Have you ever noticed....

[Quattro Pete]

The whole bottom end of the engine bay is filthy/sweaty, so it's hard to pin-point the location. We cleaned it, but it's still not clear where it's coming from. It leaks so little that I don't notice any level change on the dipstick... it's just the drips on the garage floor that are annoying.

 

[rshunter]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
The whole bottom end of the engine bay is filthy/sweaty, so it's hard to pin-point the location. We cleaned it, but it's still not clear where it's coming from. It leaks so little that I don't notice any level change on the dipstick... it's just the drips on the garage floor that are annoying.

It sound like someone needs to invest in one of these...

Tracerline
Leakfinder™ Automobile Fluid U/V Kit

I was thinking more along the lines of your "mechanic", BTW. Print out the page and take it to him, the surprise at the existence of such a thing should be precious...

 

[hpichris]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
The whole bottom end of the engine bay is filthy/sweaty, so it's hard to pin-point the location. We cleaned it, but it's still not clear where it's coming from. It leaks so little that I don't notice any level change on the dipstick... it's just the drips on the garage floor that are annoying.


Its better than having your dad stop by at your house last week and leak a quart of atf fluid all over your new cement driveway.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: hpichris


Its better than having your dad stop by at your house last week and leak a quart of atf fluid all over your new cement driveway.


Ouch!

 

[hpichris]

Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Originally Posted By: hpichris


Its better than having your dad stop by at your house last week and leak a quart of atf fluid all over your new cement driveway.


Ouch!


Yeah...I'm not so pleased about that at the moment. It's everywhere...ugh...I can't even stand outside at the moment. He's lucky I love him

 

[demarpaint]

I've had luck with Simple Green, a good brush, and my power washer getting oil stains out of driveways for customers of mine.

If its a fresh spill let kitty litter/speedy dry sit on it a few days, and sweep it up. Then give it a good dose of simple Green, brush it in real good, and power wash it out.

HTH

 

[hpichris]

Originally Posted By: demarpaint
I've had luck with Simple Green, a good brush, and my power washer getting oil stains out of driveways for customers of mine.

If its a fresh spill let kitty litter/speedy dry sit on it a few days, and sweep it up. Then give it a good dose of simple Green, brush it in real good, and power wash it out.

HTH


Thanks for the tip. Any luck with products like this?
http://www.pour-n-restore.com/

or is it some gimmick I need to stay away from.?

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: rshunter

It sound like someone needs to invest in one of these...

Tracerline
Leakfinder™ Automobile Fluid U/V Kit

I was thinking more along the lines of your "mechanic", BTW. Print out the page and take it to him, the surprise at the existence of such a thing should be precious...

Heh... I may actually have to revert to this. Am I supposed to dump that dye into the engine?

 

[hpichris]

Yes.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Well, that dye kit didn't work out all too well. Now instead of having oil all over the bottom of my engine bay I have oil with dye all over the bottom of my engine bay and I still can't tell where it's coming from.

 

[BuickGN]

It's weird for me, owning a car that leaks 0 fluids. I got paranoid the other day backing out from a parking spot and noticed a big puddle of oil. I made sure to check the driveway the next morning before leaving. I'm obsessed with keeping this car leak free. Every oil change and transmission fluid change it gets cleaned with brake clean. I don't know why but oil leaks bother me way more than they should.

I am guilty of dripping oil in my early years. The GN had a bad rear main leak. I was 17 and had no money to fix it. As luck would have it, the crossover pipe was right there so there was smoke to go along with the drip. When teardown time came, to my dismay even as a 19 yr old, there was no rear main seal. It wasn't worn, it just was never installed. The leak wasn't that bad considering...

 

[rshunter]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Well, that dye kit didn't work out all too well. Now instead of having oil all over the bottom of my engine bay I have oil with dye all over the bottom of my engine bay and I still can't tell where it's coming from.


Did you put the dye in and start looking for the leak with the lamp right away?

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: rshunter
Did you put the dye in and start looking for the leak with the lamp right away?

No, and that was probably my mistake. I drove from NAPA to my house, which was about 3 miles. Since the leak is very slow - I only get about one/two tiny drops on the garage floor every time I drive it in, I thought I needed to drive it a bit to get the dye to start coming through.

In reality, the leak is so small, I don't notice any oil level drop on the dipstick, even after several thousand miles, but the occasional drips on the garage floor bother me... so does the dirty underside of the engine bay.

 

[rshunter]

It sounds like you need to give the engine bay a good cleaning and give it another try.

 

[KLowD9x]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
My car slowly drips oil onto the garage floor. The sucky thing is, neither me nor my mechanic can figure out where it's leaking from.


I don't know much about BMW's, but I do know that they have a few problems with certain VANOS components leaking oil.

Is your M54 engine similar to the M50? Honestly, all I know is that they are both I6's with VANOS.

You might want to have a look at this: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1109419

 

[Quattro Pete]

Usually, a vanos problem would manifest itself in other ways as well, at least on the M54. I am being told by one for the bimmerforums guys that it's most likely an oil filter housing gasket that is leaking - apparently a rather common issue.

It seems like ever since the car experienced its first winter (I used to live in FL before), all sorts of leaks have developed. I already took care of coolant leak and power steering leak. Now this...

 

[Black_Thunder]

I have a couple vehicles that have oil leaks, but neither one is really worth fixing.

1 is a plow truck that is used seasonally, the other is a wood hauler, one is an 88 the other is a 92

i also have a 1992 explorer that has leaked oil ever since i've got it, probably a combination of the rear seal/oil pan, either way its so far rusted and i rarely use it i dont' really worry about it so much.



but i think most of the oil spills out there are from vehicles that had just had oil changes done at quick lube and the oil wasn't cleaned up very well from under the vehicle

 

[artificialist]

Originally Posted By: StevieC
Originally Posted By: hpichris
Originally Posted By: Superbuick96
I have noticed and wondered about too, I figured most of the mess were created from beater cars.


The same people you see walking into autozone and buying just 1qt of motor oil usually......The top off crowd.
The crazy thing is... The money they spend on oil could pay for repairs to the seals/gaskets that are leaking.

Typically that cost isn't enough.

Back in the 80s, my dad had a Hyundai Excel that constantly leaked from the rear main seal after the warranty ended. All auto repair places told him $500 for the repair. Adding 1 qt of oil every 1000 miles made sense to dad because he knew that car could die at any time.

Also, with gaskets and seals, the upfront price is often so costly that adding oil over time is the only way someone can make it with their income.