How you can be confident in finding your own oil leak on your car. I was also able to score you guys 25% off at Advance Auto Parts. Use the code "HUMBLEOILLEAK" when you check out and some some $$$$!!!
Anyway you could be awesome humble and give me the part numbers for those cam adjuster seals or orings on the TSI engine you pointed out? Ive had a pesky leak on mine and that may be what it is. I've had it in the shop 3 times for oil leaks.
Added oil dye to my '93 Range Rover. Now my driveway can be seen from space, as well as the route I took to the shopping centre, where I parked, and back home
My Dad would have enjoyed your channel. He started as a mechanic back in 1945. And he worked all the way through till 1993 when he passed away from heart failure. He absolutely loved working on cars. He was also an avid car racer. We have a local track where he went. (Of course when he was much younger). But he would have loved to watch all of your videos. I feel like my Dad is sitting next to me as I watch them. Thank you for the content and excellent advice!
In my experience the black light dye is the best way to find a leak. It's fast, cheap and works like a charm. Just make sure you use the right kind of dye for the type of leak you're trying to track down. Don't use coolant leak dye to try to find an oil leak and vise versa.
Any suggestions I put the engine die in to detect oil leak, the crime-scene lit up at the front of the engine down below the radiator in the front right corner, has anyone had this happen,? I would welcome any advice,
I’ve been killing myself trying to find an oil leak on my first gen EcoBoost in my truck and I totally forgot about this stuff. So glad your video came up on my recommended videos. Thanks, bud!
I hate to say "the internet" as a tool of diagnosis, but talking with a lot of other people online can give you a good insight into what you might want to check out if you are searching for a leak on your own vehicle.
Front crank seal leaks are also another common spot, and they present as oil pan gasket leaks due to how low they are and they are hidden by the crank pulley. Most of the time, it is the oil pan, but don't get fooled and spend the 2 minutes looking at that seal before settling on the oil pan. It can also save you some time if it turns out the seal is buggered because the thrust bearings are gone. Another great video
These are the leaks resolved in my car over the last year: valve covers, water pump, oil pan gasket, oil pressure sending unit (I just had this redone on 6/22/22), timing cover gaskets, power steering rack, front struts, rear drum brake cylinders (eight total leaks). There is still a small drip occurring from the oil pan drain plug. I don't think it is the drain plug itself (which appears to be fairly new) but where the oil is accumulating from wherever it's coming from. Where do I look for the front crank seal(s)? This is on a 2001 Pontiac Aztek, by the way.
Take advantage of your belly pan removal to degrease it completely as this can lead to an early indicator of oil leaks if you are removing it for inspection after every oil & filter change. Way to go humble. Another great vid.
One of the very auto guys who produce videos that are entertaining to everyone, even if the content doesn't apply to their circumstances. Gotta love the Humble Mechanic.
Growing up and owning many clunker, I considered an oil leak as a rust preventative. Living in Northern Michigan and rusty vehicles, I didn't bother with oil leaks on any of my vehicles unless it was on the manifold and smoking. On Chevys, it was usually the rear main oil seal that leaked. On Fords and AMC it was usually the valve covers or timing chain case cover. Transmission or power steering leaks were un- acceptable however and I always fixed those. Brake leaks are a sure way to die, so that ALWAYS got addressed immediately.
Many techs look for an active leak while engine is hot . I like to check when cold , engine seals leak cold and expand and soften seals better when warm .
Funny Story: Oil leaks. Ford Recall 1994 or so. Someone loaded a crate of 460V8 "counter-screw" crankshafts(They spin counter-clockwise in marine applications) into the assembly line of F-59 engines(motor home). The one and only difference was the knurling on the rear main seal area. The knurling is intended to push oil in but when they spin the wrong way, it pushes oil out. You could replace the seal 100x and it wouldn't make any difference. There were only 50 of these but I got 2 of them. Makes me laugh now. Recall: replace crankshaft. Pretty serious repair!
