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WHEN does oil leak?

2K views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  Bigcanoes 
#1 ·
I am looking at a small oil leak in the engine area of my TJ. Once I wipe it off, I am curious, when do the following areas leak? Do they leak only when the engine is hot, running, in gear, vehicle is moving? Can anyone clarify?

Valve Cover Gasket
Oil Pan Gasket
Rear Main Seal

Thanks in advance!
 
#2 ·
It depends really on a number of factors, location of the leak, oil pressure, etc.

Oil (like many substances) is less viscous (thick) when hot, so it will tend to leak MORE when hot, and the engine running provides the critical oil pressure, which also will "help" it leak; so...yeah..all of the above.

It's possible if you have a small leak and relatively heavy (thick) oil your leak may not present itself when the engine is not running/cold, but it's also possible that it will leak all of the time.
 
#3 ·
Ya mine seems to only leak when hot or after being run. Once it cools down and I wipe off the drips it doesnt come back...until its run again that is. Just trying to see if I can narrow down the culprit! I dont really know where the oil sits other than the oil pan, so it makes sense that the valve cover wouldnt drip when its not running or hot. But I dont know if the RMS is always bathed in oil or only when moving, etc.
 
#5 ·
Of all those possibility's changing the valve cover gasket is the easiest and cheapest to do.

After that if you remove the oil pan to change the gasket then doing the rear main seal at the same time is only logical.

If your wiping oil off from somewhere try following the oil trail up, if it goes above the pan and the crankshaft height then most likely it's coming down from the valve cover gasket.

Just make sure it's not coming from some place unlikely like the oil filter and blowing back and down the pan or some other weird spot.

If you really want to trace it they sell dye's that you add to the oil and when it eventually leaks out with the oil you can track it with a UV light.

One example:

HR.

.
 
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