1996 Ford Taurus GL Strange Oil Leak

[Mediarocker543]

Finally a problem with my car. (not meaning it in the good way)

I pulled my car into the garage to work on the speakers. I back the car back out into the driveway and find out.. that i'm leaking oil. Only like 1-3 drops

The next day I jack it up and find oil EVERYWHERE on the pan and trans pan. I cleaned it up and checked the oil, not much missing.

Pull the car in the next day.. same thing.. so i jack the car up and check the oil pan's bolts.. and torque 'em down as nessicary. Checked the oil.. not much missing.

Well.. 3 days later.. Pull it into the garage again.. and you guessed it.. another couple of drops on the floor.

What the heck is going on.. i can't even isolate where its coming from..

Checked the drain plug.. the pan.. Where is it coming from..

Anyone know what to do? cause i've done it all. Now my dad wants to take it to the ford dealer to fix.. but I know they are going to rape me with the cost.. its obviously something easy to fix.

[FordBoss88]

Its coming from your oil soaked starter. The genius's at Ford thought it to be funny to put the oil filter over the starter. This used to happen to me when I did not tighten my oil filter down. Before changing your oil, pack the top of your starter with rags.

If this is not the cause of your leak, then check the front of the oil pan. I believe your engine uses a two piece design. Replace this with a Fel-Pro gasket. The Fel-Pro has been improved and has basically added wings for this specific problem.

Let me know.

Thank You,

FFB

[shorod]

Are you absolutely sure it's engine oil and not transmission fluid? Have you checked the level of the transmission fluid with the engine up to temperature and the car idling in park or neutral?

One option you have is to purchase engine oil dye and a UV light (if you don't already have a blacklight). Add the proper amount of dye to the engine oil, drive the car for a few miles, then jack it up, properly support it, and crawl under the car with the UV light. If the leak is engine oil and it's not from a previous oil change, the leaking oil should glow. Follow the stream of glowing oil to the point of origin and you've found your leak.

As you can imagine, if you drive the car for too long with the dye in the system, the entire underside of your car will glow after a while. That's why you want to drive only a few miles, then check for glowing.

If you find absolutely no signs of glowing after a few trips, then add the proper amount of dye to the transmission fluid (same dye as engine oil) and do the same process to check for the leak.

-Rod

[UsedtobeSmart]

Originally Posted by FordBoss88

Its coming from your oil soaked starter. The genius's at Ford thought it to be funny to put the oil filter over the starter. This used to happen to me when I did not tighten my oil filter down.

I've had this problem with my 97 -- but no matter what I do other than packing the top of the starter (of all the places to put that darn thing!) off, I still get oil on it when I pop the filter off. They actually solvent-washed my splash guard one time because of the oil that'd built up over the 10 years of oil changes that'd gone on (this was last year).

Rod's right -- check the tranny oil, make sure it's not 2 leaks instead of just the 1 you suspect.

Good luck and let us know how it works out for you!