Wow my respects bro you just save my car with all this info, i have an oil leak that has been driving me nuts and i couldn't find it after watching your video i went and pop my hood to find the oil leak coming from a missing gasket when they did my oil change last time., so far is what i have noticed and i hope thats it, if it wasn't for your video i was gonna probably get my paycheck stolen lol, thanks a lot for this video again dude you are awesome
There is a standard for leaks Class one- oil staining or creep Class 2 -viable drops but not dripping off the surface Class 3- visibly dripping off surface
Your videos are great! I do video professionally and d.i.y. cars. You may be the opposite, but sure can't tell. Very excellent production quality, camera shots, audio levels, graphics, pacing and editing. Especially love the attention to lighting and steady camera shots/moves. The light rig under the hood behind you is fantastic and very creative. Wow. Great work! And I'm about to go diagnose my wife's oil leak now. Thanks.
Engine oil leaks come from these locations: Valve cover gasket, Oil pan gasket, VVT valve o - rings, Front end seal, Rear end seal, oil pressure switch sensors, drain plug, oil filter. Most common sources are the valve cover and oil pan gaskets drying up, getting brittle and leaky. Parts cost for both around 35 dollars or less. Difficulty medium Messy, medium.
Just acquired a 1981 Mercedes S-Class with the legendary turbo diesel, long driven and neglected by the flaky previous owner. Looks like the Exxon Valdez under the hood. A horrendous amount of oil has migrated all over the place from 3-6 likely different sources. I've got some filthy work ahead!
Great info. I was pondering an oil leak in my van. I was searching for oil pump info and coincidentally this video came up in the results page. Great timing. I'll follow the steps tomorrow to locate the oil leak.
Great video, good humor during an auto video is rare, 2 neighborhood mechanics told me 2 different causes and 1 claimed he fixed it so I hope this helps me locate the real cause.
yep, I like how its really complete, specially pointing at a failed PCV as the top culprit. Everything needs to be replaced eventually..., the only question is: - what is next? 👍
Friend solved it on a Golf, got a VW remanufactured engine and put it in. All new seals, 2 year warranty and cheaper than stripping the engine down and replacing every seal, new bearings, doing the head and new rings. The one he got was a leftover engine from the production line for that model, basically never used.
@humblemechanic you are awesome and thorough even as a mechanic myself I can say you need to be a trainer or work at a tech school....many so called mechanics I've seen would be quick to say this or that and never fix the real issue....
Small tip about something I learned the hard way: Don’t use coolant dye to look for leaks in oil systems. Coolant dye REQUIRES water to fluoresce. I used the shop’s supply of UV dye on several cars looking for oil leaks (the bottles only said Ultraviolet Leak Detection Dye), and I was going nuts with a UV light trying to find any leaks. Absolutely nothing glowed on any car. Then later, after cleaning the oil and dirt and degreasing another engine, I hosed it off and poured the dye in. Spilled some onto the wet valve cover and then came the glow! Turns out they had bulk ordered coolant dye years ago and threw out the box that identified it.
All of my cars had tons of oil leaks for years, always. Never happened anything bad, other than low engine oil level. Actually I'm kinda amazed if there's no leak somewhere.
Yup. That’s where I’m at currently. Got my car in the shop for unrelated repairs. I’m almost certain they will tell me I need to replace valve cover gasket that will cost up to 2k. Will probably just do like you are and keep the oil in it unless it gets real bad....
@@nomandad2000 What kind of car do you have? Valve cover jobs are typically around $200 - $300 or so. I had them done on my car last year @ 10 hours labor but my car is known for not being the easiest to work on. Still, that came out to $850 and nowhere near $2K. The mechanic also redid the intake manifold gaskets, lower intake gaskets, and some other things while he was in there without charging additional labor.
Fantastic video, very informative. Single lady here, buy used cars and have to choose wisely then maintain on a low budget so I search lots of videos which are always useful but dragged out long videos for one solution and less informative than this/ yours so thank you.
