How would I know if my car has an oil leak ? My oil level seems to fall slightly

[Fastlife91]

I drive a 2006 mk2 Focus 1.8 TDCI Sport with 138,400 on clock approx.

 

I recently noticed lately that when I am checking my oil level (always from cold on level surface ), it seems a bit lower each time on dipstick.

I have looked over top of engine but can't see any leak, there was quite a build up of oil half way down in engine bay but I jetwashed that off, I think that was from when I had a rocker cover leak.

I can't see everywhere as things are in the way, I want to jet wash all the engine, then get it looked at by a mechanic about 1 week after washing engine to see if any oil has returned to confirm if it is leaking.

A few months ago my car was accidentally jacked up from under sump, oil poured out everywhere as the sump was badly crushed but my friend hit dent out and put it back on car. You can not see any oil dripping from sump but could this still be a possibility to explain oil level drop?

I smell like a burning oil smell sometimes when operating car heaters via vents, but this may be from old oil leak, as said, I need to jetwash engine all over in case old oil is still present.

 

I have had valve seals replaced  , or so I am told , ( garage diagnosed and charged for head gasket just days after I bought the car, they said they also replaced valve seals but now lots of people that I know  say ty doubt the HG had been replaced and that it looks like only water pump was replaced, so now I am not sure my valve seals have even been replaced.

 

My car has no unusual smell from exhaust, there is no blue smoke, in fact it does not smoke at all, not even in the cold, it passed an MOT recently and no problems on emissions which shows it's clear.

 

Any ideas please?

 

Can see no oil leaks but no sign of oil burning

 

 

Many thanks

I

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[kingsblue]

Usually when you get an oil burning smell through the heater vents, oil is dripping onto the hot exhaust & getting burnt off, I suspect your sump is still leaking somewhere, whether it's the sump itself or where it mates to the engine block.

[jb72510]

The sump needs to be sealed properly using the correct sealent. If this isn't done oil could seep out (since the oil is pressurized). So it may appear as though the sump has been fitted correctly but may not be sealed correctly.

 

Jamie.

[Fastlife91]

13 hours ago, Fastlife91 said:

I drive a 2006 mk2 Focus 1.8 TDCI Sport with 138,400 on clock approx.

 

I recently noticed lately that when I am checking my oil level (always from cold on level surface ), it seems a bit lower each time on dipstick.

I have looked over top of engine but can't see any leak, there was quite a build up of oil half way down in engine bay but I jetwashed that off, I think that was from when I had a rocker cover leak.

I can't see everywhere as things are in the way, I want to jet wash all the engine, then get it looked at by a mechanic about 1 week after washing engine to see if any oil has returned to confirm if it is leaking.

A few months ago my car was accidentally jacked up from under sump, oil poured out everywhere as the sump was badly crushed but my friend hit dent out and put it back on car. You can not see any oil dripping from sump but could this still be a possibility to explain oil level drop?

I smell like a burning oil smell sometimes when operating car heaters via vents, but this may be from old oil leak, as said, I need to jetwash engine all over in case old oil is still present.

 

I have had valve seals replaced  , or so I am told , ( garage diagnosed and charged for head gasket just days after I bought the car, they said they also replaced valve seals but now lots of people that I know  say ty doubt the HG had been replaced and that it looks like only water pump was replaced, so now I am not sure my valve seals have even been replaced.

 

My car has no unusual smell from exhaust, there is no blue smoke, in fact it does not smoke at all, not even in the cold, it passed an MOT recently and no problems on emissions which shows it's clear.

 

Any ideas please?

 

Can see no oil leaks but no sign of oil burning

 

 

Many thanks

I

 

12 minutes ago, jb72510 said:

The sump needs to be sealed properly using the correct sealent. If this isn't done oil could seep out (since the oil is pressurized). So it may appear as though the sump has been fitted correctly but may not be sealed correctly.

 

Jamie.

Thanks Jamie

I  looked at the oil sump several weeks ago but can not see any oil on it, doesn't look like oil has been seeping out. No seal was used when the sump was put back on.

 

may the sump still be the culprit ? 

