Saturday, December 26, 2009

My car is leaking oil from somewhere. How bad is it?

My 2006 Sonata is leaking oil. I found it underneath on my driveway. It also sprayed all over my car just behind my wheel wells. I checked the oil level and it is full so I'm wondering what could be the problem. This morning, I didn't see any fluid under the car. I know this is pretty vague but I'm just looking to see what others think about it.My car is leaking oil from somewhere. How bad is it?
valve cover gasket or a oil pan gasketMy car is leaking oil from somewhere. How bad is it?
It might be a blocked inlet or filter.
it might be the oil pan bolts might need snugged up some, or the oil filter is leaking. iam not contridicting you, but if its leaking that much, how could it be full. are you sure its not a different kind of oil, like tranny or power steering oil? just thinking here!
If it sprayed all over the car get it to a shop to check for a leak. Rather than engine oil it might be trans fluid.
Had engine oil changed lately? Check to make sure that the oil filter is not leaking! Sometimes the gasket sticks to engine block and a mechainc ';in a hurry'; doesn't notice it, the edge of gasket blows out and oil leaks,-- but of course it would show on dipstick that you were loosing oil!





I the ';fluids'; are all ok, - engine oil, transmission fluid, P.S. fluid, and brake fluid, --- are all ok, -- then I would guess you have a bad CV joint ';boot';! And what you see could be the lubricating ';grease'; which is thicker than engine oil, but would still drip down off fender well when car is parked!





Each axle to drive wheels has two CV (constant velocity) joints. They each have a rubber boot which holds the lubricating grease in side to keep joints from wearing out as fast! They very easily get cracks or holes in them, - especially the outer ones, as they are very close to ';solid'; parts, and if something flys up and wedges in that area, - it is an ';instant hole'; (or sometimes tears the boot completely off)!... Also Ice in winter time will do the job of ';ruining boots';!--- Back in the era of ';rear wheel'; drive cars, - this never happened, as the rear axle was solid all the way across (and ';gear oil'; was inside that), and it had a driveshaft back (to) there with a pair of universal joints on it (2 not 4 like front wheel drive), and these were ';sealed';, - but the better (replacement type) joints were ';greaseable'; to make sure that they were well lubricated, -- but you had to grease them! The great innovation (they said at the Time), was there were no more universal joints to grease manually, and the lubricant was always there! Well that part is true of course, -- but only as long as the boots are good,- when they go bad, it is not as simple as ';manually greasing';, you have to take a whole lot of parts off and remeove shaft to replace the boot! -- And ';joint'; also, - if it went too long without grease in it!





By the way you want to find out asap, - as CV shaft or joint replacement is not cheap!
any leak is bad and its sounds like it is pretty bad to get all over..... best to check everything oil transmission coolant brake fluid and power steering and after you have done this drive to the closest shop

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