oil leak 420A help

[neowave2109]

hey guys ... i have a 420A eclipse that is leaking oil ... about a few drops a nite when i park it in the car port ... it seems that the oil is leaking on the driver side of the car. i looked all under the car and even spent about an hour looking for this leak and cant seem to find where is it coming from ...i figure that it might be motor oil or trany oil 5spd both are dark oil ... so has anyone had this problem with there 420A eclipse mind you i have a 95 5spd eclipse ... any help will be great ... also can some one post my pics so u all can have an ideal what i am typing about...??

 

[esi-slowboy]

I had the same problem a few months ago i swapped out the valve cover gasket and ive been cool since.Wipe the borders of the valve cover give it a glance after a few days if theres oil swap out the gasket might solve your problem.Its a fairly easy job

 

[siueclipse]

its very dificult to tell you where your oil leak is coming from. you really need to do more investigation.

 

[GSGoinFast]

I had the same problem a few months ago i swapped out the valve cover gasket and ive been cool since.Wipe the borders of the valve cover give it a glance after a few days if theres oil swap out the gasket might solve your problem.Its a fairly easy job

yup ive had to swap mine out twice due to oil leaks. about to do it again, im not positive its the VC gasket but history has given me a hunch... thank you chrysler

 

[750_sport]

Have you looked at the oil psi sending unit?

 

[neowave2109]

Have you looked at the oil psi sending unit?

the thing is my buddy had the same car and the same problem. he told me he had to change an oil plug that is mounted on the side wall of the block, that comes with a plastic gasket which expands and tends to let out oil. he explains that it is very hidden so he will be coming by to take a look at it. i was just asking if anyone had that problem with their 2g... can some one post pics 4 me ????

 

[dr1665]

Head gasket. Driver's side rear corner. Typical.

Clean the back of the block with brake parts cleaner, fire it up and drive around for about an hour, park it, climb back under there and look again. If it's the OPSU or HG back there, you'll have a better chance of spotting it then.

 

[Doug99RS]

What DR said. But also look for these common leaks:

Camshaft position sensor- It was originally white in color but a revised seal came out that is green and beaded. This is located on the driver's side of the head and has a 3 wire connector going to it. Item 15 in this thread:
http://dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=100294
This one will bite many people because when it leaks it will run down the head until it reaches the headgasket line. Then it will run to the back side of the block and down. It will look just like a headgasket leak but is a $15.00 repair instead of a $500.00 one.
Skill level 1

Valve cover gasket and spark plug tube seals- The spark plug tube seals will ONLY leak oil in to the tubes where your spark plugs are at, no external leakage will be found. Your valve cover gasket will leak pretty much on the back side. Most people don't know how to properly install this. They figure pull off old, install new and reassemble. NO! You must put RTV at 4 different points where the end cam caps meet the head in order for this gasket to work right. Skill level 2

Rear main oil seal- Will look alot like a headgasket because it will cover the bottom side of the block on the driver's side but if you properly clean the engine and remove the bell-housing inspection plate you should find heavy amounts of oil residue inside. Expect to replace your clutch too since it's probably covered in oil. Skill level 4

Oil pressure sending unit- There's a trend here... all your oil leaks are on the driver's side rear of the block. Don't get them confused. This is easy to fix but you will need an extremely large and deep socket OR must be willing to take a large wrench and grind off half of the handle. Skill level 1

Headgasket- Very likely suspect. The eclipses and talons never got the multi-layer steel headgasket from the factory and the one they did use sucked. Expect this to fail on you at 60K or more. Late built eclipses (98-99) may be able to make it to about 90K but it WILL fail on you. Skill level 6

Skill levels explained:
1- Newbie, very easy, minimal tools
2- Still easy, must be able to follow instructions and have a handful of tools.
3- Not for beginners. Modest amount of tools needed and experience needed.
4- Expect to spend half a day or more, wide variety of tools needed and access to service manuals or equivalent.
5 or more- You really regret having tried this one yourself. Some dealer only tools needed, you don't know if it will ever run again, HELP!!!

 

[SnoopySLR]

oh my god.... a 420a with an oil leak.... no way!!!

