil is concerned, the liquid will be quite viscous and in shades of brown to black and if it is gearbox oil, it will be rather in amber tones and will have a strong unpleasant smell.
It’s not always easy to locate the cause of the oil that leaks on a Chevrolet Malibu because of the room in the engine block, even so here are the guidelines to follow to locate the origin of the oil:
- Locate the point where the oil falls, the area from which it leaks onto the floor…
- Go back up the route of the dripping oil to its origin, if the blot is too large, don’t think twice to clean the engine block and drive to be capable to track down it more easily.
- To assist you, here is a list of the parts that in most cases trigger oil to leak from a car: the drain plug and its seal; one of your crankcase gaskets; the oil pressure switch; the oil filter; the transmission drain plug; the transmission sealing rings.
If it is possible, fix the part that generated the oil to leak on your Chevrolet Malibu.
Now that you’ve identified the cause of the oil leaking, it’s time to get down to business. Of course, for a while, you’ll be able to add more oil to top up the level, dependant upon its intensity, but be aware that this is not a durable remedy and that the leak could intensify at any time. We are going to reveal you the repairs that we think you can perform alone with some knowledge, tools and depending to the accessibility that you are going to have on your engine. Whatever the case, you should know that after repairing an oil leak on a Chevrolet Malibu, you will have to change your engine or gearbox oil.
Oil leakage from the drain plug and its seal on Chevrolet Malibu
In this scenario, the technique is quite easy, you just have to lift your Chevrolet Malibu, if it is possible perfectly horizontal, remove your drain plug, drain your engine oil, change your drain gasket, tighten the plug to the perfect torque and check the hot engine to make sure the leak has been repaired.
Oil leaking over from the oil filter of my Chevrolet Malibu
In the case that your oil leak comes from your oil filter, you will only need to change it. To make this happen, take a filter wrench, remove the old filter, being sure that the gasket does not stick to the engine, place the new filter and tighten it moderately. Same check, hot check if oil is leaking from your Chevrolet Malibu.
Oil leaking from the pressure switch of my Chevrolet Malibu
To finish , if it is your pressure switch that is the reason of your leak on your Chevrolet Malibu, you can, determined by its accessibility, reach it and change it easily. To achieve this, place a drain tray under the part, disconnect the electrical wire, remove the part, quickly reposition the replacement pressure switch, clean the assembly and do a hot check to verify that you no longer have any oil leaking from your Chevrolet Malibu.
For any other type of leak, we advise you to go to your repair shop because the repair requires too much expertise and tools to be conducted serenely alone.
If perhaps you have any further questions about the Chevrolet Malibu, do not hesitate to consult our Chevrolet Malibu category.
