Oil Leak

rannel.bradley · Sat May 20, 2017 2:32 am

I've had my car about a week now and so far it's it's been pretty good. There is always some adjustment and little this and that's when buying a used car and I understand that.

Today I realized I'm leaking oil, and pretty quickly. It's not gushing out but after only a couple of hours there is a small puddle of leaked oil underneath the front passenger side. I'm hoping this something common and or easy to fix.

I realized this while cleaning my throttle bottle in case I'm having the common CVT tremble problem. (I think my rotors are warped). I found moisture of some kind on the inner sides of the intake. It looked like oil and I don't have any idea why or how that would be there.

Does anyone know any common causes of oil leaks in the area? Where I should I start?

WESHOOT2 · Sat May 20, 2017 2:46 pm

Oil pressure sending unit (maybe, probably); repair ASAP!!!!!!

Might also be a poorly installed filter, which is why my Kizashi only goes to the dealer for service.

Brakes? BrakePerformance.com (highly recommend their drilled/slotted set with their standard pads).

Sat May 20, 2017 2:48 pm

For the oil leak, start with the common culprits: a loose oil drain plug or one that is missing the washer. Also check for a loose oil filter. If both of these are good and not leaking, then you likely have a bad seal from a gasket somewhere.

As for oil on your throttle body: Do you have a K&N air filter or is it possible that the previous owner had one installed? Improper oiling can cause the air to pull the oil out of the filter and into the intake, gumming up the MAF sensor and throttle body.

rannel.bradley · Sat May 20, 2017 5:14 pm

I'll check all of that asap. I'm really hoping it's an easy fix. I ordered the brakes and rotors off Amazon. I thought about getting high performance but honestly it's a commuter car in a pretty good climate, very little bad weather or anything here.

KuroNekko wrote:For the oil leak, start with the common culprits: a loose oil drain plug or one that is missing the washer. Also check for a loose oil filter. If both of these are good and not leaking, then you likely have a bad seal from a gasket somewhere.

As for oil on your throttle body: Do you have a K&N air filter or is it possible that the previous owner had one installed? Improper oiling can cause the air to pull the oil out of the filter and into the intake, gumming up the MAF sensor and throttle body.

There is a k&n filter on the car. It looks pretty clean. So I cleaned the throttle body but should I clean the sensors and what not as well?

Sat May 20, 2017 5:35 pm

Accurately locating the source of oil leaks from the top-side of a Kizashi is nearly impossible due to the plastic under panels. You're going to have to get the car up in the air, or on ramps, and pull the passenger side under-cover off and have a thorough look around. A lot of oil in a short amount of time could very well be the pressure sender. If it ends up being that, stop driving the car immediately until you replace it. When those things let go completely, your engine oil will pump out (all over the place) in less than a few minutes.

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Sat May 20, 2017 5:43 pm

rannel.bradley wrote: There is a k&n filter on the car. It looks pretty clean. So I cleaned the throttle body but should I clean the sensors and what not as well?

Well, that filter is your likely culprit, especially if it's been cleaned before. It may be that the filter was cleaned and re-oiled... a bit too much. If there is oil on the throttle body, it's likely that your MAF sensor may be contaminated.
Use a specialized cleaner like the following product if you see oil on the MAF sensor.

Sat May 20, 2017 7:46 pm

Clean the MAF and switch back to a good old fashion cotton/paper air filter.

rannel.bradley · Wed May 31, 2017 12:52 am

The leak was just a bad or badly installed oil filter. Did an oil change and haven't had the issue since.

eatrocks · Wed May 31, 2017 2:27 am

How would the maf sensor get oil on it? It's on the air filter line above the oil filter.

My last oil change(9k miles with conventional) came back with low oil on the dipstick. No cel or oil lights came on. I assume it was Valvoline screwing up yet again.

In the past I've gotten my phone down to the filter to take pics of the leaky filter. They don't wipe down the area before they screw on a new filter so grime accumulates around and the filter won't seat properly.

Wed May 31, 2017 5:17 pm

eatrocks wrote:How would the maf sensor get oil on it? It's on the air filter line above the oil filter.

We're talking about K&N oil, not motor oil. If a K&N filter is over-oiled, the air actually pulls the oil out of the filter media and into the intake, covering the MAF sensor and throttle body with the K&N oil.

eatrocks wrote: My last oil change(9k miles with conventional) came back with low oil on the dipstick. No cel or oil lights came on. I assume it was Valvoline screwing up yet again.

I think 9,000 miles on conventional motor oil is pushing it. I think the owner's manual calls for an oil change interval of 7,500 miles with conventional oil in "normal" driving conditions. If you are driving in heavy traffic, in hot climates, cold climates, or make frequent short trips, you should really follow the "severe" driving condition interval. I think your engine was burning up the conventional oil by the time you came to change it given it probably lost a lot of lubricity by then. The oil pressure light only comes on when the oil level is so low, it affects the pressure. From seeing it on in other people's car, it seems that it comes on when your oil level is around 50% of total capacity. That's like 2 quarts low in an engine that takes 4 quarts. By the time the light is on, it's not a reminder, but a warning of impending engine damage. Hence, it's a red light instead of an orange one.
If you want to extend your oil change interval, use synthetic motor oil with a high quality filter. These will help preserve the condition of your engine. I personally change my oil every 7,500 miles with a full synthetic motor oil and a top quality oil filter like Mobil 1, K&N, Bosch DistancePlus, or Purolator PureOne (recently saw that there is a new Purolator BOSS oil filter that's now their top filter).

eatrocks wrote: In the past I've gotten my phone down to the filter to take pics of the leaky filter. They don't wipe down the area before they screw on a new filter so grime accumulates around and the filter won't seat properly.

Yeah, you're supposed to clean the seating area for the oil filter's gasket prior to installation. The appropriate amount of installation torque also matters to prevent filter leaks. When I first learned how to change oil, my neighbor told me to tighten an oil filter as hard as I could with my hands. It's a technique that has never failed me and the only time I ever had an oil filter leak was when I used a cap wrench and followed the filter's box instructions. I'm back to using my hands for installation and find that removing the exhaust manifold heat cover can be helpful for better access to the oil filter.