What To Do When Dealing With Engine Oil Leaks
If your engine oil leaks out and causes stains on your garage floor, or on your driveway if you happen to park your vehicle outside overnight, it can be irritating. You don’t want to have to deal with this yourself, or to get your hands dirty necessarily, or you may find it difficult due to particular limitations in your case anyway. Before you think about taking the car to an auto mechanic shop maybe you should have a quick look anyway to see what is happening?
You can ascertain exactly where engine oil leaks are coming from rather easily by putting a sheet of cardboard or an old newspaper underneath the vehicle overnight. If you store the car outside you may have to put a couple of stones or bricks in there just to make sure that the paper doesn’t blow away, but the following morning you will be able to see those telltale spots.
In the morning, look for telltale spots on the newspaper that you placed there overnight. You will be able to see where oil is leaking from and may be able to determine whether it is trickling down from another place above. If you suspect that this is the case, open the hood or go beneath and shine a torch or flashlight.
On occasion, fixing engine oil leaks can be as simple as bolt tightening, or finding out whether or not you have a leak in one of the lines. Remember that when oil is cold, as it is first thing in the morning, it is less fluid but when it heats up it tends to become a lot thinner and can leak from smaller holes as a consequence.
In your auto parts store you will be able to get one of those products that helps you to seal leaks from the inside out. Then, all you need to do is to add it when you top up your oil and it will coat the inside of the lines and prevent the oil from coming out through those small holes.
If left unchecked engine oil leaks can lead to substantial mechanical issues over time. Quite apart from this they will cause an unsightly mess on your previously pristine driveway or garage floor. What are you going to say when first-time visitors see those unsightly patches of old oil on your driveway?
In order to ensure that engine oil leaks do not cause considerable damage to the floor you should at the very least get one of those purpose made absorbent mats in order to catch whatever falls from above.
Always remember that while you may assume that your excessive lubricant consumption is due to engine oil leaks, it could be to do with an internal engine issue. To find out if this is the case leave the engine running for a while and then have a look at the exhaust pipe behind. When the engine is warm and you can see spots of oil coming from the exhaust pipe, you need to set up an appointment with your qualified mechanic.
