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[URGENT] car leaking oil [SOLVED]
bowen
Sup?Registered User regular
Sup?Registered User regular
I just got back from lunch at work and noticed my car is leaving drops of oil everywhere (and I just double checked and there's a pool of oil underneath my car. How do I go about fixing this as the next time I can get to the shop is probably tomorrow morning. And I have to travel 20 miles tonight after work (can't miss it, it's required).
Any ideas? I don't have any ramp, but I might have a jack to lift my car up a bit.
Any ideas? I don't have any ramp, but I might have a jack to lift my car up a bit.
not a doctor, not a lawyer, examples I use may not be fully researched so don't take out of context plz, don't @ me
bowen on
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check the oil dipstick, if it's low top it up (stop by a gas station if you don't have the quart of oil you should always keep in the trunk).
Well, it's about midway back, on the right hand side of the car so I'm assuming it's the drain plug, just wondering if you more experienced car guys had any tips about this.
It's black when it hits the pavement so it's hard to tell, can I keep filling it up until tomorrow morning when I can get to the shop or does it need to be fixed and looked at urgently?
I'm going to try and jack it up and get under the car.
Important safety tip Egon: DO NOT JACK UP YOUR CAR AND THE CRAWL UNDER IT. Either get it on some ramps, or jackstands. Cars that slip, move, or jacks that give out tend to make your day a lot worse.
My truck had a bad leak a while back...turns out the doofus who put the oil pan gasket on, didn't use the sealant and 3" of it slipped out so I have nice big opening from the oil pan to the world. It was an easy if time consuming fix. I still have a very small leak at my rear main seal. It's expensive to fix, so try a few options out, like getting a thickener (I can't recall the las one I used, it worked decently) that you add to the oil. The idea is the thicker fluid will kind of fill up and solidify enough to stop a very small leak. Your next oil change will get rid of what didn't gum up the leak if it does work.
All of this said, I'm not a trained mechanic and it wouldn't hurt to get a professional opinion as soon as you can.
Environmentally speaking, you should do your best not to leak oil all over the place, but so long as your oil level is not too low (read from the dipstick) driving the car around isn't going to hurt the engine. Just top it up.
Of course there is risk of engine fire if oil has leaked all over the engine. Did you recently have an oil change? Any work done recently on the car?
Also if you're jacking up the car make sure to put jack stands or use multiple jacks or something. Don't go under the car and poke around if the only thing holding your car up is a single scissors jack.
However, I got my little ol' mother to come get it and take it into the shop for me before they close and I'm going to borrow her car.
Mothers are wonderful.
That's what I'm thinking, I'm not going to risk getting under there to tighten it, though, so hopefully they'll fix this gratis (which I'm sure they will).