Morning Oil Leak?

[Mothman]

When I start my car in the morning there are a few drops of oil, but when I pull her in reverse and drive off there is a big puddle? This only happens that bad when my baby has been sitting for a while.
Anyone know why?

[cali-ti]

to clarify, before/when you start it, there are only a few drops of oil ... then when you back out, you notice a much bigger puddle? if you leave it idle there, the puddle doesn't form? have you put something down to catch the fluid leaks do determine if it's for sure oil and not trans or some other fluid? seems very odd ...

[Mothman]

to clarify, before/when you start it, there are only a few drops of oil ... then when you back out, you notice a much bigger puddle? if you leave it idle there, the puddle doesn't form? have you put something down to catch the fluid leaks do determine if it's for sure oil and not trans or some other fluid? seems very odd ...

If left in idle it only drops 4 or 5 times in 15minutes (timed it,) but when I place it in reverse, it's like "old faithful" I placed a pan under it to determine if it was oil or not. :no: it's oil.

[cali-ti]

damn ... any way to trace where it's coming from, where the source is? i'm guessing a seal, but i have no clue what one. hopefully some of our top notch guys will have an idea. obviously an auto trans ... does it seem to seal up after that? i guess you said so ... how long does it have to sit before "old faithful" reappears? hours/days/weeks, what kind of time frame are we looking at?

[Mothman]

If she sit's for more than an hour it will appear but not as bad as all night. There is a sliver pan, to the left side on under the engine that has the most oil on it. I noticed that a screw is that is placed on it, is the one that drips when in idle.

[cali-ti]

any way you can take a pic of this pan/screw to point out where it's leaking? i'm a visual guy ... pics always help :) i don't have my car now either so i can't poke my head under there to see what you're talking about :( what year is yours? just trying to determine m42 vs m44 engine.

[Mothman]

any way you can take a pic of this pan/screw to point out where it's leaking? i'm a visual guy ... pics always help :) i don't have my car now either so i can't poke my head under there to see what you're talking about :( what year is yours? just trying to determine m42 vs m44 engine.

I can take a picture, but I have two issues;
1.) I don't know how to post a picture in threads
2.) Camera at home so I will not be able to post it till tomorrow. (fyi)

Thanks for your help! :joy: I will send a message to admin for help on posting pics. :writers:

[Mothman]

Here is the picture of where the oil leak is: http://www.geocities.com/vapor81st/oil_leak.jpg

[cali-ti]

wow, looks like quite a leak :( wish i had my car to look at, because i'm not sure what's above the spot where you've pointed out that it's coming from. do you have a reputable shop near you? you might want to get their opinion as at this point, i'm not sure what that could be from, but dumping that much oil isn't good (imo). hopefully something easily solved, but it would be good to have it looked at to be determined for sure what it is.

[Mothman]

I do no trust the BMW Dealership here everytime my car goes in for one thing, it has 5 other things that pop up. I fixed both my window regulators the other day! (Happy Dance) I also fix a cable line that run under the chair and up the side to lift the seat up and down. I have a friend driving down from San Fran today to help me pin point what's going on with my car. Thanks for all the other advise you guys have given me. So far I have saved over $500.00 from tips you all have given me. I will donate a membership fee for the tips I got from here! Outie! :biggrin:

[cvacc411]

What you should do first is get a can of engine degreaser and clean the bottom of your car. This will make it easy to see where the oil is coming from.

[hotdog19d]

definitely a good place to start