Good evening all,
I have a small oil leak coming down back of oil pan in close proximity of the oil plug, has anyone noticed a common leak in this area? I would appreciate any input or ideas. thanks joe

 

Could be the pan seal, but most likely it is the Turbo oil drain seal. Look straight up form under the car at the back of the pan and you will see the drain tube. Seal is a bit of a PITA to replace, but not too bad.....definitely done worse jobs.

 

Thanks for the info, but I own a naturally aspirated 2.4 850. I am looking more in the lines of one of the front engine seals possibly leaking from timing cover or inspection plate gasket on block under manifold but again thanks and I will use that info when my sons turbo s40 starts leaking.

 

Not saying it is this, but it's so easy to check that it might be worth a shot. When I had oil all over the underside of my engine it turned out to be a leak from the cam position sensor on the driver's side of engine. It's an easy fix and a not-uncommon problem.

 

yep trace upward. If you recently changed to sythentic oil, you may want to revert back to a dino based "high mileage" brand which has seal softeners. (cured a rear main seal leak this way on my 850T). I agree its probably a cam seal - so you may want to test for crankcase pressure (ie see Robert DIY's Youtube vid on testing the PCV system) - do a glove test since that may be the root cause for a leaking seal. May be time to also do the PCV/flame trap.

 

The problem with leaks on the back of the block is that wind turbulence will move it all over back there. Best to clean the area then start your search. As stated, the turbo drain is the first place to look. There have been problems where high crank case pressure has ruptured the seal on the mid block or pan and there is nothing you can do in that case other than remove and reseal.

 

I also want to vote that the cam seals on the rear of the cams have leaked on a couple of my cars. In both cases they just pushed out of the bore all the way. When the exhaust cam rear seal (where the cam sensor is) gets pushed out oil will pour off the back of the oil pan.
Cheap and easy to fix.


If the seals on the front of the cam leak, then you're going to have to take the timing belt pullies off. That is quite a bit more work, but still not a huge problem.