ummm, this is weak- never ever had leaks before this, but right after I swapped out my engine oil out with 5w20 Royal Purple, and swapped out my transmission/differential with 75w90, I developed an oil leak.

I THOUGHT I tightened my oil pan bolt well enough, is it possible to overtighten it, since I did not have a torque wrench with me at the time?

It is pretty close up to where the engine is, and perhaps where the oil pan is- I have seen threads on this, but no one seems to have this problem after they swap out their oil with Royal Purple.

I hope this isn't a problem that has to do with the oil. It definitely doesn't smell like

it did when it came out of the quart bottle.

heres some progressive pics of the leaks:

 

Did you replace the aluminum crush washer for the drain plug? Perhaps that's the problem together with not tightening the drain plug properly. A torque wrench is the way to go, but if you're laying on your back with the car a foot or two above the floor, it's not necessarily practical to use one. Just snug it up against the washer and then tighten a bit more.

Maybe the oil spot is just leftover spillage, for example from changing the oil filter, that is leaking down slowly. The decreasing size of the oil spots over time could indicate that as the source. If the spot size continues to decrease over time, I would assume that is the problem.

Locate where specifically the oil is coming from before doing anything else. Park the car over a sheet of cardboard overnight and then get under the car to track down the origin of the leak above the oil spot.

 

Make sure it's not gear oil dripping from the backup switch on the tranny. Common leak point. Bottom of the tranny will be juicy.

 

actually, now that you mention it, i just re-used the crush washer for all three of the oil bolts- I figured it would be fine

 

Then check the drain plug for a possible drop of oil hanging there or just a general oily look.

 

Did you spill..or leak when removing the oil filter??

 

the smart money is on this as the cause .....

 

or......PM me and then you can just come over(you are only about 2 miles away from me) and I'll take a look. I just bought a bunch of extra oil pan washers and can hook you up if you need one. If you did change the oil filter..........Did you wrap a rag around and below the oil filter when you changed the oil? My guess would be that it is just spillage or your pan washer is not sealing well....as everyone else has said. You should be able to see as stated(a little drip hanging from the pan bolt area) or use cardboard and let sit overnight to see where it's coming from. I got jacks, and jack stands and if worse comes to worse, we will take it up and crawl under there!

 

thanks for the help everyone- I thought I had considered every angle- guess not

my oil pans crush washer is most likely the source, so I'll check it out soon