 

Thanks

13 hours ago, Fastlife91 said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Fastlife91]

3 hours ago, kingsblue said:

Usually when you get an oil burning smell through the heater vents, oil is dripping onto the hot exhaust & getting burnt off, I suspect your sump is still leaking somewhere, whether it's the sump itself or where it mates to the engine block.

Thank you very much for helping.

 

Yes, I get a burning smell sometimes when car heaters are on, it's a burning oil smell. I can not see any leak on the oil sump last time I checked it, but could it still cause the drop on oil although I cannot see a leak on it or dripping from it ??

 

Please don't tell me you think the engine block has been damaged ! 

 

you said'' the sum itself or were it mates to the block''  got me scared that the engine block may be damaged ?!

[jb72510]

I believe the sump will be part of the problem, It certainly should have sealer between the sump and the bottom of the engine. Is there any chance you may have over filled the oil at any point?

[Fastlife91]

15 minutes ago, jb72510 said:

I believe the sump will be part of the problem, It certainly should have sealer between the sump and the bottom of the engine. Is there any chance you may have over filled the oil at any point?

Hey

I don't recall ever over filling the engine with oil.

 

I cannot see any oil leaking from the sump

 

The sump was completely battered though once the car had been accidentally jacked up underneath it and oil poured out everywhere, he hit dent out and put it back on car, he didn't do anything else with it.

 

He was doing a job and was under my car to do I think suspension arm a few months back and he said there was oil that looked like it was coming from head gasket, then a few minutes later he discovered the rocker cover was leaking again so we put it down to that and not the HG as a lot of oil had seeped out from rocker cover.

I want to jet wash engine and then get it checked about 1 - 2 weeks after to make sure there is no oil found on or nr the engine block. I am sure it was just from rocker cover .

Fixed rocker cover leak months ago but still a drop in oil and still smell oil sometimes when car heater is on, but that could be old oil from last time

 

 

quick question,  if oil had been over filled would that cause low oil now and why ??

 

 

Many thanks

 

[jb72510]

Hmmm I'm not sure in that case then!! With regards to the other question, if you over fill your car with oil it can cause damage to the internals of your engine.  This is because oil is used to lubricate the internals of your engine. oil cannot be compressed and too much will result in the excess oil "foaming" this will result in the oil not lubricating the internals properly however all this would only be a result of a massive overfill. Also as far as I am aware overfilling wouldn't result in less oil now! And with regards to the smell of oil, it may very well be old oil as it can take a while to completely burn off.

 

Also its worth noting too much oil in your engine will cause low oil pressure, contrary to popular belief.

Sorry I cant be more help with regards to the original question!

 

 

[Fastlife91]

On ‎08‎/‎02‎/‎2016 at 7:48 PM, jb72510 said:

Hmmm I'm not sure in that case then!! With regards to the other question, if you over fill your car with oil it can cause damage to the internals of your engine.  This is because oil is used to lubricate the internals of your engine. Oil cannot be compressed and too much will result in the excess oil "foaming" this will result in the oil not lubricating the internals properly however all this would only be a result of a massive overfill. Also as far as I am aware overfilling wouldn't result in less oil now! And with regards to the smell of oil, it may very well be old oil as it can take a while to completely burn off.

 

Also its worth noting too much oil in your engine will cause low oil pressure, contrary to popular belief.

Sorry I cant be more help with regards to the original question!

 

 

Thank you very much, once again.

 

I have been using 10 w 40 oil in my car, Brian said 10 4 wo is the correct oil for my car.  However on another forum another person told me my car takes 5 W 30 oil, I looked on the Halfords website and according to that my car should take 5 W 30  oil  so I am not  sure what oil I should use or if I should continue using 10 W 40 oil.

 

I went to a garage the other day and they said it looks like the turbo oil feed pipe has a slight leak, I remember a different mechanic telling me that a while ago too . The turbo oil feed pipe on my car blew a few months ago so Brian made one in his garage and put it on.

I can't see oil dripping on the floor but several peop0le have said turbo oil feed pipe has slight leak so I will replace it with a new one and see if that helps

 

 

any ideas ?