Some car enthusiasts are fastidious about maintenance. If a door handle is squeaking, they’ll be right on the job, repairing it. Some are happier to let the small stuff slide, while others will let their cars fall to pieces before their very eyes. In that regard, I ask you a question. How bad does a leak have to be before you’ll consider fixing it?
Obviously, this is something that can change greatly depending on the fluid involved. If your vehicle is leaking gas, like Gossin’s pickup, you might want to fix that immediately. Similarly, a loss of brake fluid might spur you to immediate action. But not all leaks are so disastrous. A slow oil leak can weep for months or years without causing too much trouble. Similarly, losing a little coolant here and there might not require you to immediately throw the car on jack stands to perform restorative repairs.
I myself land on the lazier side when it comes to leaks, but I do so in an educated fashion. If my car is losing coolant at a rapid rate, where I’m routinely seeing ounces of fluid on the driveway, I’ll probably get to it on the next free weekend I have. If it’s losing quarts, I’m probably not driving it anywhere unless I really need some KFC.
Oil, I’m even more lackadaisical about. But that’s for good reason—for oil leaks are often quite slow. I’ve had a ton of cars that burn a little oil, or leak some out of the valve cover seals. This is rarely a big problem. I’ll just top up the oil with a half-a-quart or so every three months, and the car will run just fine. Sure, I could pull the intakes off and all the wiring and spark plug leads and spend hundreds of dollars on new seals, but… why? I rarely have any free time as it is. I’d rather spend $20 on a liter of oil a few times a year and enjoy driving instead of tedious wrenching jobs with little benefit. Plus, the driveway stains come up easy with some dishwashing liquid.
This topic comes to mind because of my beloved Audi TT. It’s currently leaking power steering fluid, and doing so at a frustrating rate. It’s only losing maybe a shot glass or two a month. However, that’s enough to drop it below minimum on the dipstick, and it gets the power steering pump whining like a city bus in cold weather. I don’t want to spend big money on replacing the pump, so I’m trying to keep it topped up.
The problem I have is that this is likely not an easy fix. Maybe I’m lucky and it’s just a weeping fitting or hose. But more likely it’s a rack seal that’s gone, or even fatal wear to the rack itself. That’s big money and big labor, because it’s a job I don’t have space to tackle myself.
So basically, I’m getting by with occasional top-ups once again, even on my dream car. But what say you—how bad does a leak have to get before you’ll fix it?
Image credits: Lewin Day
On my daily driver, I would fix any leaks as they occur. My 1972 Super Beetle leaks a few drops of oil here and there. It started doing that almost immediately after a full rebuild. Those air-cooled engines just like to mark their territory, it’s so common some people swear it’s impossible to have one that doesn’t leak. This is mostly due to design, the crankcase is two pieces that split down the middle, with no gaskets. Even if you do everything just right, you still might find yourself with a leak. I’m not even going to bother trying to fix it. If it started leaking from say, the pushrod tubes, I would fix that.
Old British motorbikes had vertically split crankcases. They put a paper
wickgasket in there that seemed to ensure a consistent rate of leakage. Brand new bikes sitting on the showroom floor had a drip pan beneath them.The Japanese motors were split horizontally and used gray silicone sealer to seal the crack. No leaks.
That sticks with the standard British practice of checking your oil by looking for drips. If British bikes were sealed as well as Japanese bikes the crankcases would always be overfilled…
The leaks were how you knew it still had oil in it. 😉
Exactly! They’d be alarmed the bike wasn’t dripping so they’d keep adding oil. That engine would be filled to the spark plugs trying to get it to drip (yeah this disregards the location of the filler cap, just go with the premise…).
On my daily driver, I would fix any leaks as they occur. My 1972 Super Beetle leaks a few drops of oil here and there. It started doing that almost immediately after a full rebuild. Those air-cooled engines just like to mark their territory, it’s so common some people swear it’s impossible to have one that doesn’t leak. This is mostly due to design, the crankcase is two pieces that split down the middle, with no gaskets. Even if you do everything just right, you still might find yourself with a leak. I’m not even going to bother trying to fix it. If it started leaking from say, the pushrod tubes, I would fix that.
Old British motorbikes had vertically split crankcases. They put a paper
wickgasket in there that seemed to ensure a consistent rate of leakage. Brand new bikes sitting on the showroom floor had a drip pan beneath them.The Japanese motors were split horizontally and used gray silicone sealer to seal the crack. No leaks.
That sticks with the standard British practice of checking your oil by looking for drips. If British bikes were sealed as well as Japanese bikes the crankcases would always be overfilled…
The leaks were how you knew it still had oil in it. 😉
Exactly! They’d be alarmed the bike wasn’t dripping so they’d keep adding oil. That engine would be filled to the spark plugs trying to get it to drip (yeah this disregards the location of the filler cap, just go with the premise…).
On my daily driver I’m pretty fastidious about leaks, but on an old beater or project car that I drive once or twice a week it depends on the type of fluid and the volume of the leak relative to the total volume of the fluid. I’m more apt to check the fluids and top off often rather than taking the time to repair the leak.