I had the same thing. Head gasket. Everyone I know with a 420a has a head gasket leak there. Determain if it is your head gasket, then have a nice MLS head gasket installed

 

[GSGoinFast]

What DR said. But also look for these common leaks:

Camshaft position sensor- It was originally white in color but a revised seal came out that is green and beaded. This is located on the driver's side of the head and has a 3 wire connector going to it. Item 15 in this thread:
http://dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=100294
This one will bite many people because when it leaks it will run down the head until it reaches the headgasket line. Then it will run to the back side of the block and down. It will look just like a headgasket leak but is a $15.00 repair instead of a $500.00 one.
Skill level 1

Valve cover gasket and spark plug tube seals- The spark plug tube seals will ONLY leak oil in to the tubes where your spark plugs are at, no external leakage will be found. Your valve cover gasket will leak pretty much on the back side. Most people don't know how to properly install this. They figure pull off old, install new and reassemble. NO! You must put RTV at 4 different points where the end cam caps meet the head in order for this gasket to work right. Skill level 2

Rear main oil seal- Will look alot like a headgasket because it will cover the bottom side of the block on the driver's side but if you properly clean the engine and remove the bell-housing inspection plate you should find heavy amounts of oil residue inside. Expect to replace your clutch too since it's probably covered in oil. Skill level 4

Oil pressure sending unit- There's a trend here... all your oil leaks are on the driver's side rear of the block. Don't get them confused. This is easy to fix but you will need an extremely large and deep socket OR must be willing to take a large wrench and grind off half of the handle. Skill level 1

Headgasket- Very likely suspect. The eclipses and talons never got the multi-layer steel headgasket from the factory and the one they did use sucked. Expect this to fail on you at 60K or more. Late built eclipses (98-99) may be able to make it to about 90K but it WILL fail on you. Skill level 6

Skill levels explained:
1- Newbie, very easy, minimal tools
2- Still easy, must be able to follow instructions and have a handful of tools.
3- Not for beginners. Modest amount of tools needed and experience needed.
4- Expect to spend half a day or more, wide variety of tools needed and access to service manuals or equivalent.
5 or more- You really regret having tried this one yourself. Some dealer only tools needed, you don't know if it will ever run again, HELP!!!

5 is you wish you never tried it and a head gasket is a 6??? i didnt think it was that hard. oh and when i had a spark plug tube seal leak, i kept getting oil puddling on the top of the valve cover right by the spark plug wells.

 

[SnoopySLR]

You gotta realize not everyone is mechanically inclined. As much as me and you think its easy, my dad looked at the top of my block, when i did mine, and told me that car will never run again. He almost fainted when I had him look under my hood to tell me whats wrong with my engine....when there was no engine in there

 

[Dave Chan]

i have this very saem problem and me and my dad can't figure it out....thanks for some info!
mine also leaks on the driver side...but only a TINY bit....

 

[kicknyours]

i have a '97GS 5spd and it drips and drop or five of oil every night also, and towards the driver as well. i thought that i saw some on top of the valve cover (i'll have to make sure it wasn't just a couple of drips that got away

The Mitsu dealer said that it was head gasket. Took it to a shop/mechanic that specializes in b-mers and other european cars (heard good things about him) and he stated that he worked for a dealership before and that they are just trying to rip me off. he claimed it was just the valve cover gasket leaking down. charged me $80some for the cover job. but it still dripped oil. (since then he has moved his shop to the miami area

another mechanic stated that if it was the HG, there would be some antifreeze leaking with the oil??? is that true?

mitsu said that they always go and it'd be around $600 to replace

the car runs good, but i need to take care of those crappy drips

 

[neowave2109]

yea before i called my buddy i took it in to the shop cause i was just clueless about where the leak was coming from... wel i was qouted the same price 600-700 bucks for the head gaskets and labor. i was f that ... at least i know i am not alone in this crises

 

[Doug99RS]

The Mitsu dealer said that it was head gasket. Took it to a shop/mechanic that specializes in b-mers and other european cars (heard good things about him) and he stated that he worked for a dealership before and that they are just trying to rip me off. he claimed it was just the valve cover gasket leaking down. charged me $80some for the cover job. but it still dripped oil. (since then he has moved his shop to the miami area

another mechanic stated that if it was the HG, there would be some antifreeze leaking with the oil??? is that true?

mitsu said that they always go and it'd be around $600 to replace

Mitsu is right.

Not saying your previous mechanic is a joke but the facts are he said it was valve cover and it's still leaking. In that particular case we can justifiably put more credit in what the dealership told you the first go-round.

Headgaskets can fail in many different ways. They can blow between cylinders causing a loss in compression, mis-fires and poor performance without leaking ANY fluid of any kind. They can leak coolant in to the combustion chambers without contaminating the oil or leaking outward. Headgaskets can mix coolant and oil also.

The below is a description of the original headgasket put on from the factory, it does not include the revised MLS headgasket and only describes the most common (95%) of failures we've seen on this engine:
In this particular engine the headgasket originally starts leaking oil outward. The area that it leaks from is at an oil galley very close to the outside of the head/block. This means the oil would rather leak outward than inward. If the headgasket is not repaired in a timely manor then it is possible that both the oil and coolant will mix. In rare cases the coolant will also leak out with the oil. But this type of failure is rare on the 420A.

So it's cases like this where the almighty satan was really right and wasn't telling you a lie. Most of the time if the dealership tells you "We see it all the time." It's because... they see it all the time. If you want the car to continue to run good then you need to take care of this problem before it escelates.
Doug