im a little concerned by a small oil leak on my truck. i change the oil about 2 weeks ago and switched from plain Castrol to Mobil 1 High Mileage. the drainplug is not loose (my dad told me i probably didnt tighten it up enough) and there is nothing leaking from the filter. the oil is coming from the passenger side of the engine. every few days i crawl under and clean off the oilpan and bottom of the trans to hoepfully see where its coming from but i havent had a chance to really dig in and look for it. im hoping that maybe when i was pouring oil in, i just spilled it and this is the extra oil dripping out. the dipstick is fine and the oil level is fine

anybody have ideas of where it might be leaking from? i wanna have something to look for and not just go under aimlessly searching.

 

Let's start with the easy one first, Matt. Run your hand or a paper towel around the edge of the valve cover on the passenger side. I'll bet that's where it's from. If not we'll go from that point. Let us know.

 

there was a small wet spot on the pass side valve cover closest to the throttle body PIC 1 PIC 2 PIC3

there was also a small wet spot at the very front of the engine near the pulleys PIC

this is what the oilpan looks like looking from front to rear PIC



sorry the pictures are huge. i tried to point out the spots as best i could it was hard to get pics trying to hold a flashlight and camera while trying to keep the camera strap and lens cap from getting in the way...

 

The pic showing underneith the EGR valve looks like the beginning of a lower intake manifold gasket leak.

From underneith, what does the passenger side of the block look like?

 

is that a PITA to replace? im only 19 i dont have access to fancy tools and my dad never wants to attempt to fix anything ourselves, he always take our cars to a shop

i didnt get a good look at the bottom of the block. its too dark to go look now, ill try and get some more pics tomorrow

 

When I switched from conventional to synthetic, I started leaking from the oil cooler hoses. Not much, just about a quarter size drop in the morning. I know it is just bad timing with the leak and switching to synthetic. It might be a place to look.

 

Here's an idea, Matt. Since there are several possible spots that theoil might be coming from, tomorrow give the engine a gentle washing to remove what you can of the existing oil and stains, and then over the weekend when it's daytime check again and see if you canfind the new oil spots. It might help to pinpoint the sources.