On my daily driver I’m pretty fastidious about leaks, but on an old beater or project car that I drive once or twice a week it depends on the type of fluid and the volume of the leak relative to the total volume of the fluid. I’m more apt to check the fluids and top off often rather than taking the time to repair the leak.
I have a beater BMW e46 with an extremely aggressive oil leak from the rear man seal. When it’s topped off with oil, exiting the interstate results in a giant cloud of white smoke. When the cloud stops occurring, it’s time to top off again.
It’s probably at least a quart per week.
That isn’t bad enough. I’m waiting for the clutch to go out so I can do it all at once time.
There’s a problem with waiting for BMW clutches to go out – as long as you aren’t driving like an idiot they don’t. I’m at 170k on my e46, and I had a e36 with 300k miles still on the original clutch. Incidentally, I have the common e46 5-speed problem of the shifter sticking when cold (cheap fix, but you have to pull the transmission) and am also waiting for the clutch to go before I fix it.
Do you think that’s specific to BMWs? I’m at about 170k on a Jeep clutch, and i have heard of Hondas with over 400k miles on the factory clutch.
I have a beater BMW e46 with an extremely aggressive oil leak from the rear man seal. When it’s topped off with oil, exiting the interstate results in a giant cloud of white smoke. When the cloud stops occurring, it’s time to top off again.
It’s probably at least a quart per week.
That isn’t bad enough. I’m waiting for the clutch to go out so I can do it all at once time.
There’s a problem with waiting for BMW clutches to go out – as long as you aren’t driving like an idiot they don’t. I’m at 170k on my e46, and I had a e36 with 300k miles still on the original clutch. Incidentally, I have the common e46 5-speed problem of the shifter sticking when cold (cheap fix, but you have to pull the transmission) and am also waiting for the clutch to go before I fix it.
Do you think that’s specific to BMWs? I’m at about 170k on a Jeep clutch, and i have heard of Hondas with over 400k miles on the factory clutch.
Meh, my only current leak is a very small one (1-2 drops per week or so) on the NA. The occasional faint whiff of burning oil really adds to the classic roadster vibe.
Meh, my only current leak is a very small one (1-2 drops per week or so) on the NA. The occasional faint whiff of burning oil really adds to the classic roadster vibe.
The rear main in my old S-10…probably never unless the transmission fails and needs to come out. The cam covers in the Lexus V6 I bought for my grandson…as soon as I took delivery…burning oil smell from the exhaust manifolds…was surprised Toyota uses such low quality elastomers…those gaskets and the ones on the spark plug tubes were hard as bakelite after 100,000 miles.
The rear main in my old S-10…probably never unless the transmission fails and needs to come out. The cam covers in the Lexus V6 I bought for my grandson…as soon as I took delivery…burning oil smell from the exhaust manifolds…was surprised Toyota uses such low quality elastomers…those gaskets and the ones on the spark plug tubes were hard as bakelite after 100,000 miles.
If I see a leak, I put it on my catch-up maintenance to-do list, which is currently not short. If it’s to the point that I need to top off with any frequency (more than once a month), I’ll move it to the top of the list and get it done on my next free weekend, and if it’s actively dripping everywhere I go, I’ll bite the bullet and make an evening of it or drop it off for professional attention.
If I see a leak, I put it on my catch-up maintenance to-do list, which is currently not short. If it’s to the point that I need to top off with any frequency (more than once a month), I’ll move it to the top of the list and get it done on my next free weekend, and if it’s actively dripping everywhere I go, I’ll bite the bullet and make an evening of it or drop it off for professional attention.
The saying is about oil, but can be applied to any fluid:
“If it leaks oil, then it’s got oil. Nothing to fix here”
That was always the British response. An acquaintance drives an old Morgan w/ a Triumph engine. Apparently, the front seal is actually a loose fit and a spiral the “pushes” the oil back into the crankcase. You can see how having a full sump and parking on a downhill slope might affect the quantity of oil remaining after such an exercise.
The saying is about oil, but can be applied to any fluid:
“If it leaks oil, then it’s got oil. Nothing to fix here”
That was always the British response. An acquaintance drives an old Morgan w/ a Triumph engine. Apparently, the front seal is actually a loose fit and a spiral the “pushes” the oil back into the crankcase. You can see how having a full sump and parking on a downhill slope might affect the quantity of oil remaining after such an exercise.
Depends for me. I’m an environmentalist, but also a cheapalmentalist. If its leaking, and then burning off somewhere, thats nature taking care of the problem for me! If its leaving spots around, I tend to try and rectify that. Don’t need to be adding run-off pollution into any of the local rivers/the Puget Sound. Valve covers I’ll ignore until they get pretty gnarly.
Depends for me. I’m an environmentalist, but also a cheapalmentalist. If its leaking, and then burning off somewhere, thats nature taking care of the problem for me! If its leaving spots around, I tend to try and rectify that. Don’t need to be adding run-off pollution into any of the local rivers/the Puget Sound. Valve covers I’ll ignore until they get pretty gnarly.
My Suzuki seems to have a crankcase leak somewhere, as I get maybe a half teaspoon of oil on the ground after awhile.
