So I have a small engine oil leak and I am trying to source where it is coming from. When I take off the engine protection plates underneath there is a coating of oil everywhere so I have no idea where to look.
Any suggestions on how I should track this down - I have started to clean up the oil and I was thinking I would run the engine and then visually inspect.
However if anyone has a better idea please feel free to comment.
there is only one proper way to locate oil leaks. You must wash your engine from below. use brake cleaner and other similar products and car wash device which blows water under high pressure. After that it will be easy. otherwise it is only guessing.
do not spray water and other chemicals onto distributors (if you have them), electrical equipment, etc. just wash metal parts and hoses & tubes.
As the above post, clean the underside of the engine. Or you could put some oil color additive, allows you to track the leak with a black light. Google 'oil leak tracers'.
Thanks for the advice - I went ahead and used a bunch of engine shampoo - ahh does it ever look clean now! Also noticed that my lower Rad Hose had a bulge in it so I ordered a new one and will take care of that while I am down here.
Still no luck on seeing any oil - I think I will have to drive around a bit.
Look at the front of the engine and see how high up the oil goes. But, probably everything is leaking. Front timing chain covers (3 pieces) and upper and lower oil pan gaskets and valve covers. And possibly front main seal. I replaced my front main seal thinking that was the major source of leaks, but after a few weeks, there was oil coating the front of the engine as before.
Old school method for tracing leaks is to dust the suspected area with talcum powder after cleaning and looking for runs in the dust. Gets tricky to do on modern engines as all the stuff gets in the way, though.
Most common leaks on V12 are
1) front crankshaft seal
2) green rubber seals between upper timing covers and the main big timing cover (it may be that you still have black seals and that will indicate those were never replaced - replacemet is green now)
3) timing chain tensioner
I had all this replaced but in number 2) i used only dry rubber seals and driver side is still leaking. Strong insist from my side to use some type of liquid sealant there.
Numer 3) i tackled 4 times with no success and had to replace whole tensioner (not really expensive). Note the oil feed hole.
My engine used to look like yours for a long time and now it still looks like yours but only on drivers side
Mercedes sells a leak detection spray that is kinda like talc. You still have to clean everything really well but it works great. I've used it several times and had good luck
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