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Overheating, leaking oil

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noplaymaker

Probationary Member
22
0
Jul 17, 2013
New Orleans, Louisiana
so just bought this 97 GST and haven't driven it much.to short ride and while on the freeway my AC cut off and I noticed an oil burning smell and a light white smoke (could have been grayish) and my AC came back on. pulled over and had like oil on the ground and on top of the transmission. car still runs but the temperature gauge was way up and steaming from the reservoir. just wondering on where to start. I was thinking head gasket but there's no fluid leaking. only oil.
 
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The over heating problem I would make sure the fluid is totally full with no air in system would cause it to get hot also make sure the fans are kicking on and cooling properly other then that you would have to run a pressure test on system to see if its leaking slowly somewhere and not reaching the ground or water pump but usually that gets replaced when you do the timing belt on it unless the last owners failed to do this maintainace. But check all the small stuff first to see if you can fix the overheating problem. The oil problem is probably a valve cover gasket or something like that there should be a visible area that has oil leaking from if its reaching the ground. Also a quick no always right way to see if its a head gasket problem check oil to see if its watery or milky that will let you know if small amounts of coolant is getting into the oil through the head gasket. Just some things to start with. good luck and I will keep my eye out.
 
thanks a lot, there is no oil leaking from the valve cover. coolant in the radiator is empty, oil color is fine but low. all the leaking oil is on the passenger side on the transmission and mostly on the undercarriage and back bumper
 
Clean the whole longblock with brakeparts cleaner or carb cleaner and some blue paper rags. Do it so there is no oil on the engine anywhere. Don't get lazy during this step. Then idle the car for 15 minutes. check for oil everywhere. if nothing, then do a full boost pull (make sure you aren't overheating at any point), then check again for oil. This is the way I've always figured out oil leaks.

If oil is leaking internally then that will require a different diagnosis. I's your oil milky? Check under you oil cap and the end of your dipstick. Is your radiator fluid milky? check your radiator cap. When you first start the car (cold start), do you see bubbles with the radiator cap off?

Have you done a compression test. The tool is $20. Make sure everything is in spec.
 
No oil in spark plug cylinders also.

no milky fluid in either one. I am noticing it is completely dry in the coolant neck. trying to get an explanation for the leaking oil though, Ill try the degreaser and see if its leaking from somewhere
 
Well the only way to check the oil leak is do whats been said clean the engine bay very well we like to use the power washer after spraying it down with degreaser. Are you sure its not some type of gear oil if its a manual transmission it has gear oil and it usually has a drain plug on the block somewhere it could be leaking there and down the back of the car as your driving.

there are two plugs on the transmition one right below the shifter linkage and one on the very bottom of your transmition check those out for any leakage. The only other way to get oil that far over there and as much is that gear oil or under boost your leaking out the banjo bolt or the half moon on valve cover really nothing else over that way to spray oil over there.
 
Thanks alot guys. Ill get back soon with some answers

Cleaned the undercarriage and pretty much everything with degreaser. filled the oil back to level and the radiator with water. had some spotty, very small leaks. couldn't pinpoint most of them because it could be run off of the degreaser. I did see one on the passenger side underneath unable that connects the transmission. Not the seal, the actual bolt was leaking. I lowered the car to let it sit all night and I'll see what spots I have in the morning.
 
Keep in mind that you have to fill the transmission, transfer case, rear differential, AND the engine with oil. You should check the levels of all of these and make sure that none of them are bone dry (or sludgey). The drain bolts for for the transfer case, trans, and rear diff are 22mm or 23mm and have a copper crush washer. Sometimes the crush washers don't seal if they are reused or if they don't get at least 20 lbs of torque. If you go to drain any of these, loosen the fill plug first, then take off the drain plug.

Jafromobile has a video of changing all of his oils:
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjlpuCdQkh8]Trans & Clutch 7 - AWD Fluids - YouTube[/ame]

FYI, our transfer cases got recalled years ago because they were known to leak from the main driveshaft output (there is a rebuild kit for this problem). When a transfer case runs out of oil, it heats up and eventually locks up your rear wheels completely. This can happen on the highway which can be catastrophic ending in a short trip to the guard rail/jersey wall.

I don't want to start a long "which oil is best for each component" debate, because they already exist, but I figure I should share the knowledge that I picked up from the research I did. I ended up using:

For the engine:
5 qts Mobil 1 synthetic oil (Royal Purple Engine Break-In Motor Oil (1 Quart) 10W30 - Modern Automotive Performance) ($8x5)

For the Transfer Case and Rear Diff.
3 qts Redline Heavy Shockproof gear oil (Redline Shockproof Gear Oil : Heavy - Modern Automotive Performance) ($15x3)

For the Transmission:
5 qts Redline MT-90 Manual Trans. oil (Redline Synthetic Manual Transmission Fluid : MT-90 - Modern Automotive Performance) ($15x5)

Let me know if providing links is against the rules and I'll take them down. (They are from a supporting vendor though.)
 
Well I would watch the levels and continue to monitor the leak spots. does it overheat any now? or is it running good and drives good.
 
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