Hi guys. So for some time now I've been having a small oil leak. It seems to get on the oil filter as there is usually a drip on the end of the filter. It also gets on the front differential and some how makes its way on to my steering damper. So after a few days of driving I'll get a drip on my floor. I'm not really aware of any parts above the filter in that location to leak like that.

I was suspecting that the oil pan gasket maybe leaking. I was also wondering if there was a gasket or something where the "neck" (that the oil filter attaches to) between it and the engine meet. It just looks like its leaking there.

My oil level is in good shape btw.

Here are some photos. Thanks as always.

 

See my post from earlier today lol... same thing. Well, that looks like what I had previously until some coolant entered into the picture.

 

Yikes! Yours is looking a little messy bro! Fortunately I'm not leaking any coolant. Hopefully we can both get our issues resolved soon!

 

I know a lot of people degrease their engine and clean it up pretty good and then go for a drive and check it when you get back. Hopefully it's not leaking from behind the oil pump! That was a warning sign of the bad locating dowels on the "bad" batch of '03s. Could be as bad as that, or as easy as replacing a simple, cheap gasket. Good Luck!

 

Dang dude you're scaring me with the oil pump stuff! I've made it to 134,000 miles so hopefully I'm in the clear but I won't rule it out.

 

NO, I'm sorry I didn't mean to freak you out. Don't worry about ANYTHING until you've pin-pointed the leak. Clean up the entire area real good, go for a drive and THEN see where it's coming from. It could just be a simple, cheap gasket. (I hope)
Besides, the ones that were bad in "the vin. range" ALL went early on. The very last one of which went to hell at around 75,000 miles. You should be well in the clear on that!

 

Don't forget front crank seal (the big pulley) - it will leak "clean"" oil and throw it off on other things that get grime coated. Because more oil is being forced out, the area around the seal may be clean (but will have oil). Wipe down and recheck later to confirm. Seal is about $3. Labor is not.

 

See my pictures and videos over on Snafu's post.

Also see if you can tighten the large 22mm stop plugs where the oil cooler lines would have gone in 99-02's. They are above your oil filter, on both sides of the front cover.
Also you can try tightening the oil pressure guage. You have to remove the multi plug, its a bear to reach. Mine was a little loose.
Other than those two items your oil pan gasket looks good and is not leaking. So there are only two other seals. Cranks shaft seal and front cover seal. I did the crankshaft seals last winter. I opted to not do the front cover seal, as I did not want to drain the coolant. I think that is where most people's slow leak comes from. Its a really large flimsley gasket, with a ton of bolts. You can add White Shepard or Lucas Oil Stop Leak as it will slow it down. But that stuff gets expensive at each oil change.

 

Instead of white shepard, would a decent "high milage" oil help with this?

 

FWIW: I had been running Valvoline High Mileage 10w40 since I bought my D2, and usually had a 8" round area of oil on my garage floor under the front of my engine. I normally would only have to add 3/4 quart in between changes (4,000 miles). I was fairly certain it was coming from the front crank seal (the only seal I did not change when I installed the used engine 4 years ago. The oil change before last, I switched to Rotella 15w40, and began noticing to spots on my driveway (from coming home for lunch) became fewer. I changed the oil last weekend, and my garage floor is still perfectly clean!
YMMV