Used leak dyes back in the early 90s. Oil basically is not coming from where you see it. Like from the bolt behind the balancer that looks like it's the crank seal is leaking. And yes, foot spray with powder is an amazing tool for looking for leaks.
Have a leak in a 2005 altima... i jacked up and looked with spot light and cleaned under neath today.. . i have had many value covers leak in the past....i will look more tomorrow and add some dye,which to me seems like the best option ... i hope its not in a bad area...thanks for sharing
Great video! Thank you for sharing. I have a completely crud covered 1966 Chevy C10 that is leaving large stains wherever it is parked. Due to years of deferred maintenance the entire engine bay seems to be caked in grime, oil, and mud. The question that entered my mind, was what is the safest way to clean the entire engine & engine bay, so as not to create more problems as I track down and repair these leaks? I have heard that getting your engine pressure washed COULD prevent it from running at all. Is this true? On the other hand, the idea of trying to hand clean the entire engine bay using only rags and brake cleaners seems like a really big job. What is the correct (best) path forward ? Thank you for sharing your knowledge and expertise!
Did you ever figure out the answer to this ? I just got a 89 Ford Ranger, and it’s like you’ve described. I really wanna clean this thing. Trying to pressure wash the underside didn’t get it off
Thank you for this video. I was told by Chevy dealership that my 2010 Suburban has an oil leak. I don’t see or smell any oil burning/leaking. So I took it to another mechanic shop for a second opinion, they said it doesn’t have a leak. Who do I trust? I don’t want to believe that the Chevy mechanics would make that up just to get my money. I also don’t want to ruin my engine because I didn’t fix a leak. Any suggestions?
i just pressure wash the entire engine with the aapropriate cautions depending on type of car then run the car for 10 minutes, if it doesnt leak, i take it to the road and drive it a bit .once it leaks i search for the highest spot of the leak. if the leak is spread around in a circular motion maybe on a pulley then its crank or camshaft seals, or maybe driveshaft seals if the leak is gearbox oil...manual gearbox oil has a carachteristic smell to it. diesel and gasoline leaks also have a easy to trace smell. if the car doesnt leak anything i deliver it , charge the engine washing and ask the customer to come back in a week to do a visual inspection. sometimes small gasket swating leaks and small seal leaks appear and then we fix them
@@ruthiemspangenberg3363 he still inspected, diagnosed what he could and came up with nothing. That takes time regardless of the result. Not a free service.
@@josegomez6549 Sounds like some of the customers who call my work. They think the time starts when the tech gets to the house & if it does not work out in their heads as an "acceptable" hourly rate for the total time spent in their home they get indignant. Never mind all the prep, expenses/general overhead, breakdown & windshield time all factor in to a price or even a free estimate or walkthrough. Wonder if they would readily offer a discount if their boss haggled them down on their labor and *experience* as some often do when they hire / go to legit service businesses in their personal life.
I have used a rattle can to spray the block in white or primer grey ( once clean and dry) and then a road test. Then follow the oil run on the painted block .
At @8:53, there seems to be a slight error. If the inner seal of the camshaft adjuster (ie, the O ring) was leaking… shouldn’t the outer seal (ie, the camshaft adjuster seal) have prevented it from becoming an external leak? Sort of like a submarine, where a hatch can be shut to limit flooding to one compartment? And if so, why would it ever need to be replaced? Seems like a self limiting condition. Once the cam adjuster space is filled with oil, wouldn’t that prevent any further leaking from the O ring, because there’s no space for any more oil? Excellent video, by the way. Cheers!
I research the particular car I’m working on to see if there’s any known leaks associated with said car and then I take it from there. You’d be surprised how common leaks can be on a particular car... My 2nd. method is to just pressure wash the engine. Soft pressure, of course... Worst oil leaks are the main seals... 🤦🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️😶
Hi, You didn't mention FIRE oil leaks if bad enough it can happen. if the leak is in the right location as well. like chevy cruze most oil leaks are near the very hot catlitic converter. Be safe.
