About 3 months ago, I replaced my timing belt, cam seals, tensioner pulley, water pump, and the front main seal. I also replaced the head gasket, and valve cover gasket. The car has been running great and still is but I cannot seem to find this new oil leak. It presented itself a few days ago while driving in Palm Springs. I know for a fact the rear main seal needs to be replaced because it's leaking out the boot next to the slave cylinder. My question is, oil was making it all the way back to the cat and there was oil all over the place (Cross Member, Where the tranny meets the engine) but nothing noticeable from looking down the front of the engine. Is it possible this issue can be caused by a leaking oil pan or a oil sending unit as well or maybe even the oil filter area? I know this isn't much information but I will inspect the car this weekend and take pictures as well.

best thing any of us can tell you is to clean the hell out of the area that's covered in oil. get the car in the air and run the engine watching for where it's leaking from. sometimes it helps to have someone in the car changing up the revs to see if it leaks at a certain rpm (usually above X rpms)

Erik P.
Official 2GNT thread Hijacker
Some say that he's driven over more Covenant than he's shot, and that his grenades aren't where you'd expect them to be...
All we know is, He's not The Stig... But he is The Stig's Spartan cousin!

Ok cool. I'll do that. Thanks!

Recently, i've been doing all the work on my car because I really don't trust anyone to work on my car from any shop. The information here at 2gnt is excellent and I'm proud to own a 2gnt. So I was looking back on some of the previous work I had done on my car and I found the Camshaft Position Sensor was leaking. I removed it and found the O ring wasn't even seated correctly. This is what you can expect from shops. I went a purchased another O ring earlier today and installed it. No more leak from that area! If the O ring is leaking badily, can it leave large amounts of oil on the ground? After replacing the O ring, I'm down to a small drip now right above the oil filter area which most likely is the Crankshaft sensor.

Just remember after fixing the leak there will be more oil from that leak still making it's way to the ground. (unless you cleaned it really really good) So it may just be that oil getting to the end if it's trail. The crank sensor is easy to check and replace though if you are hunting a leak. As for the x-member and all that is likely from that rear main, as it will also leak where the inspection plate is, where the bell housing meets the block. So get the rear main done as soon as you can. The wind will whip all that oil around under there though so it will get onto the cat and the underside of the unibody under the fire wall etc, it will blow everywhere.. Good luck bro I've chased leaks before and I know it stinks!

I edited to the wiki!

Try your oil pressure sending unit.

I was being driven crazy for three months, it was only that

Sounds almost exactly what you are describing as well.

Thanks for your help guys. The sending unit looks good. I installed a new O ring for the Camshaft Position senor so that's good now. The Rear Main Seal and the Crankshaft sensor are leaking small amounts. I will definitely replace the sensor this weekend since it's very easy to do, but on the other hand, I'm not sure the level of difficulty of dropping the transmission to get to the seal. The shop wants 370 to do it and I feel like I can do it but I don't even know where to begin. Do we have a write up for this by any chance?

i would also check the o-ring in the oil filter housing, take the housing down and in there is a rubber o-ring, swap that out, it is a 7 dollar dealer part but may help solve the problem for you

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2002 Audi A4 Quattro (thats my daily)

2003 Honda Element (thats the wifes)

1996 Eclipse GS - AEM Cam Gears, Crane Cams #10,Ported & Polished Head bore .20, Greddy Header 4-1, HKS Exhaust 2.5,Random free flow cat,
B&M Short Shifter, AEM CAI, Bored TB .55 Mil, MSD coil pack, compression on new motor Cyl#1=215,Cyl#2=210,Cyl#3=210,Cyl#4=215

Put the car on some jack stands, clean up the area really good. Start up the car with it on the stands, grab some popcorn if you need to, and watch for the leak. If it is bad enough, it won't take long to spot it.

I had a problem with a leak that was dripping onto the CV axels which in turn flung the oil all over the place. it was im possible to pinpoint where it was coming from. That may explain seeing it in weird spots.

Good luck. Oh, by the way, my oil pressure sensor gave out and was leaking around the body of the connector. That could be your problem, but that is just something to check.

Built block.
Refinished head.
Tuned suspension.
TURBO.

Ok I checked out the oil filter housing and it's not leaking. I cleaned the tranny about one week ago and it's definitely leaking from the rear main seal for sure. Not a lot but enough to notice that it is. Still looking for info on how to drop the tranny and what tools are needed. The Camshaft Position Sensor was the main leak which I fixed a few days ago and it's been great since. Once again, thanks again for the help!

Just thought I would share this. I purchased a rebuilt kit for my Clutch Master Cylinder and installed it today. Very easy install, and no more leaking in the car thank god. Also I had a small hole in my windshield wiper reservoir so I patched that while I was in the area. I also pumped out the oil power steering fluid and replaced it with Valvoline Power Steering Fluid. The car is running great! One problem though, I have a check engine light now. Apparently the camshaft position got wet with engine cleaner causing the car to take long to turn on now. Roughly about 4 seconds. I will be cleaning that tomorrow morning for sure. Anyways, I learned how to do all these things from reading these forums. Now I'm pretty confident I can pull just about anything off now.

this forum is a wealth of info, and the people here are the best around

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2002 Audi A4 Quattro (thats my daily)

2003 Honda Element (thats the wifes)

1996 Eclipse GS - AEM Cam Gears, Crane Cams #10,Ported & Polished Head bore .20, Greddy Header 4-1, HKS Exhaust 2.5,Random free flow cat,
B&M Short Shifter, AEM CAI, Bored TB .55 Mil, MSD coil pack, compression on new motor Cyl#1=215,Cyl#2=210,Cyl#3=210,Cyl#4=215

Well I'm done with the projects for this week. I thought I would post a picture of my engine bay. It's getting there!

I'm open to hearing any suggestions you might have!

$370 sounds decent for rear main replacement. The seal is really only about $10 and takes maybe 5 minutes to install, but it's a PITA to get to. Some would drop the trans, others would pull the engine.

Dropping the transmission (about six hours your first time):
- Lift the car and remove the front wheels.
- Drain the transmission fluid. (2.1qts capacity)
- Remove lower bolt in strut fork.
- Unbolt lower control arm where it mounts unibody.
- Leave bastard nut on the outer end of the CV and use brake rotor as handle to pull/pop the CV out of the diff. (Or use a pry bar to coerce it from the diff.
- Free the clutch slave from the front of the bell housing.
- Remove your battery, battery tray, intake pipe.
- Disconnect the shifter cables on the top of the trans.
- Support the trans from below with a jack (use a piece of wood to protect the cast aluminum bellhousing).
- Take the block-to-bellhousing bolts loose.
- Take the (2) trans mount center bolts loose.
- Size up the situation and take care with separation of the trans from the block. You don't want to just have it fall on the floor. Cast aluminum is a bitch to weld back up.

Since you're going to go through all that trouble, you ought to consider a new clutch and TOB while you're at it. It's even easier to replace than a headlight bulb once you're in there. Give SBC a call and see what they can do for you in terms of a nice street clutch.

Have fun.

I have a mysterious oil leak too, I just put more in every couple of weeks.