Several months ago, I began to notice an occasional drop of oil on the garage floor, under the XF (2009, with the n/a 4.2 liter engine). I looked under the hood, but can't see too much, due to all the "stuff" in the engine compartment, but the LH sway bar bushing looked like it had some oil on it.


I recently changed the oil, and indeed saw evidence of engine oil on the undertray, but the engine itself looks pretty dry. What has me confused, is that there doesn't seem to be anything in that area, that has oil going through it.


In trying to determine what it might be, I started thinking about what might have changed, and the only thing I could think of, was I switched from Baldwin oil filters, which I had been using for a long time, and on the previous change, I installed a Purolator filter. Being suspicious that somehow the filter was the issue, I decided to measure the dimensions (ID and OD) of the filter's gasket, and found the Purolator filter to be a tad smaller. Not a lot, but it made me curious.


I checked into the gasket dimensions, and found that a K&N was larger in OD than the Purolator, so this time I installed a K&N filter. That was about 10 days ago, and I looked under the hood earlier today, and it sort of looks like the undertray has an oily film on it again. I'm stumped.


Is there anything "in front" of the engine, like a cooler, or something, that has oil passing through it?

 

There's nothing in front of the engine that would be engine oil related around radiator/condenser. Only thing would be power steering cooler. The oil filter housing on this engine acts as the oil cooler, the 2 coolant pipes located on top.


Is your power steering fluid low? The pipes/lines from resevior run up left side of engine compartment ( when sitting in vehicle ) around radiator to the cooler. Check the lines to make sure they aren't leaking.

 

Thanks for the suggestion, but A) the level is OK, and B) I seem to recall that the p/s takes Dexron VI fluid, which is red. The seepage I'm seeing is the color of motor oil.

 

Hmmm ok..... what about the transmission cooler lines? Don't forget the radiator incorporates the trans cooler as well, possibly leaking externally? The trans fluid used is similar color of engine oil.

 

OK, I guess that's a possibility, I'm used to American cars, with red tranny fluid. Could that show as a leak on the left side (driver's side, in the US) of the car?

 

Help locate an oil leak

 

Thanks!!


Unfortunately, that seems to be what my leakage is. I say unfortunately, because after reading through the linked discussions, this is NOT a cheap fix......as well as something that shouldn't be apparent on a low mileage car.

 

Well, turns out it is indeed the tranny lines. I took it to the dealer this AM, and we had the car up on the lift, and the leak became obvious. A new set of the lines was ordered, they should arrive tomorrow, although the dealer's service department is closed. Therefore, I'm dropping the car off Monday morning, for the work to be done. Also, I checked, and they're pretty sure that have what's necessary to do the airbag recall, so they're going to take care of that, too......

 

Just picked up the car......I initially dropped it off yesterday morning, around 9AM, and they started working on it shortly thereafter. The cooler lines took 5 hours, and the airbag also took about the same amount of time. The total charge was $871 plus tax, for the cooler lines, 1 quart of transmission fluid, and 5 hours of labor, at $125/hr.


Hopefully, this will be the end of repairs for a while.......