Last few weeks, I have been noticing a few drops of oil on my driveway.
The car had Castrol GTX regular 5w30 put in Oct. 2004 and the clutch
went mid-Nov. 2004 so the car pretty much sat idle in the garage for a
few months.
After the clutch was fixed, I drove for a bit (put a few hundred KMs with
the old oil still) and didn’t change the oil till April 2005.
I put in Mobil 1 15w40 synthetic and when I did, I put in a bit more then
the recomended 3.8L w/ oil filter (I probablly put in over 4L). I actually
drained some over the weekend, yet at work I noticed a couple drops on
the pavement.
When I did my clutch swap, I replaced the oil seal and made sure to
use a crap load of RTV copper sealent (see pics below).
So it’s either at the edge of the oil pan or the rear main seal.
Gonad it’s the synthetic oil. Synthetic is a much smaller molicule and will leek past old seals. Changeback to non syn and you will be fine. I had the same prob before.
But I mean I have run Syn. last year and had no such problem.
Why now? Not to mention I even replaced the rear main oil seal which
looks like the only other place that would actually cause any other leak
(besides the oil pan which I didn’t even touch).
The oil I have now is 15w50 (I thought it was 40 but its 50) and I mean
it’s obviously a thicker oil.
BTW, After I changed from 5w30 to 15w50, the car felt a bit ‘heavier’.
Hard to describe but the gas pedal didnt’ feel as ‘soft’ .
