Oil on the driveway, but not the street
08-05-2013, 02:06 PM
#1
Registered
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Portsmouth, RI
Posts: 60
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Oil on the driveway, but not the street
Has anyone experienced an oil leak associated to a steep incline? I noticed some oil in my driveway under the spot where my car was parked, so I parked it in the street and scheduled an appointment with the dealership to fix the leak. The next day, I took a look under the car to see how it was doing, and it was bone dry. The oil level is good, and I haven't seen any drips since I took it off the driveway. I could test the theory, by parking it back in the driveway, but I'd rather not get oil on the driveway if I can help it. I really just need to know if this is a known issue where the RX-8 will leak if it's on a steep incline, or if I should just keep the appointment and have it looked at.
08-05-2013, 02:57 PM
#4
Registered
iTrader: (2)
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Pacific Northwest
Posts: 16,684
Likes: 0
Received 239 Likes
on
109 Posts
Before you bother with a dealer then, get the front up on jack stands and pull the splash pan. Check it over on the top side for oil, look over the bottom of the engine. If you don't see fresh oil, then you shouldn't be worried about anything. If you do, then you probably just have a smaller leak that accumulated, then dripped out when you were parked more steeply, and should be able to locate where the issue is.
Last edited by RIWWP; 08-05-2013 at 03:01 PM.
08-05-2013, 03:38 PM
#6
Registered
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Portsmouth, RI
Posts: 60
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
That makes sense. I'll park it in the driveway with some cardboard under it. It looked like the bottom of the splash pan had some oil on it, but it was hard to tell. I don't have the time to turn any wrenches, so I'll see if this gives me an answer.
09-08-2013, 12:51 AM
#7
I had a small puddle, blamed someone else, then parked 3 feet to the right - a new stain... nothing in the pan, the drain plug was cracked. Plus I could barely remove it once the allen hole stripped out. Ordered a few spares.
09-08-2013, 01:38 PM
#8
The best way to find an oil leak...is to clean the engine and undertray very carefully...and then check it the next day for leaks. It is really difficult to find a leak when you don't know what is new and what is old 
Common leak locations are around the oil cooler hoses, the oil pan and the front seal and OMP area. Another common oil leak is into the intake system...and then it drips out under the airbox
Common leak locations are around the oil cooler hoses, the oil pan and the front seal and OMP area. Another common oil leak is into the intake system...and then it drips out under the airbox
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
