oil leak on v8.... help

[barrymarie]

Hi all, need help with oil leak on my v8 500 sel,my local indie garage fixed a leak on rocker cover (twice) then it sprung a leak from dipstick tube where it goes into the block,fixed that ,they kept car 3 days to ensure no further leaks, collected car today engine nice and clean looked tonight and small pool of oil on drive.Help is car going to leak forever,or is something blocked(breather valve etc) Thanks

 

[Aussie Nick]

I dont know if this model has an undersump tray. I think the oil leak is the result of residue oil from the previous oil leaks. If the mechanic didn't clean the underside tray there would be a build up of oil which is draining slowly .Suggest that you monitor the oil drainage .Is the engine showing signs off oil loss ? i.e. is the oil level on the dipstick going down.
If the car has no underside tray grab a torch and look to see where the source is. I think you merely have the residue of the previous oil leaks.

 

[barrymarie]

Thanks nick no undersump tray and engine cleaned of residue oil before i picked car up,not loosing enough oil for it to show on dipstick but sump etc has a nice light coating of oil, and of course a nice drip on my drive

 

[Dec]

Very recently someone mentioned a novel way to find the source of a leak by dusting the engine with talcum powder. The powder will show up the path of the oil leak, I thought that that was a very good idea so passing it on to you.

Dec

 

[Aussie Nick]

Yes I think Dec's suggestion is a very good one. It will probably be a bit messy. I've used talcum powder to stabilise gel coat on boats. The talcum powder is hard to control out of the container and may be difficult to apply in tight spots. You might want to think about a thin brush to get it where you suspect the source is.

 

[barrymarie]

Had car back to garage they put a dye in the oil and a different one in the power steering fluid, turns out the leak came from the power steering resevoir ran down pipes and all over.Sorted till next time ,thanks for help.