How to Fix Oil Leak

Normally cars experience a wide range of leaks, ranging from leakage of automatic transmission fluid to windshield washer fluid. However, the most common type of leak a car is bound to experience at some or the other point is engine oil leak. As engine oil is required for various car functions, such as lubricating various moving parts and cooling of the engine, its shortage can lead to adverse effects on car functioning. Owing to this threat, it becomes very important to find and fix oil leaks in car before they lead to further complications.

How to Find Oil Leak?

A small pool of oil beneath your car is the most common sign of an oil leak, but that need not be the way to find out if your car is suffering from leakage problems at all. In fact, the chances of you checking the ground in the parking lot just to find traces of oil leaks are very rare. There are better measures to help you to find and fix oil leaks in your car's engine. It's very difficult to trace oil leak in an engine totally smeared with oil, and hence you may have to degrease your engine to find the source of oil leak in your car. Spreading newspaper beneath the car at night is the simplest method of clearing your doubts about oil leaks in your car. Check all the bolts in the engine, as loose bolts are the most common sources of leakage. You can also use dipsticks to determine whether you are losing oil through leaks.

How to Fix Oil Leak in Car?

Knowing how to repair oil leak can be of great help to solve minor leakage issues, as well as in case of emergency situations. An important source of oil leak in cars is valve covers. Oil leak from valve covers is caused mainly due to loosening of the bolts which fix the valve covers. If the leak is not very serious, just tightening the cover bolts can solve your problems. However, if the problem is major you may have to opt for new valve cover gasket to fix oil leak.

Car leak problems are not just restricted to valve covers. Even damage to oil filter or oil pan can cause oil leak. Another common reason for oil leak is a hole in the oil pan. Most often, the hole in the oil pan is caused as a result of running over a rock or bumping into raised ground. The easiest way to fix oil pan leak is to fix a bolt of appropriate size in the hole. You will also have to check whether the oil filter is properly fixed or not. If the oil filter is not installed properly, the chances of oil leak just increases. When the engine seal breaks down, the gap created in it allows the engine oil to seep out thus causing an oil leak. In such a situation, you will have to resort to one of the stop leak products available in the car repair shops to fix oil leak. Although it may sound surprising, but many people forget to fix the oil drain plug after changing the oil, which in turn provides a passage for oil seepage.

This was a brief information about how to fix oil leaks in cars. Cost incurred in repairing oil leaks depends on which part of the car has been damaged. You can fix some simple damages on your own, whereas some may require professional expertise. Although oil leaks or other car problems can be easily fixed, proper maintenance of the car should be given priority over car repairs. It won't just help you to continue with your smooth rides, but will also help in easing the burden on your wallet.