That is all good and well, but until you get the vehicle up in the air, remove all the plastic shields/covers, clean EVERYTHING off with brake clean or whatever, then start it and look for leak(s), if no immediate leak, then drive it around a little bit then recheck, keep doing until you find the leak, if you can not tell where the leak is coming from, then use a dye or spray as has been mentioned in a few post from different members… UNTIL you put in the work, not much we can do… If you are unable or unwilling or don’t understand what I just said as well as others in this tread, then you WILL have to take the vehicle to a pro that can do what has been mentioned… Again, we have done our jobs here, the ball is in your court…
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Yup, it isn’t going/to cost much to get it on a lift for a mechanic to look at. On my pan gasket, I think it was during a trans service that I asked about the oil leak and he confirmed the pan gasket.
I had my Pontiac in to the dealer for a recall, and the new kid said i had oil leaks in both the front and rear seals. I stopped by my Indy shop and asked them to have a look. Put it up in the air and no significant leaks. They refused to charge me so I scheduled plugs etc. just saying it won’t cost much for a look see and then you would know. Just pick a slow day, not Monday or Friday when cars get towed in and trying to finish for the weekend.
Oil always travels downward, so you need to start at the top of the engine and work your way downward. Valve cover gaskets are a prime suspect so wipe all around the edges of the valve cover. If there is a lot of oil, then I’d start with this.
If there is oil on the underside of the hood, like a line of oil drawn on the underside of the hood that continues down the inside of the engine compartment, I’d suspect a front crankshaft seal or possibly a seal on the turbo charger.
Another suspect would be the oil pressure sending unit. These are often overlooked.
Another trick you can do on non rotating parts, if there is a seal, wrap a piece of paper towel around the seal and run the engine for a couple of minutes to see if the paper towel gets wet.
Some leaks are not worth repairing. If the oil loss isn’t significant, and by that I mean that you are unlikely to run out of oil between checks of the oil level, then it would be nice to know the source so you can keep an eye on it but the cost of the repair could greatly exceed the cost of the oil lost.
If you won’t repair . . . or pay someone to do it . . . at least take precautions
Don’t ruin your concrete driveway . . . put cardboard or some tray on the driveway to catch the mess
Same thing at work . . . don’t wear out your welcome by leaving a nasty mess that the janitor or someone else will have to constantly clean up. Leave a tray or cardboard in your assigned spot
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I understand that, and you as a thoughtful consumer understand that. But many of the people we see for car service are either unwilling or unable to listen or understand what we are telling them.
I once had a regular customer, to whom I mentioned “you have a small oil leak starting around the front of the engine. Nothing major now but I’ll let you know when it needs to be fixed.” He stopped coming in for service. After noting his absence, I called him and he said he felt I was being pushy because no one else had ever told him he needed anything fixed.
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Some consumers seem to think that everyone is out to cheat them, and in the process they may wind up ignoring helpful advice. Their overly suspicious nature can be their downfall.
I saw this with a recently deceased friend who called a window replacement guy a thief, and threw him out of his home. When his wife demanded that he replace that window 2 years later, he wound up paying 3 times more than the first guy’s price quote.
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You’re paying the price for those unscrupulous shops that sell “engine resealing” for the slightest weeping seal or gasket, @asemaster. I’d trust your recommendations. Unfortunately some folks think cars should never need more than routine servicing. I remember a poster years ago that thought paying a lot for an Audi should have eliminated the need for repairs.
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It boils down to everyone needs to make their own decision concerning recommendations given their own judgement and knowledge. Some shops think people walking in are neophytes and treat them as such.
About 20 yesrs ago we all met in Orlando but owr son drove down with another classmate. The car developed a bad miss. Had to get it looked at before his return trip. The Firestone shop had an opening. In the waiting area a lady had paid $800 for brakes but she still had an issue. That was the first red flag. Then they determined the coil was bad in our car. Ok $350 was a little high for a coil but whatever, paid them. Then they said it needed plugs and wires. Ok thanks I’ll take care of it. Stopped by a parts store for plugs, wires, and a rachet and spent an hour doing the job. Don’t know if it needed it or not but the car had to make the 1500 mile return trip. So I just would be a little leery of their recommendations.
Co worker came home from a road trip to Zion and other parks. Her 2004 Durango 5.7v8 had no issues on the trip until the charging system started failing. Firestone and other chains replaced everything but the Alternator. Dodge dealer in Nevada replaced the Alternator for a fairly reasonable cost compared to what she’d spent. Vowed to never spend a dime with those chains. Somewhere around 100k on it.
