Unlike many firsts, this isn't one to be proud of. The car hasn't even made it out on the road yet and already i've discovered an oil leak, quite literally hours after speaking to TiMi and mentioning how this engine doesn't leak oil. So, I jinxed it. What i'm trying to now determine is from where it's actually coming.

First of all, it's a very slow leak. Since last night about 3 drops worth has appeared on the driveway. Prior to that it had happened once before, although it's been sitting there for about 3 months and only 3 drops were recorded. It appears to have run down the back of the motor, below the exhaust runner that's closest to the timing belt side. There's none above the exhaust manifold, so it doesn't appear to be a rocker cover gasket leak. However the trail of oil seems to go higher than the sump gasket, so it would have to be somewhere in between. I think. That's what i'm here to find out.

Keep in mind that I can't see the back of the engine, so everything was literally done by feel.

Any ideas where oil may be leaking from on the back of a Verada 3.5L motor (possibly ruling out rocker cover gaskets and sump gaskets)? Was planning on changing the oil out for Penrite HPR-10 in the near future and whatever the issue could be, I may have to sort it out when it goes in to have that done.

Cheers

Just a stab, but is it definitely engine oil leaking? Could it be power steering fluid? Sounds like it's in the right area to be.

Welcome to the dark side! They all leak eventually. With air blasting around the engine compartment the leak could be anywhere! My suggestion is rear cam seal, but I have been wrong before, many times. lol Degrease and keep an eye on it.

I'm with MadMax on that.

Give the engine a really good clean then run it in for 20-30mins and inspect. If you have ramps it could make the job a little easier to find the source of the leak.

Quick question but did you recently replace oil or tranny fluid? If yes then could it be over filled by chance?

A few drops is not a huge worry but better safe than sorry.
I recently had to refit my oil sump pan a second time after i fitted it incorrectly and did not use enough gasket maker the first time.

clean the engine, while you are at it, remove the breather pipes and make sure they are all clear because if they are blocked your rear cam seal will leak and will appear like a leaking head gasket.

Give it all a good clean and even if you have to use a mirror down the back to see where the oil is coming from

Also dont be surprised it is actually PS fluid from the ps pump

No worries, just to field a couple of questions the car hasn't had any oil changes yet, nor has it been driven yet, it's just been sitting there getting work done over the last few months. The dripping fluid definitely smells like oil, the smell of combustion and carbon... but I suppose I will have to track it down a little further.

For what it's worth, there's now two slightly damp spots on the driveway (from the same leak, it's just running around the engine) so the parts I ruled out earlier may still be up for consideration.

Is there a rear main seal on these engines that could be the culprit? Had to ship tons of these replacement seals for other makes/models of car for my old job and from what I hear it's quite a challenging repair, so was hoping that it wouldn't be the case here.

Will start having a look around anyway and report back.

Torch and an old makeup mirror will help you see around corners, jack it up and support the car on axle stands or ramps before you crawl under it. Clean it up with paper towel and let it warm up and see if you can pinpoint it then. Check that there is gasket and not liquid gasket in all the places that there should be gasket, which im hoping is the only leak on mine...

Is there any oil on the rear exhaust manifold heat shield? My TW first leak was the rocker cover gasket on the rear bank, closely followed by a hardened oil filler cap seal.

timing belt? maybe?

Looked over it, couldn't pinpoint the location but did notice the two bolts that hold the sump on directly below the harmonic balancer were covered in fresh oil. Starting to close in on it now, but i'll wait until daylight to check over it again.

My TJ has oil on the sump in the same place and I suspect it's the crankshaft oil seal.

Well if it turns out to be the front crankshaft seal you might as well go over all the other seals, timing belt, pulleys and water pump etc.

I'll see what happens. On a tight budget, I don't have the necessary time and resources to be overhauling all the seals and parts in the engine, but the motor isn't that old (neither is the timing belt and water pump for that matter) so chances are they'll be fine. I'll have to track down the leak but I have a feeling that's all that will need fixing at this stage.

If it's a small leak then just live with it and use thicker oil that's what I did with my KE :happy:

If it's a small leak then just live with it and use thicker oil that's what I did with my KE :happy:

Can you please provide some sort of technical or qualified statement on how thicker oil will in any way help either the engine or the leak and not end up costing the owner of the car far more than the issue causing the leak? Making statements like this to other members is not helpful at all and will most likely end up causing more damage to the members motor. If you wish to cheap skape your way around your car, this is your option, please do not encourage others to do the same. The ramifications of having thicker oil are far more than your supposed stopping of a leak which is BS anyway.

Back to the Op with some advice that will actually assist here perhaps. You do need first to clean up the engine, if has not been driven in a while etc can also make it hard to locate as dust. webs etc will make more mess. I would clean, run the engine for a while and have a good look around. The places you may find leaks, and I doubt Rear Main will be one especially if the oil seems to be at the crank pulley end

*Rocker Covers
*Dist Seal
*Thrust Cap Seal
*Cam Seals
*Crank Seal

Last 2, check your breathers as I mentioned earlier in this thread, is a common issue with the 6G7 series of engines.