bleeding to death: dripping oil

**badkuk** · December 30th, 2003 10:05 AM

Hi All!

After driving for about 30 minutes, oil seems to drip from the engine on my 89 Corolla XL. At first i suspected leaky oil seals, but after bringing it to cheiffy's, e malinis naman daw -- there were some streaks on the timing belt cover were the oil seemed to have dripped, pero ung timing belt mismo e malinis. Off to cheiffy's i go

But wouldn't you know it...pagdating dun e biglang nawala ung drip B). We washed out the engine with gas, ran it at idle for 15 minutes,pero no drip. It seems that the problem manifests itself after the car has been driven for a few minutes.

Right now there are 5 theories: the leak may have come from a.) the oil pan gasket, b.) oil pump, c.) from the bolt on top of the engine, d.) too much oil, or e.) too much revving

Since mabibilang lang sa daliri ung times that i go beyond 80kph, theory e seems unlikely. It's hard to tell if i do rev up too much, since my ride doesn't have a tachometer.

Theory d is a bit remote, 'coz the dipstick tells me the oil is actually closer to low than high, and i've never added any oil since my last oil change(April 2003), and the drip only started last month

On the right side of the engine naman(sa me bandang distributor cap), meron ding tagas...they say it could be the oil seal sa distributor cap. Parang di naman related....

...or are they? hmmm, pwede rin kasing dun nanggaling ung tagas...dunno

Since this problem closely resembles life(not black and white, but multiple shades of gray), any suggestion on how to go about it? i would prefer chieffy's suggestion of going the least expensive route first B).

(salamat pala sa eats, chieffy! dyahe naman masyado B).

**pajerokid** · December 30th, 2003 04:21 PM

If the oil pan is dry, the leak is not from the oil pan gasket. Try draining some oil from your block and leave it only at 1/4 level between the min and maximum marks. Hopefully, this will produce less oil pressure and minimize the leak.

With special emphasis on hopefully ;)

**speedyfix** · January 3rd, 2004 10:32 AM

kung nagbabawas ka ng oil, it doesn't necessarily mean na may leak ka. may engines talaga na kumakain ng langis because they are "loose" na. baka ito lang yung reason kaya ka nagbabawas ng langis. piston rings or improper wear on internal parts could be the culprit but this is hard to pinpoint without bringing the engine down.

my suggestion is kung ok pa yung takbo ng engine, and kung di malala leaks (but you should really have them fixed na), leave it the way it is and add oil regularly nalang to top off the oil in the engine.

hope this helpsÜ

**badkuk** · January 3rd, 2004 11:12 AM

thanks peeps...i guess old cars n old pcs are the same in that sense...every time me iaayos e me nasisirang ibang piyesa B)

la naman pagbabago sa amount of oil that's leaking...a few drops here and there

the oil seems to be coming from the bolt on top of the (2E)engine (dunno the techie term for that)...after nahugasan ng gaas, nagkaroon uli ng oil stain/streak coming from it.

oil level is halfway between F n E naman, although maitim na maitim na. my uncle recommended a 20/50W oil -- tama ba to?

**orly_andico** · January 3rd, 2004 11:27 AM

yeah... use a cheap thick oil (that's 20W50) to minimize leaks. this is one case where full-synth is bad :P

maybe it's just a gasket somewhere. the gasket may be somewhat worn so it only leaks when the oil is pressurized (e.g. the engine has been running for some time)

**badkuk** · January 3rd, 2004 12:10 PM

yah, i read somewhere that synthetics are bad for older, este, more mature cars B).

**badkuk** · April 5th, 2004 10:39 AM

just this weekend my uncle's mekaniko checked my brakes...he mentioned that the oil leaks may be caused by soon-to-be worn out piston rings...wala naman daw kasing obvious na tagas, pero kumakain ng langis...and oil seems to be seeping out of the bolt on top of my 2E engine.

possible ba to? the guy isn't exactly a certified toyota mechanic, but he seems to know his stuff quite well.

fyi, wala pa namang blue smoke coming out of the tailpipe, although there is some gunk buildup

**orly_andico** · April 5th, 2004 12:13 PM

badkuk,
a compression test will tell you if your piston rings are getting loose. any talyer can do that.

if OTOH your compression test shows all your cylinders have high pressure (dunno the exact figure for a 2E engine, but it should be above 150psi or so) try adding 1 Liter of Automatic Transmission Fluid (ATF) to your engine oil. this will cause your oil seals to swell and seal if there are leaks.

(it will also safely clean your engine, much more safely than engine flush...)