Otherwise reliable and she’d planned to keep it until a freak storm blew the 300yr old oak tree in the yard on top of it.
Most of the charging system issues were the voltage regulators for those Durango’s and others, the voltage regulators were inside the ECM and not in the alternator itself, lot of wrongfully replaced alternator back then…
You either had to replace the ECM or do a voltage regulator bypass kit, which changed it over to an externally mounted voltage regulator…
For the life of me I can’t figure out what multiple shops were replacing that cost all that much for a failed charging system other than the alternator or ECM or some fuses for that year Durango…
I’d be buying that kit, if it were my own vehicle
replacing a PCM is a lot more work, due to the fact it also may need to be flashed
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Yeah, I’m a (pre OBD) Mopar guy, but that was and still is a stupid thing to do, the ECM can adjust the voltage to an internal voltage regulator just as easy as it can an inch away in the same module… Either way a signal has to be sent to the alternator…
But yes, many of those kits have been sold and installed over the years…
The Alternator bearings were screaming for hel0 as I recall. New Alternator from Dodge solved the issue. Her dad listened to the very audible noises over cell phone and figured it out. All the chains ignored her.
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I used to overhaul my Gm alternators about every 70k just to avoid problems. Regulator, brushes, diode trio, and sometimes the bearing. About $30 in parts at Napa. Then they made it so they couldnt be taken apart easily and had to replace the whole thing. Bought Gm rebuilds then.
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Musta just had the maintenance techs looking at it, cause any 1/2 way decent mechanic will check the alt when it is not charging and or not charging and making noise…Heck an alt is the 1st thing most inexperienced techs want to throw at a no charge issue… I guess they just have some idiots working out wherever she was having it checked out…
That is about as basic as it gets, once you move past tires and brakes… lol
Sorry she had the issue, I don’t think that would have happened in Nashville area… At least not in any shop I ever work at…
I would like to know the whole situation cause I am just befuddled by this, I could see one shop maybe, but multiple shops with a no charge and a screaming bearing???
What all did the different shops replace??
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Maybe they replaced an old(er) battery and now saw 14v at idle at the battery . . .
but they had their music so loud that they didn’t realize the alternator was literally screaming for attention
I’ve known many guys that were literally “out of it” because they listen to their stuff all day long, with those ear buds, air pods, or whatever they’re called . . .
I can 100% see that at one of the shops, but what about the other shops???
Against Firestone company policy to have something in both ears, I am sure similar at other chain shops… but of course a law/rule is only as good as it is enforced… lol
@wolyrobb, I am not trying to argue with you, please don’t take it that way, I am just trying to wrap my head around it all..
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My understanding is the battery among ot
her parts were replaced. Different chain shops threw parts at the problem even after she told them what her dad suggested. Replace the Alternator. I feel if she’d found a independent repair shop they would have recognized the noise. Had planned to keep it going for 260,000 because other than that trip it never needed more than normal services and wear items with130,000 roughly when the tree fell. Wanting a smaller suv for just her mostly a Toyota Rav4 became the replacement. Kids had their own cars at that point
Three seoetate chain shops as she headed back to Wa trying the first place she’di limped into.when she decided to head for the closest Dodge dealer who diagnosed the problem replacing the alternator for a fair price. Considering the bills along the way.
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To get back on topic we had a dripping leak from the cam seal of a previous car. Our trusted shop found the leak quickly while also doing a brake job among other normal repair that became neededat the same time but the $900 bill for everything wasn’t going to break us averaged $300/yr until then.
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car still leaking. she doesn’t have money so i guess the plan is to let this car keep going as it is until it cant anymore. there is fresh leak daily where she parks and not sure how much the leak is but it leaves a small puddle. the liquid on ground if i capture it with tissue paper is color of new engine oil. but the viscosity doesn’t seem like engine oil. i am not sure what to do as this car is a money draining device and people can’t live without cars in this society while society doesn’t care if people end up on the streets while paying wages that make people live paycheck to paycheck.
so this car will just live out the rest of its life as is.
i have periodontitis and lost two of my teeth last year in november. my loss of teeth is permanent as i dont have means for implants and don’t want dentures as i am in my 40s.
i will heed caution and advice from “automotive doctors” of this forum. i consider car mechanics as automotive doctors. unfortunately in life a lot of us can’t have perfect circumstances and as someone that hasn’t had an actual job for about two years living off of gig income and being somewhat supported partially by my girlfriend it is unfeasible to try and fix this leak. my car has no leak as of now aside from possible leak into where the spark plugs sit. her car has a definitive leak but we can’t afford to do anything for now.
i will let the forum know when her car finally croaks.