Oil leak woes, with pictures

[LS1GTP]

All of a sudden, it appears as if my power steering is leaking. I changed the fluid, I just pumped it out of the reservior and added new fluid. The level was a little bit over the Cold line, but not even halfway between hot and cold, so I figured it would be fine. I made sure the system was bled also. It looks like it's leaking from the driver side, here in the pictures below. I just drove the car so I'm waiting for it to drip on the ground again to confirm this is where it's leaking from. I'm just curious as to why it would leak from just changing the fluid?






I have oil leaking also, from the back of the engine. My front valve cover leaks a little bit (and drips onto the exhaust manifold) so I immediately thought of the rear valve cover gasket, but when I felt around behind the engine, it really wasn't oily, just greasy. I'm really hoping it's not the oil pan gasket, is there anything else I could check first? Pictures:








While I was investigating all of this, I checked the oil pressure sensor to see if that was leaking, and found that right above my lower motor mount, there's oil pooled in this bracket: (sorry I couldn't get a good picture of it)







Any help is appreciated.

[LS1GTP]

I was thinking of degreasing all of these areas, then check again after a couple drives?

[Scottydoggs]

2 cans of engine de greaser, clean it up all nice, then keep a eye on it over the next few days. you look to be leaking oil as well. could be the v/c gaskets, they like to drip down to the motor mount and down the sides of the block to the oil pan.

[LS1GTP]

Oh haha we posted at the same time. Alright I will do that.

[SlowNA06]

This is the same mess that appears when your lower engine mount explodes. So, that's worth checking if you haven't replaced it with a solid mount.

[Scottydoggs]

this is what a oil leak can do to your motor mount.



the rest of it.

[SlowNA06]

It takes quite a while to get that bad. Just a little dryrotting is where it starts... then a tiny leak... then drive it like that through New Jersey for three years, and you get that mess.

[Fivefingerdeathpunch]

It needs a new power steering rack and a oil pan gasket to become pretty much leak free.

[LS1GTP]

It needs a new power steering rack and a oil pan gasket to become pretty much leak free.

That's not what I wanted to hear I'll degrease the areas and find out exactly what is what.



I have purple power degreaser, will that be good enough?

[Scottydoggs]

any de greaser will work.

[LS1GTP]

Ok. What did you mean when you said an oil leak will do that to an engine mount? Cause there's oil kinda pooled in the bracket thing above the mount.

[SlowNA06]

Jack it up, pull the wheel off, and pull the cover off to look at the mount. It's also a good angle for the cleaning.

[LS1GTP]

I did, that's how I got the pictures Lol. I was wondering what oil from a leak does to the motor mount?

[Scottydoggs]

I did, that's how I got the pictures Lol. I was wondering what oil from a leak does to the motor mount?

valve covers.

you can take a paper towel folded up to a nice square, then run it under the cover, if it comes back wet they are leaking.

do this when the car is cold.

[LS1GTP]

No no, why does oil deteriorate the motor mount like you showed me?

I felt under the valve covers, it's only greasy like the rest of the engine, not wet. I'll try to get it degreased just to be sure though. Hell, I'll probably make a day out of degreasing anything I can under the hood. Definitely makes working on things easier.

[coolone]

The motor mount(stock) is hydraulic and has oil in it (filled) and when it eventually fails, it seeps out and leaves that pile of goo! Replace it with a solid mount, do the tranny mount on the other side while you're at it.

[LS1GTP]

I dipped my finger in it and it looked like regular motor oil. Would that be correct?

My motor and trans do not shake, so I would rather not get into that if it's not necessary.

[Scottydoggs]

oil left on rubber or sitting on rubber will soften the rubber and break it down over time.

rubber is oil based product, so oil will break it down. i had oil leaks all over the place, changed the v/c and the mount is dry now.

[LS1GTP]

Got it. I'll update the thread when I get everything degreased and pinpoint the leaks- probably this saturday. Thanks guys.

[bonerjamz03]

would a valve cover leak damage the transmission mount also or just the motor mount?