My work has a '95 Mercury Mystique with the 2L Zetec engine. It’s been having for the past few months a slow oil leak onto the exhaust, where it then burns, stinks up the car, and occasionally leaves oil on someone’s driveway. Any ideas for how to do a quick fix on this? We don’t have much money, and the car’s such a pile that it’s not worth getting it properly fixed. I was thinking about using brake cleaner to spot the leak and then pouring RTV wherever it was coming from. Would this even hold?
PS- I found a post once from a guy with a Contour, same issue, claimed his oil pressure sensor gasket was leaking, and it required a full pull of the engine. Also, I’ve looked at it, it looks like the whole pulley side of the engine is covered in oil.
If you are lucky torquing the valve cover bolts may work.
After you tighten up the valve cover, locate the oil pressure sender (it will be near the oil filter) and see if it’s leaking…
RTV Can’t Be Used As A Band - Aid To Cover And Seal A Leak. It Is Meant To Form A Gasket Between Two Surfaces. I Wouldn’t Waste The Time To Clean The Leak And Pour On RTV.
However, cleaning off the oil and then rechecking frequently could help you pinpoint the leak location. The valve cover could be the culprit. It might have to come off and have a new gasket (or RTV, whichever the design) installed. Try and clean that seam between the cover and the head and keep an eye on it.
CSA