Had to get something on the other side of the garage this morning, so I walked around to the far side of my XK, which is still sleeping, waiting for warmer weather. When I happened to look down, I could see a moist stain on the floor about the middle of the drivers door. Got down on my knees to look underneath, and could see it led forward to a puddle under the middle of the car, near the rear of the engine.
Reached in far enough to get a finger in it, damn, its oil!
If I had changed the oil in the fall before putting her away, I'd say I didn't tighten the filter enough, but I didn't change it last fall, as I decided to wait for spring, so as to have fresh oil at the start of the season. And there had been no signs of leakage before.
I'd actually backed her out in January (in order to get to a ladder), and there had been no traces of oil on the floor at that time, so its something that occurred recently, crap.
I won't have time to try and get underneath to see where its coming from for awhile, so I slid a piece of cardboard under there to try to catch/absorb any more leakage. I'd like to get under there without starting/moving the car, but I'm not sure I've got enough space to do that.
Best case scenario, the gasket on the filter cracked. Not so good case, a mouse chewed through an oil line. Worst case... I don't want to think about it.

Oh well, I'll update this thread when I get a chance to get under there.

 

Oily liquid at the middle of the drivers door makes me think oily condensation dripped out of the exhaust flange between the cat and mid pipe after your January movement. Unless it's red and then I'd be thinking trans fluid (if it's actually red in these).

 

Unfortunately the leak, or at least the puddle (which looks to be pretty good size), is farther forward. It had just crept its way rearward and out from under the car at about the mid-door point.
Color was a clear light brown, most likely synthetic engine oil.

 

I have a leak getting repaired tomorrow. It seems to be coming for the oil level sensor at the bottom of the pan. Looks like an easy fix

 

I've used a bore scope for situations like that. They're relatively cheap. You can also get the scope lines that plug into a laptop but I think those are a bit flimsy and hard to point in a specific direction/ angle.

I have this one. Keep in mind though that the wand is about 40 inches.


Probably cheap to rent too.

 

Yeah, if there hasn't been any oil PRESSURE lately, there are only a couple spots where Drips would even be possible.

 

Oh yeah, I do have one of those, duh. Worth a shot to get a first view of where its coming from.
I'll probably jack it up, in place, so I can get under. Normally I'd run it up on a set of race ramps, but I really want to check things before starting 'er up.
Oh, and another obstacle, I can't open the hood to check inside, or the oil level, without moving the car, as the front of the car is parked under bicycles hanging from the ceiling (seemed like a good idea at the time...).

 

That's what I'm hoping.

 

I have developed an oil leak over the past couple of months, and it has become more pronounced over the past week. My mechanic about a month ago said that when I bring the car in for some other work in the next few weeks that we need to change the valve cover gasket which is where he believes it is leaking from. I check my oil before I leave every morning because I don't want to be caught short driving around.

 

Maybe a candidate for Tracerline additive. It only lasts for about a week but could be the answer to ID leaks. Just need a good UV light after running the engine for a tick. I would suggest giving everything a good cleaning before adding it though, makes it easier to pin point the source.

BTW, this is how engine manufacturers ID leaks during production.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dye-Lite-Al....c100705.m4780

 

I found an oil leak on the garage floor last fall, and had a "sinking" feeling when I saw it. Mercifully, it was only the seal on the oil filter which failed. Hope you have a similar "low impact" (on the wallet) outcome, amigo.

 

Hey guys. I'm a newbie here, but looking at purchasing a 2010 XK and a friend turned me on to this site.
The car is gorgeous, but has some history and the price is low, so I had it checked out by a garage i trust. Generally all checks out, but found an oil leak.
Not familiar w/ this engine. Am I just looking at a cover over the oil filter here, such that this is possibly just a gasket? Comes right off the front of the block down by where the oil pan is, but it's bolted on.
If you are going to have a leak to fix, is this a good location or a bad location?! (The engine shot is from internet - red circle shows you what you are looking at in the actual picture). Thanks in advance!!!

 

 

5.0L oil filter is top mounted. Is that the fuel pump driven being by the timing chain on the sump body? If so, it could be a "go-roundy" part seal leaking.

 

[QUOTE=mryant53;1879102]Hey guys. I'm a newbie here, but looking at purchasing a 2010 XK and a friend turned me on to this site.
The car is gorgeous, but has some history and the price is low, so I had it checked out by a garage i trust. Generally all checks out, but found an oil leak.
Not familiar w/ this engine. Am I just looking at a cover over the oil filter here, such that this is possibly just a gasket? Comes right off the front of the block down by where the oil pan is, but it's bolted on.
If you are going to have a leak to fix, is this a good location or a bad location?! (The engine shot is from internet - red circle shows you what you are looking at in the actual picture). Thanks in advance!!!


I would first look at the top of the engine where maybe the oil is flowing down and settling under this cover. It could possibly be an oil spill during change of the top mounted filter or even a filter seal failure. Need to pull the top cover and maybe use a bore scope to see if you can fine the leak. Also clean up the oil and put some dye in the engine and take a UV light to see if it isn't a leak.

 

Well I finally got a chance to get under the car this weekend.
When I first jacked it up and looked under, I was in shock when I saw it had been dripping from the rear of the transmission cover, yet it looked and felt like motor oil (didn't try tasting it ;-) ).
When I got underneath I laid there studying things, and could finally see that it was coming from 'higher' up on the motor, and it had just flowed to the back of the tranny pan as the low spot before dripping to the floor.
Struggled for awhile to get one of the bikes down that hung over the hood, without dropping it, so I could open the hood and check it out.
Pretty damn tight in there, so its hard to see much, even with a bore scope, but it does appear that left hand valve cover gasket is the source of my leak. Damn.
Looked at the service manual, and appears to be quite a few 'disposable' parts that need to be replaced when removing/installing the valve cover. So I need to make a parts list to see if this is something I want to tackle, or find a professional to do it. Being on the top side of the engine, makes it look like it 'should' be easier than the thermostat and housing replacement I did a couple of years ago. Just lots of things to disconnect.
Need to get it done before I start driving the car, as I don't feel like tacking a diaper under her, to keep from dripping oil wherever I go.

 

I am surprised that a valve cover would leak without running the engine.

 

When I'd put the car away in the late fall, it had not been leaking.
In Feb I had to start the car and back it out of the garage so that I could get a ladder out (to get up on the roof, as we had ice dams causing water to back up under the shingles, and then leak into the house, what a pain, and it was going to cost >$1000 to have someone come and clear them, so screw it, and I went up there with a roof rake and calcium chloride to clear it myself ).
Car sat outside for a bit (don't recall, but it was probably 15 minutes or so), and it was freezing or a bit below, before I started it up again and put it back in the garage (ladder stayed outside in case I need it again).
I didn't notice any oil spots on the garage floor or driveway at that time, so it had to have started after that brief period that I had to move it.
The car never got up to operating temperature, just start up, back up and shut down. 15 minutes later, start up, drive forward, and shutdown. So oil would have been pumped up there, and then it leaked.

 

Valve cover gasket leak is not in any way serious, unless you run oil low. I would just drive the car until it is fixed.


Plus, your cat is not leaking oil, it's just marking its territory.

 

True, but I'm sure the wife would not be happy with oil spots on the driveway. And I would really hate to be the guy whose leaving spots on friend's driveways. Not a friendly thing to do.