i was looking inside engine compartment and noted some oil leak signs but this is coming from a guy like me and i am not a mechanic. do these photos imply an engine leak?
Looks like a valve cover gasket seeping
Oil leaks from valve covers is sometimes caused from a restriction in the PCV system.
Tester
My pin-head diy’er knucklehead thinking is those aren’t serious leaks to worry about. Unless periodically cleaned, most any engine compartment will be coated with a thin misting of oil after 15- 30K miles and appear more or less the same. I’ve wondered where that engine compartment oil mist is coming from? Maybe partly from the transmission’s vent port. Good idea to frequently monitor the fluid levels of course.
do you have any suggestions or actions to be taken because you told me what it is but I don’t know what the next step is.
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on a scale of one to 10 how urgent does this need to be looked at by a mechanic?
It’s your choice. But dim-witted knucklehead diy’er-me (as i’m sometimes referred here) would just monitor the situation, and frequently check all the fluid levels. Both of my vehicle’s engine compartment appear more or less the same. When I’ve had valve cover leaks before that needed a repair, the leak was more obvious. Remember though that i’m not a pro-mechanic.
i checked engine oil levels. it seems to be normal but this car has one of them odd dipsticks and although the oil touches the entire metal it accumulates only on the lower bracket or tier. i put it level and it seems to reach the middle tier or bracket
I’ve never had any trouble with id’ing the oil level on the dipstick, so can’t be of much help. Older, flat dipsticks. You might try parking overnight, and checking first thing in the AM before starting, and posting a photo heree of what you see.
Never. There is nothing to look at, it is an old car with a dirty engine due to common oil seepage. If you want your engine cleaned, see a detail shop.
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2 out of 10
when i pulled it out the pool of oil was slightly below that cup at bottom. i leveled it as such in photo and it became what it looks like. its a very annoying design. i cant tell if i am low or just right.
If it’s not dripping anything, especially on the exhaust, and results in no noticeable oil loss, I’d downgrade it to a 1/10.
I would call that a little bit of “sweat” on the engine and wouldn’t give it a second thought. Your engine isn’t going to stay clean forever.
Yep, looks like it is a normal seeping, not enough to call it a leak yet, looks pretty normal…
As mentioned already, keep an eye on your fluid levels… There are way more important things in life to worry about then a VC seeping…