Minor Oil Leak

[Ex-Galaxy person]

Hi All,

 

I posted about getting a good price for an oil/filter change recently, from Kwik-Fit...anyway, there now appears to be a slight oil leak - but only when the car is facing slightly uphill.

 

Our drive slopes gently down to the road - I normally reverse on to the drive, so the car faces slightly downhill. When I do this, it doesn't leak. However, a couple of times I've parked it forwards, facing slightly uphill, and when I do this it leaks a little bit of oil. It doesn't seem to do this when level.

 

I've jacked the car up and had a look with a torch - can't see where it might be coming from. I did notice that the sump is protected by a plastic cover. Unfortunately, I didn't really have the time to whip it off and have a look.

 

Here's my question: is it likely that there is old oil sitting inside this plastic cover, that only drips out when the car is uphill - maybe leaking around the edge of the where the drain plug is (which is actually angled backwards)? As I've never had this off (I've not actually taken much apart on this car yet!) I've got no idea whether this is a reasonable deduction. I know there are hundreds of places where oil can leak from - but I've never come across an oil leak that only happens when the car is at an angle. Anyone else had this?

 

It'll be going back to Kwik-Fit anyway (the branch I use is generally quite good), but I wondered if anyone else had experienced an oil leak like this.

 

cheers,

 

Phillip

[seatkid]

Keep an eye on the oil level......

 

Could be leaking from oil filter gasket (I had this a couple of times) or from the (possibly cross threaded) sump plug.

 

The oil drips onto the under engine cover and would only escape when facing up hill or the oil coats the underside of the car at speed.

 

If you notice it on the ground, its likely to be a severe leak. So, again, keep an eye on the oil level......

[Ex-Galaxy person]

Hi Seatkid,

 

So I decided to pull the car off the drive and check the oil on level ground...and it's actually been overfilled, which I know isn't good. I know overfilling will make the engine work harder, but I'm not sure what the other implications are; I'm assuming that overfilling on its own won't make it leak (don't think it's a huge overfill).

 

Back to Kwik-Fit after work tomorrow.....thanks for the advice.

 

Phillip