I sent my car with a CAYC engine to a auth shop with a P0016 diff in cam and crank, they started by changing the EGR valve and cooler..... !! here in DK they just change what the diag tool points to, no matter if it's new or old codes.
My lower valve cover gasket was leaking for a minute on a Duramax. It leaked onto the exhaust manifold gasket, and absolutely torched it, giving me an exhaust leak into my engine bay, right by the air intake, boosting EGTs through the roof. Oil leaks, can be annoying, but even more annoying if left unchecked. Oh, pull the manifold, the up-pipe, broken turbo pedestal bolt, pull turbo, might as well pull y-bridge.
I am hoping you can give me some advice. I have a 2008 Ford Escape XLT 6 cyl 3.0L, I bought it used, the vehicle records showed maintenance was done regularly and it was in very good condition. Started noticing oil spots on the driveway, small & not excessive. Had approximately 115,000 miles. Got an estimate for repairs to replace Valve Cover Gasket & Rear Camshaft Seal, $750. Didn't have the money to do it & was almost a year before I had the repair done. At that point the vehicle was running rough with acceleration, some burning smell and if I had the car washed the engine would smoke a lot for a good amount of time (like it was overheating, but I think it probably was just from oil leakage). Never had any warning lights go off on the vehicle or any other issues. When repaired two weeks ago, I also had an oil change and front brakes/rotors done. The vehicle was running so much better and smoother and then I noticed it is still leaking, same amount just nice clean oil now. I took it back to the shop and now they are saying that I need to have the Engine Oil Pan & Front Timing Cover Seal and Gasket replaced with an estimate of $1600. They also took photos of the vehicle on the lift showing the engine and/or leak that are attached to my estimate. As a woman, I have no idea what I am looking at, I am probably just oblivious but I feel like I am getting ripped off. I would think that if the leak wasn't not from the initial repairs they claimed the problem was, why would they have done them or realized that was not where the leak was coming from or investigated further to find the location of the source. Please if you could give any insight, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks (ny2va2773@yahoo.com)
Female here, I believe this is common practice at some auto repair shops. Selling parts/labor to people ( especially women ) that isn’t really needed. Similar to what plumbers do. 🤷🏻♀️
Oil leaks are tricky because the oil is really good at creeping. Could be something leaking in the middle of the block and creep all the way up the engine
Great Video and Good Learnings. Have you ever experienced oil leak between the Cylinder Head and Engine Block on a 2.0 TSI Engine? I am currently experiencing some thing of such nature. Any Clues??? I am also seeing leaks from the lower timing cover....could this probably be spreading across the Cylinder Head mating surface and giving me false assumptions. Valve Cover looks great all round.
Engine degreaser, soap, detergents, jet wash, steam cleaner, white spirit (only for metal parts), brake cleaner, carburetor cleaner, gasoline, diesel, thinner... Take you pick! Make sure to NEVER use most of these strong chemicals on rubber and plastic components, unpainted metal only! Anyway my prefered cheap and fast method. Jet wash, it's fast, easy and cheap. Beside no chemicals are needed! If you don't own one, no problem. Go to the nearest station, 5 minutes and a few coins. Done! Opposite to the widely spread myths! Warm engine, not scalding hot. Is your best choice. Avoid going "crazy" on the electronic boxes, like fuses and relays, ECM, etc. No need to disconnect battery or any other component! Keep it simple (KISS). In the rare event of the car don't want to start afterwards. Just dry ignition parts, sparkplugs, coil, wires, etc. WD40 can be quite handy for this. In >35 years only once one car didn't want to start after washing! That was the time I used to vacuum the carpets and mats. LOL After 15 minutes of drying time. It all went as usual. Ence why it's nice to have a warm engine, not hot. It dry really fast! ;-)
Dreading the day it's happens on my GC8 WRX MY99 :( But all good here so far as it is babied and very well taken care of. Love your videos cheers from down under Australia
