lserlohn

Hello, I haven't been here for a long time, as my car (2001 AWD) is running great over the years.

However, today , my car is leaking after an oil change, which was performed by an individual auto shop. I saw he spent quite a lot of time, but managed to get the oil filter out from the upper side. ( other mechanics get the oil filter out from bottom of the vehicle I remember)
I suddenly noticed one oil drop coming down after his repair, and asked him to double check. He did re-tighted the oil filter, and he said those drops are from previous oil filter.
After I take the car back from his shop, I park my car aside the street, and left it for 2 hours. When I came back, I do noticed there are several new drops on the ground.

My car has leaking problem during these years. It will leak 2 quarts for 5000 miles/ 8 months. It is unnoticeable during everyday's driving. But this time, I do noticed oil drops from the car.

I would like to know:

1) How could I check where is the leaking. Where are the most common place?
2) Is it possible that the mechanic breaks some parts/pipes during the oil (filter) change service?
3) For future repair, should I change valve cover gasket or oil pan gasket? which part should I need?

Tomorrow is Sunday, most of the independent shops are closed. I am not sure if I should take my car to the dealer to repair ( and pay a large sum of money...) ?

carguy07

Very likely you are seeing the residual mess from doing the oil change, not a leak. Pulling the filter from the top lets a lot of oil run down to the plastic pan that is removed when you pull the filter from below. Give it a few days to stop, or hose off the block and belly pan from the top. I pull the filter from the top and just concede that it will drip oil for the next 2 days.

ukrkoz

Not sure how they pull filter from the bottom. I tried it MANY times and pulling from the top, though awkward, is much faster.
Yes, you can easily spill oil onto the plastic cover underneath during this, but simply reaching there with a rag and wiping it off worked for me.
You can rather easily check where oil is leaking. Buy contrast dye kit for oil leaks. You likely have valve covers leaking and blow by burn out. Though, on our 99RX, we had ZERO oil consumption and I did oil changes around 12 - 15 000 miles intervals.

fastnoypi

as mentioned it is likely residual mess. You can clean up most of it by going to your local self car wash and degreasing the front area and/or removing the forward most under splash guard and cleaning up the oil dripped there. Its only a bunch of 10mm bolts holding the plastic.

fastnoypi

Use the method you are most comfortable. The way i pull the filter from the bottom is remove the front under cover, then lay partially on my back and feet towards the passenger side. It allows me to reach up and spin the filter and hold it upright to minimize oil drips when off. I find it uncomfortable from the top because i would have to reach over the front exhaust manifold and back to reach.

salimshah

First get under the front and wipe down the underside in the area of drip. Use a cleaner as needed while making sure you are not getting into any fo the sensors and electronic stuff.

Then if you see drips, trace the patch

Salim

lserlohn

Thank you all for your replies.

Today, I captured some photos for the underneath of the vehicle, after 20 miles of driving. What I found was that, the oil pan was wet, and there was still some small drops coming down. If my sense is right, the dropping location is from oil pan, not from the plastic panel in the front, which is usually removed to change the oil filter.

I am not sure how long it has been lasting, or it is simply because the oil plug is loosing, since the last oil change.

Here are the photos. Does it suggest I need to change the oil pan gasket?

fastnoypi

One additional thing to check is the oil filter itself if it is tightened enough. I had one incident early in my Rx300 ownership, i had oil dripping but not as severe as what you have. The oil was changed by a quick lube place and the filter had another good 1/2 turn to be on securely. I think they may have attempted to do the oil filter from the top and did not want their arm burned from the hot exhaust manifold. If the leaks are really from the oil pan, you will have to get it dropped ..scrape the oil gasket residue , clean surfaces and re-apply the Toyota FIPG material.

salimshah

As vehicle moves, oil has a tendency to be pulled backwards and even up against gravity. Take the bottom shield off and clean everything and then figure our the source of the leak. After cleaning and drying park the vehicle on a cardboard and let it sit overnight. Then trace the source.

Diagnosing should not be based on hunches. You can be lucky or you would be doing unnecessary work.

Salim

ukrkoz

Yeah, I know. I would undo AC line connector and horn bracket. That clears much more access space to get to filter. Enough to place spider oil wrench onto it, if needed. Standing on step stool.
I could not get to it from down below because of the cross member. Not because of the plastic belly cover.

ukrkoz

OP, this is no residual mess after oil change. Something's leaking and leaking quite bad. Again, UV contrast dye is best bet.

lserlohn

thank you all. I can do little mechanical work. I may probably take it to the shop, if you guys think it is very bad...

My estimation is that, 5 drops per night. Based on that, I can wait for 2-3 months until it loss more than 2 quarts....

I just did an oil change. I want to use it for some time.

Lexmus

Check the perimeter of the valve covers for leaks. The front should be easily visible when you take off the engine cover. I would then use a mirror and flashlight to see if oil is leaking at the back of the rear cover. You can then use a cloth or paper towel to dab at the area to see how much transfers.

I expect you may also be burning oil as well, as you are losing alot of oil and the drip/leak may not explain that rate of loss. You may want to install a catch can between the PCV valve and intake to determine if you have the infamous rear valve cover oil burning issue. You would want to determine that before doing a valve cover gasket change as there is a high labor charge to do the rear cover, and you would want to change the valve cover at the same time if you are burning oil for that reason. A new valve cover is about $200. The labor for removing and reinstalling a rear valve cover is about $600.

tim73

lserlohn

So far, I would attribute it to the mass from the old oil filter. There is no obvious leaking during this week's driving. The oil level is stable. My car is almost 200k. I don't know if it is worth to invest 1k for the leaking repair.