I’ve been half-heartedly trying to figure out where it is, but I usually end up deciding to use that time to ride her instead and end up just adding oil. I do feel bad about the oil spots on the parking garage floor though.
What flavor of suzuki? On the J20’s and G series engines found in the trackers/sidekicks/vitaras/etc, the “distributor” that sticks out the back of the valve cover can be a sneaky and prolific source of oil leakage.
I say “distrubutor” because on the J series engines its really more of a cam position sensor, that still acts kind of like a dizzy. On the G engines it really is a dizzy. They seal with an oring that can go T-U over time, even if you have done valve covers.
This is super useful – thank you so much, really appreciate your expertise! I may have to spend some time this weekend checking that out, as it’s starting to annoy me.
My Suzuki seems to have a crankcase leak somewhere, as I get maybe a half teaspoon of oil on the ground after awhile.
I’ve been half-heartedly trying to figure out where it is, but I usually end up deciding to use that time to ride her instead and end up just adding oil. I do feel bad about the oil spots on the parking garage floor though.
What flavor of suzuki? On the J20’s and G series engines found in the trackers/sidekicks/vitaras/etc, the “distributor” that sticks out the back of the valve cover can be a sneaky and prolific source of oil leakage.
I say “distrubutor” because on the J series engines its really more of a cam position sensor, that still acts kind of like a dizzy. On the G engines it really is a dizzy. They seal with an oring that can go T-U over time, even if you have done valve covers.
This is super useful – thank you so much, really appreciate your expertise! I may have to spend some time this weekend checking that out, as it’s starting to annoy me.
It depends on many factors, what fluid, will it damage anything else, how much of a pain is it to fix. Currently weighing how long exactly I want to put off fixing a leaky front main seal for oil.
Fuel and brakes, fix immediately, safety issue.
Coolant, usually not too terrible to fix and the leaks tend to be quicker leaks so pretty quick.
Oil/steering fluid /trans/diff, monitor the situation and add as needed if the leak is slow. Make plans when the vehicle downtime won’t cause a problem and when I can wrench in nice weather.
Side note I also had a span of about 2 years in college where about every 2 weeks I’d stop at the gas station to air up a slow leak on a tire because I didn’t want to spend on a new set. Technically a fluid leak as well.
It depends on many factors, what fluid, will it damage anything else, how much of a pain is it to fix. Currently weighing how long exactly I want to put off fixing a leaky front main seal for oil.
Fuel and brakes, fix immediately, safety issue.
Coolant, usually not too terrible to fix and the leaks tend to be quicker leaks so pretty quick.
Oil/steering fluid /trans/diff, monitor the situation and add as needed if the leak is slow. Make plans when the vehicle downtime won’t cause a problem and when I can wrench in nice weather.
Side note I also had a span of about 2 years in college where about every 2 weeks I’d stop at the gas station to air up a slow leak on a tire because I didn’t want to spend on a new set. Technically a fluid leak as well.
Really depends on how hard it is to fix and how often I use the car. I hate leaks on daily drivers but can live with it on projects.
Up until last year I had my 24 Hours of Lemons car stored in my friend’s workshop. He has a lift and he elected to park my car on the lift above his Ferrari F430 because ironically it leaked oil but my “$500” race car didn’t!
https://rbp.f0e.net/attachments/936188eba95e44759e9ed593859cc365.jpg
Really depends on how hard it is to fix and how often I use the car. I hate leaks on daily drivers but can live with it on projects.
Up until last year I had my 24 Hours of Lemons car stored in my friend’s workshop. He has a lift and he elected to park my car on the lift above his Ferrari F430 because ironically it leaked oil but my “$500” race car didn’t!
https://rbp.f0e.net/attachments/936188eba95e44759e9ed593859cc365.jpg
All in the age, use and my bank account. I owned a jeepster commando that leaked everything. Gas, coolant, washer fluid, oil, all of it. No worries.
My newer daily drivers. fix asap any leaks.
It has taken the local jeep dealership 6 weeks to fix my front dif seal under warranty.
All in the age, use and my bank account. I owned a jeepster commando that leaked everything. Gas, coolant, washer fluid, oil, all of it. No worries.
My newer daily drivers. fix asap any leaks.
It has taken the local jeep dealership 6 weeks to fix my front dif seal under warranty.
I have 2 vehicles that occasionally use a bit of coolant with no obvious source. I monitor levels, top off as needed, check after each use for puddles. Trans or brake fluid leaks get addressed immediately. I’ll tolerate some oil leakage, both my 4.0L Jeeps leaked. Last major leak I had was a failed trans cooler fitting on my MDX – fortunately was in my driveway and I caught it before driving away. Replaced radiator, hard lines, hose and installed an aux plate cooler. I’ll carry a quart of oil and gallon of vehicle specific premix antifreeze on a long road trip.
Had a gas leak once on my old ’89 XJ Cherokee. Scared the willies out of me and fixed before next drive. Leaking o-ring on a fuel rail. My ’99 WJ leaked gear oil from the front axle shafts. I topped it off a few times a year with a hand pump.