N* Oil Leak suggestions??

[jackc]

'93 Eldorado 4.6 - Oil pan is always covered with oil after driving. I've looked pretty extensively under the engine and cannot tell where it is coming from. Some very minor seepage from the case half seals is seen, but no trails of oil from there to the pan. No clear trails coming from the front cover are seen either. Dripping occurs from the brace between the engine and trans (along with the rest of the pan), but from what little I can see, there does not seem to be oil coming down from above the brace.

But there is an oil "sling" pattern under the car on the passenger side. Rear engine mount has a pretty good covering of oil and the pattern extends back from there on the bottom side of the passenger floor board.

Any suggestions? I have a bottle of oil dye on order and that will be my next step.....

Thanks in advance, Jack

[Barry94]

I had a similar oil leak. I did the following, which eliminated 90% of the leak.

1/ One part of the case half seemed to be a problem (about 2" long).

I cleaned the area with brake cleaner and applied RTV.

2/ Removed both crank sensors and applied RTV to the "O" rings.

3/ Replaced oil level sensor. Oil was leaking thru the electrical connection.

There still is a very small leak remaining, around the filter adapter.

I'll remove that "one of these days"

Barry

[chazglenn3]

One other area that was the cause of my oil leak are the oil cooler lines. The "o-rings" get dried out and allow oil to leak. They are right above the oil filter adapter.

Charles

[jackc]

Thanks for your reply Barry.

I put the dye in tonight and found ...... drumroll please ........ a tiny hole in the oil pan! Just behind the oil filter. There are some scrape marks like from a curb on the bottom of the pan, and right there on the seam a spot where it is seeping out.

I think I'm gonna clean it up good with brake cleaner, air, and a wire brush and try some JB weld on it. If that doesn't do it, I guess I'll look for someone who can weld it on the car.

Didn't find any other obvious leaks, but I'll put the dyed oil back in for a while and keep watching it for leaks from other areas too. By the way, the dye is cool. Shows up bright yellow under a black light. Can't miss it.

[chazglenn3]

The JB Weld is what I used on a 1995 Dodge Stratus I owned a while back. But, I took the oil pan off so I could apply it to both sides of the hole. The Northstar oil pan is a bear to get off. The factory shop manual calls for removing the engine. When I bought my STS, the seller promised to change the oil pan due to a curb scrape/small hole incident. It took his mechanic 10 hours to do!!

Charles