Having a car is essential, we generally need it to get to work and for many of our daily trips. This essential part of our annual budget regularly causes us surprises, being aware about oil leaking on your car is one of them… In fact, an oil leak is rarely harmless and can quickly lead to the breakage of your engine if you don’t discern it. If you are aware about oil leaking on your Citroen Xsara, you have come to the right page, we will first assist you to find the cause of the oil leak and, secondly, we will help you to fix it, if it is possible.

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Identifying the origin of the oil leaking on your Citroen Xsara

If you find fluid leaking from under your Citroen Xsara, the first action to take is to check all of your levels (power steering, engine oil, brake fluid, coolant) to see if any of them can promptly be recognized as the origin of the leak. To limit the risks, it is definitely required to check your levels every 2 weeks to avoid any risk of engine breakage.
In our circumstance we will only be focused on circumstance you identify oil leaking from your Citroen Xsara, 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 actually easy to find the cause of the oil that leaks on a Citroen Xsara because of the space in the engine block, even so here are the guidelines to stick to to find the source of the oil:

  • Discover the point where the oil falls, the area from which it spills onto the ground…
  • Go back up the path of the dripping oil to its source, if the blot is too important, don’t think twice to clean the engine block and drive to be capable to track down it without difficulty.
  • To assist you, here is a list of the parts that mostly provoke 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 possible, fix the part that caused the oil to leak on your Citroen Xsara.

Now that you’ve found 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, determined by its severity, but bear in mind that this is not a durable remedy and that the leak could get worse at any moment. We are gonna present you the repairs that we think you can attempt alone with some knowledge, tools and according to the accessibility that you are going to have on your engine. No matter the reason, you should know that after repairing an oil leak on a Citroen Xsara, you will have to swap your engine or gearbox oil.

Oil leakage from the drain plug and its seal on Citroen Xsara

In this situation, the strategy is very simple, you just have to lift your Citroen Xsara, when possible perfectly horizontal, remove your drain plug, drain your engine oil, swap your drain gasket, tighten the plug to the right torque and check the hot engine to make sure the leak has been repaired.

Oil leaking over from the oil filter of my Citroen Xsara

In the event that your oil leak comes from your oil filter, you will only need to change it. To accomplish this, take a filter wrench, remove the old filter, ensuring that the gasket does not stick to the engine, set the new filter and tighten it moderately. Same test, hot check if oil is leaking from your Citroen Xsara.

Oil leaking from the pressure switch of my Citroen Xsara

To conclude, if it is your pressure switch that is the reason of your leak on your Citroen Xsara, you can, determined by its ease of access, reach it and swap it quickly. To accomplish 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 Citroen Xsara.

For any other type of leak, we suggest you to go to your auto technician because the repair requires too much expertise and tools to be performed serenely alone.

To find more tips on the Citroen Xsara, take a look at the Citroen Xsara category.