When the oil filter / cooler housing gaskets fail, the one thing that doesn't get oily is the filter / cooler housing. All the oil runs down behind it, along the front of the engine to everything underneath. If you look at the front of the engine block under the oil filter cooler housing and it's oily / grimy, I'd bet dollars to donuts that the problem is those seals between the housing and the engine block.

 

I just wanted to let you all know that you were correct! There actually was no real leak going on. The mechanic said there was a dirty foot near the front of the car with some old rubber. He thinks this had some oil on it, got wet, and dripped, looking like a puddle of oil. He did see a small leak coming from the transfer case (I think) but said it was nothing to be concerned about. He also said, as you all said, that if there was an oil leak, it likely would be from the oil filter casing. But this area was completely dry. So you all were right! Yea, I probably overreacted. Next time I'll come here first before concluding that my car is history :-/.

 

My recommendation is to draw a sample of your oil and send it in for professional oil analysis. Not expensive but will provide you an accurate road map on how to proceed. I do it every 4-5 oil changes so I can see internal wear on engines.

I use Blackstone Labs, but a web search will reveal other options.

 

I agree with an oil test , I just sent a sample to Blackstone, I’ll bet she is surprised how bad her oil is , as I’ll bet she does changes like the manual interval states . Which are way to long for city driving

 

We went from an oil leak to oil testing and analysis.
Motor oil in low mileage car engines definitely degrades much faster than in engines that get up to operating temperature and stay there for hours. Fuel dilution and not staying hot long enough to drive off volatiles ruins oil’s ability to lubricate.
But does the average driver benefit from a single spot test? Results are hard to interpret without history and even though labs like Blackstone don’t recommend it, shouldn’t they be coupled with an unused sample?

 

"oil threads" in motorcycle forums are the worse (i.e., they can last for 100+ replys) - take my word for it !!

I agree that you just can't take one random sample. If you've been sampling for every oil change of original ownership, then it would make sense.

BTW, I'm confused ... and not surprised, since I retired 3 years ago and my brain is mushy sometimes ...

quote: "shouldn’t they be coupled with an unused sample".

To me, an "unused sample" is a "I just bought a container of oil from the store" that has never been added to an engine. Is that it, or am I half asleep?

 

Blackstone needs to know what oil you used , I’m sure they have samples of that oil unused. One sample can tell everything , it’s very in-depth .

 

Unused sample = Sample of oil that was caught fresh when the oil to be tested was put in. It takes planning.

Motor oil quality control is very good, but catching a sample of the oil used then holding it to be sent with the used oil eliminates any blend/formulation/qc differences from the results.

 

I’ve seen Blackstone results. They’re very detailed, which triggered my comment. They also provide their interpretation of results, but I’ve never been a fan of someone else’s interpretation. But then I accept my doctors interpretation of my labs, so maybe that an idiosyncrasy when it comes to my cars.

 

Interesting you mention your doctor results - it got me thinking. Two weeks ago, I went to my local VA clinic to the blood lab for my semi-annual physical. Three days later, I log into my VA acct and download the blood results and did research.

A couple days later, I have the follow-up with my VA doctor. She said, "all looks good" ... but I asked "wait, this value is high and this value is low". She said, "you should not focus on one single value - you have to look at everything as a whole".

So I wonder if it's the same with oil analysis - look at all values as a whole. (?). And maybe why Blackstone provides an overall interpretation (?)

 

 

OMG - I started another tangent!
I didn’t think of it from that perspective, but yes, probably.
Check out the Blackstone reports from @Mmr1 . If you get something back like some of those, you need to listen.

 

I did a test after 3000 city miles, the test came back very good . They stated I should continue what i was doing . The people asses and comment on the condition of your oil and make recommendations. I just sent in another test at 3500. It takes a few weeks to get results, the lab is slow .