Best Way To Clean Up Oil Leak

[BigDirtyJase]

Hey all,

Well over the weekend I did an oil change on my car. I put some oil flush in and run the car for about 15 minutes and then drained the oil from the sump (black as hell)...after about 20 minutes to let it drain completely put the bolt back in the sump and went to take off the oil filter from the relocator.

When I took off the filter, oil spilled out of the filter and down the LHS (when you standing in front of the engine)...causing oil to spill on to the floor. So I cleaned the oil on the floor and tried to clean up around the LHS of the engine as much as I can. Once I did that, put the new filter on and poured in my new oil (GW Syn-X 3000). Now after I checked everything and went for a drive to the shops. The next morning I can see a pool of oil that's leaked onto the concrete...I touched and it looks like the old oil is dripping from underneath the car somewhere...I cleaned up most of it with a rag over night and checked this morning and there is no drips but when I drove to my client this afternoon, I decided to have a look when I went out for a ciggy and saw oil drops on the road...

what's the best way to clean all that up...I'm assuming that I might have to jack the car up and attack it with some degreaser or something else from underneath the car (I have big hands and arms to attack from the top)

It's slowing driving me mad with oil dropping (I'm only hoping it's old oil, if it's new, fresh oil...then I'm screwed because I don't know where it's exactly coming from)

Thanks In Advance!!

Edited August 23, 2011 by BigDirtyJase

[zei20l]

if its black old looking oil, dont stress. if its honey coloured, then worry where its coming from

hit it with some degreaser, same with the concrete floor.

just keep it away from any electricals and the fan belts.

[BigDirtyJase]

Well I degreased the car around the relocator kit and now I know I have an oil leak :-( ...looks like it's coming from one or both of the braided lines from the relocator (where the oil filter screws on to). I have been checking my oil and it's all ok for now

Now my guess is I need to replace the hose or hoses (this is going to be fun)....does anyone know the size of the hoses....I might just get regular hoses for the time being.

[260tech]

Well I degreased the car around the relocator kit and now I know I have an oil leak :-( ...looks like it's coming from one or both of the braided lines from the relocator (where the oil filter screws on to). I have been checking my oil and it's all ok for now

Now my guess is I need to replace the hose or hoses (this is going to be fun)....does anyone know the size of the hoses....I might just get regular hoses for the time being.

Hey Jason, just in case you haven't pinned down your oil leak yet...........your oil relocator fittings be tapered, nip 'em up. And before you go changing hoses I would check to see that I did not have prob with filter/seal changeout. Sometimes old oil seal can stick in place, not noticed. Double "O" rings (new over old) leak like a sieve, as does damaged/malformed/nicked/misaligned new seal.

Just a thought.

Cheers GW

[BigDirtyJase]

Hey Jason, just in case you haven't pinned down your oil leak yet...........your oil relocator fittings be tapered, nip 'em up. And before you go changing hoses I would check to see that I did not have prob with filter/seal changeout. Sometimes old oil seal can stick in place, not noticed. Double "O" rings (new over old) leak like a sieve, as does damaged/malformed/nicked/misaligned new seal.

Just a thought.

Cheers GW

I checked the around the filter...it's no leaking from there...it's definitely coming from the hoses (I'm going to hate taking them off...because one side has the crap Earl's clamp fittings, it's going to take some time to get them off...and blood will be drawn and lots of swearing

[RS4-S]

personally i think degreaser cans are a waste of money, buy a can or 2 of brake cleaner and give the area around the oil filter and where you spilt a hit and also on top of the diff (if its an RS4) maybe dont do this in your driveway though

[zei20l]

whats in brake cleaner that degreaser is a waste of money?

when you can get 5 cans for $10 i rekon its cost effective lol

[BigDirtyJase]

They both do the job but brake cleaner is a little bit more effective....I just happened to have like 4 and half cans of degreaser in the shed...might as well use them (there is alot of oil stains on the driveway from multiple cars with oil/power steering leaks over the years)...

anyways...Where is the best place in Melbourne where I can get either braided lines and either the crappy Earls clamp type ends or proper AN -10 fittings (would that mean I have to change the fittings on the relo kit)...or where can I get good rubber hose from?

Rubber hose whilst cheaper...will keep me going for now (waiting to get paid from work...god I hate montly pay sometimes) but want to go with proper braided lines and fittings down the line

Edited September 13, 2011 by BigDirtyJase

[RS4-S]

stuff knows whats in it but its alcohol based and breaks down grease and grime like nothing else and evapourates. most degreasers are soapy/slimey crap in a can that leave a residue. its so cheap cos its mainly water and people see 'degreaser' and think thats what im looking for

i dont think we have a can of degreaser in our whole workshop, apart from the 44 we have full of orange scented degreaser with cut down and use as floor cleaner

[BigDirtyJase]

UPDATE,

I took my car to my friends shop today to check out this oil leak because it's gotten progressively worse...checked the lines and found that they were actually OK. Found that it was leaking from the oil temp sensor hole (it had an adapter so I could fit the sensor)

So I cleaned it up and resealed it, only to find it leaking again, tried another fitting and still leaking. Ended up having to take off the entire relocation kit and put the oil filter back on the block.

I need to clean up the re-locator kit and need to see it why it was leaking. My mate thinks that the fitting hole on the filter block is cracked but can't tell without cleaning out the old oil.

I wonder where I could get another filter block (if my one is cracked and can't be repaired) from or I might end up going with just a sandwich plate

Once I clean it up, I'll post some pics of the filter block