Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting I give up (oil leak)

So here's my saga:

I've been putting off fixing an oil leak in my loyal 'tour for the past six months (finishing up my MS and kids = no time), and finally got a break here and set to work to fix it. Searched around a bit on the forums here and found quite a few people replacing the oil pan gasket, and after inspecting mine, figured it would be a damn good place to start.
So four broken exhaust bolts later and a hell of a lot of time spent under the car, I now have a nice new oil pan gasket, as well as new exhaust bolts (thanx DemonSVT). Filled her up with Mobil dino oil and a fresh oilfilter, and voila - the f'n leak is worse now.
Yes, I torqued the pan bolts to spec, except the PITA bolt over the frame rail, which is torqued by feel.
Yes, I put Ultra Black RTV on the front cover to block joint b4 putting on the new gasket.
Yes, the damn oil filter is tight (no leak from there)
Yes, I cleaned the gasket surfaces damn good.
And finally, yes, I'm pissed and defeated. WTF gives? Anybody out there that has had the same leak (which drips on the y-pipe, and smokes off, making you look like a f'n idiot at a stop light) and correctly stopped it w/ a pan gasket fix?
And finally, to add insult to injury, I found that in addition to the oil leak, which seems to be coming from somewhere near the front of the pan, I've got what looks to be another leak - looks like red fluid - but I'm not losing power steering fluid. It's got the alternator covered really nice.
I'm really losing faith here in my favorite car.

Red Fluid? Sounds like ATF...

Munch, can you be more specific as to where the leak is coming from?

Maybe it's actually the front cover gasket leaking near the area where it meets the front cover.

One good way of finding leaks like this is to somehow pressurize the crankcase. Now I'm just talking a few psi here.(this will still put more than 100 lbs of force pushing on the pan) So turn that regulator way down. You'll need to plug up a few things like the pcv line from the separator. You could feed the air in through the hole in the top of the valve cover. Then you could use some soapy water in a spray bottle to look for leaks.

I have always liked the Duratec oil pan gasket with it's aluminum carrier and thick sealing bead. I've been around a lot of Duratec motors and I can't recall seeing an oil pan leak due to the gasket. Maybe you have a hairline crack somewhere near the gasket.

BTW, it doesn't take much RTV to seal the area near the front cover. Too much and it will squeeze out into the crank case area. If this chunk breaks off, it WILL get sucked up into the pickup screen. I have seen it happen.

I have a 95 MT Tour with 156,000 miles on it and it has started to leak oil on the exhaust also. Is the oil pan the most likely suspect as discussed by Munch? But after his story I just may put up with the smell once in a while just so long as it doesn't start on fire. Do the front seals leak?

Rich S

i have what i think are a pair of leaks...one im pretty sure is the rear valve cover gasket near the firewall...when changing my plugs i notice a couple back ther had oil in the well but it wasn't going into the engine (the threads were not coated and were clean, looked like normally worn plugs)

my other leak is on the front of the engine (pullies side) seems to be leaking from the top where the power steering (?) pulley is

one of these two has my alternator nicely coated as well

The most common leaks I have seen are the front crank seal, the oil pan (both coat the exhaust Y-pipe), and the rear valve cover (coats the alternator).

I have heard of quite a few power steering pumps going out as well which would put red fluid on that side of the engine.

The easiest way to find out for sure which one is the biggest leaker is to degrease your engine in the dirty spot (out-a the gutter you freaks ), then check it once every few times you drive it.

Alright guys, thanks for the info and advice. Talked about the leak with a good friend of mine (two heads are better than one - on second thought, this forum shows that a million heads are def better than one). I do believe the leak is somewhere around the front of the pan, near the crank seal. There seems to be fresh oil above the pan on the front cover as well as below it, but not much higher than the crank pulley. Judging by the amount of oil that I'm leaking (enough to drip on a driveway after only a few minutes), my friend suggested that it might be the front crank seal. I'm game with that before tackling the front cover - oh man do I not want to mess with that . Is getting the front crank seal changed pretty expensive, or is it a fair DIY job? I may try degreasing the dirty mug and sourcing the leak that way.
For the red fluid, I'm not so sure where that's coming from. Below the pump it's dry, and same with the pressure hose. But somewhere around the alternator, it's really dousing the whole area with a coat of crimson. I noticed a pair of fluid (metallic) lines running along the frame in that area; reminded me of ATX cooling lines running up to the radiator on my old 'stang - but I've got an MTX. If I get the chance today, I'll snag a few pics and post them. The saga continues - and again thanx for the words of wisdom.