Oil leak concensus

[1bad88]

Good Morning . I have a 1999 Aurora 4.0. I am chasing BAD oil leaks. I have replaced the oil pressure sending unit as it had a bad leak OK now
Oil still coming from under engine towards rear.. Before I tackle the Valve cover [ right ] rear.
Can that be a source for bad oil leak ?? I have read all the threads on oil leaks. Just want to verify with the Aurora experts..

THANKS in advance for any advice
Jim

[Marc]

It could be.

[quixote]

"Bad" oil leak(s) are a relative thing, around here, as you know if you have read the old posts.

My dumb question is: What oil are you running?

I've had minor --I guess-- leaks on mine, since I got it. I started getting oil pressure warnings, when I put in 4-5 quarts of full synthetic. I really couldn't tell you, if it leaked worse, at that point. I was not too concerned about 1 quart every 6-8 weeks (before the synthetic)... At any rate, the "fix" for my oil pressure problem was about 4 quarts of 20w50. Apparently, the synthetic was shooting through gaps in the seals, etc.  Once I started putting the 20w50 in, I was fairly content to have the excuse, without just throwing away another oil change.  I didn't pay attention to the rate I was doing it, but I believe it was 40-50% faster.

Some people are using 0w30 now... I'm sort of curious to hear what their long-term results are. We see a fair number of 'out there' ideas, & then don't necessarily hear how they went. It leaves you wondering if their cars burst into flames & they were just too embarassed to give us the end of the story. (Of course, some probably had wrecks or unrelated reasons they got rid of the car, anyway.)

I should point out that I got my car just under 3 years ago, from a skin-flint "dealer," who seems to have used any snake-oil liquid fix that they thought would save them a buck, so they could unload the car for as much profit as possible. I'm looking now at possibly replacing my engine, possibly just re-studding it with a gasket replacement festival.

[sall]

If the valve cover gaskets have never been replaced they are probably leaking a bit. Pretty easy visual inspection. Half case and oil pan are always suspect. In most cases oil and cardboard/cat litter are cheaper than seal replacement. A high mileage oil like valvoline maxlife is a good choice.

I am running Mobil 0w-30 in my Classic. It can be used anywhere 5w-30 or 10w-30 are recommended. I'm not really sold on using it for spring/summer oci but seems like a good choice for winter. I like to play around with different oils though.

[RCA1186]

I'm currently running High mileage Mobil 1 Full synthetic 5w-30 and have been running it for about 4 months now. This is a change from full synthetic 10w-30 of the same type that I've been running since I owned my Aurora and ran on my old Aurora (so almost ten years now). I haven't experienced any change in oil leaking from the usual 1/2 to 1 quart every 4-6 months.


I would guess that your leak is most likely from the half case/pan gasket. I've also heard of the rear main seal leaking on these engines. I've done my valve covers as well. I guess we would have to know what your definition of a "bad" leak is? More than a quart every couple months? As Sall said, in most cases even with buying extra oil, you aren't going to exceed the cost of the leak repair in your ownership of the car.

[wfooshee]

There are more mating surfaces on this engine than just about any other engine out there. The fact that it holds oil is miraculous, in my opinion! You've got valve covers, one of which has the end of a camshaft punching though it. You've got the front cover trying to contain the oil splashed on the timing chains. There's the split-block seam at the crankshaft, and not one, but two mating surface at the oil pan (because of the baffle plate,) only one of which has a gasket. And.... the aluminum is known to be porous enough to actually seep oil through the "solid" material!

Unless you're having to add oil several times between changes, to me it's not worth chasing leaks. OTOH, if it's pumping oil out, then yeah, that needs to be fixed. Judgement call. How much drip can you tolerate in your driveway, how much oil has to be added how often, and how hard is the leak to get to. (The pan is VERY hard to get to, amazingly enough.)

[randnon]

Hello guys , this is hard for me to admit but on my 95 winter Aurora it leaks / burns 1 qt every ~1200 miles , with most or that being seepage from the rear main and block split. The pressure is good and I use a mix of base and synthetic oil. It is enough to make a mess on my garage floor however ,so I did the unthinkable. I took one of my wife's brownie / cookie trays and fabricated some strapping to attach it under the oil pan and catch any drippings off the oil pan. My floor is dry , I add 2 qts of std oil between changes, and I give the inspection mechanics a good laugh. I wipe it down every oil change. The wife was happy with the new $7 cookie tray. If the weather gets better I will post a picture with the next oil change , due in ~3weeks ( 8% left). Rich in Buffalo

[randnon]

OK here are the pictures for my makeshift oil leak repair.

[wfooshee]

Mar 30, 2018 13:31:01 GMT -6 randnon said:

OK here are the pictures for my makeshift oil leak repair.

Your pictures didn't show. When I looked at the URL for the images, I'd not heard of the site, but a little Googling showed me that it's postimage.org, not postimg.org. They may have something wrong with their linking code, or maybe they didn't actually by the postimg.org domain they originally intended. Anyway, here are the pics for those wondering what they were. But basically, you put a diaper on your car...









By the way, I'm seeing that URL error EVERYWHERE!