Thread: oil leak problem

warning: i feel retarded right now and just a little frustrated, so this might not make sense.

so as we all already know... i have an oil leak. i took out the gasket that came with the rebuild kit and i sealed it with Ultra Black gasket maker. leaked all over the place.
took it off and cleaned it up and poured more Ultra black on and evened it all out with a knife again.
let it cure for 3 days before i added oil back in. started it up, had a small leak from the oil return line so tightened it down and that was fine. no more leaking.
went for a drive and oil started dripping out, but i can't tell from where because the wind blew it all over the place.

so, my question now... i have a UV leak detection kit. it says to add it to the coolant :shock:
that can't be right... do i just dump it into my oil and let it run for a while?

I've never used one personally, but I know that there is a dye for the oil in the engine, run the engine for a while, then you put on those cool looking glasses, turn on that blacklight flashlight, and start looking for the dye from whereever its leaking. It would be a great Idea to degrease your engine beforehand, if its dirty or anything.

There's also a dye for the coolant, but I'm pretty sure that its to see if any exhaust smoke is making its way into your coolant system, i.e. bad head gasket.

There's people that swear by that black rtv silicone, but if there's a good quality gasket you can use, I'd use the gasket for extra assurance.

Originally Posted by EuroEclipse

warning: i feel retarded right now and just a little frustrated, so this might not make sense.

so as we all already know... i have an oil leak. i took out the gasket that came with the rebuild kit and i sealed it with Ultra Black gasket maker. leaked all over the place.
took it off and cleaned it up and poured more Ultra black on and evened it all out with a knife again.
let it cure for 3 days before i added oil back in. started it up, had a small leak from the oil return line so tightened it down and that was fine. no more leaking.
went for a drive and oil started dripping out, but i can't tell from where because the wind blew it all over the place.

so, my question now... i have a UV leak detection kit. it says to add it to the coolant :shock:
that can't be right... do i just dump it into my oil and let it run for a while?

Sounds like you got a coolant leak detection kit. They make a different thing for oil, one for power steering/transmission, and another for coolant. They make make more, but those are the ones I know of.

Also, I seem to recall Jonathan mentioning that you should never use a gasket on your oil pan, cause it will almost always leak, and the silicon is what OEM uses.

it has both oil/atf and coolant formulas. but the instructions on both say to dump into the coolant system... weird?

Originally Posted by EuroEclipse

it has both oil/atf and coolant formulas. but the instructions on both say to dump into the coolant system... weird?

I think the instructions are faulty... need to put it into the system that you think is leaking, right? Someone was trying to save money on printing instructions and forgot to hire a QA :P

there are two different kind of dyes, one for petrol systems (oil,atf,P/S,A/C) and "Water soluable" systems i.e cooling, brake systems.

add one little bottle 1oz I think to your oil, clean the old oil leak start the car run for a miniute check with the uv light, nothing, drive it for 5 miniutes,
You want to catch it right as it leaks, otherwise if you drive it for a day or two and you get under there BAM YELLOW sh%^t everywhere and you still cant tell where the leak is.

When you apply the sealant to the pan DONT smooth it out with anything. lay down a 1/4 bead all the way around and make sure to go to the inside of the pan bolt holes, make sure the block surface is super clean.
I like to let the pan sit for 5 miniutes with the silicone on it before putting it on, it gives the silicone a chance to get "thicker" but without drying.

ok, now that i'm a little more coherent today... i'll go ahead and dump it into the oil.
i did notice something though when i took the pan off before. the oil is eating away at the Ultra Black. It makes it all soggy and gross.

You must be using the wrong stuff,
Permatex Ultra Gray or Ultra Black gasket maker

The Ultra gray is about the same stuff Mitsu uses

Originally Posted by OldDirtyNoSeven

You must be using the wrong stuff,
Permatex Ultra Gray or Ultra Black gasket maker

The Ultra gray is about the same stuff Mitsu uses

same stuff. Permatex Ultra Black gasket maker. Says for use on valve covers and oil pans. MAXIMUM OIL RESISTANCE!!! (well... minus the !'s)

ok, so i ran the car with the UV dye in it. it's definitely coming from the pan. i saw some UV dye up top, but i found out it came from the crankcase breather and just dripped down onto the tranny and stuff. i think i see some from the back of the block as well, but that could just be splatter from the crankcase breather when it was dripping down. i'll have to look a little closer.

so here's my plan of attack:

1. drop the transfer case and downpipe once the car cools down and get a better look up top.
2. drink a beer
3. drain the oil and look at all the pretty reds and neon yellow dripping into the pan
4. drink a beer
5. drink a beer
6. inspect for more pretty neon
6. drop the oil pan and look at the pretty neon
7. drink a beer
8. clean up the pan while drinking a beer
9. inspect for more pretty neon