Having a vehicle is important, we generally need it to get to work and for most of our daily trips. This important part of our annual budget regularly causes us surprises, being aware of oil leaking on your car is one of them… Indeed, an oil leak is rarely 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 car, you have come to the right place, we will first assist you to find the origin of the oil leak and, secondly, we will help you to repair it, if possible.
Identifying the origin of the oil leaking on your car
If you see fluid leaking from under your vehicle, 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 quickly be identified as the source of the leak. To limit the risks, it is absolutely necessary to check your levels every 2 weeks to avoid any risk of engine breakage.
In our case we will only be interested in case you notice oil leaking from your vehicle, 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 find the origin of the oil that leaks on a car because of the accessibility of the engine block, however here are the steps to follow to find the origin of the oil:
- Find 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 origin, if the task is too important, don’t hesitate to clean the engine block and drive to be able to locate it more easily.
- To help you, here is a list of the parts that most often cause oil to leak from you 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, repair the part that caused the oil to leak on your car.
Now that you’ve found the origin 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, depending on its severity, but be aware that this is not a durable solution and that the leak could get worse at any time. We are going to show you the repairs that we think you can undertake alone with some knowledge, tools and according to the accessibility that you are going to have on your engine. In any case, you should know that after repairing an oil leak on a car, you will have to change your engine or gearbox oil.
Oil leakage from the drain plug and its seal
In this situation, the technique is quite simple, you just have to lift your car, if possible perfectly horizontal, remove your drain plug, drain your engine oil, change your drain gasket, tighten the plug to the appropriate torque and check the hot engine to make sure the leak has been repaired.
Oil leaking over from the oil filter of my car
In the event that your oil leak comes from your oil filter, you will simply need to replace it. To do this, take a filter wrench, remove the old filter, making 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 car.
Oil leaking from the pressure switch of my car
Finally, if it is your pressure switch that is the cause of your leak, you can, depending on its accessibility, reach it and change it easily. To do 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 test to confirm that you no longer have any oil leaking from your car.
For any other type of leak, we advise you to go to your mechanic because the repair requires too much knowledge and tools to be carried out serenely alone
