Please tell me how serious the leaking is to my car

[Ren]

I just got outta school. and figure i should post this and ask for help.

I've noticed the engine has oil leak since i got it.

here are the pictures.



The Front:



The side:



from the heat shield(is it?):





Oil filter side

And the oil pan is always wet. But there isn't any oil drop on the ground.I checked the dip stick. The level is close to the H. and I am using mobile 1 10w30 sythetic

Is this already serious? what might cause all these leaking? What I could do about it? thanks in advance

[ILikeMy240sx]

As for the oil leaking from the valve cover... did you ever take off the valve cover? maybe the valve cover gasket is bad... I couldnt notice any major oil leaks other than the valve cover from your pics...

[240marcuSX]

make sure that all the bolts that holds on your valve cover are tight, when i bought my car one of the holes in the head was stripped and this caused some leakage.

but to it looks like your problem is that synthetic oil. it seems like its leaking through a bunch of your gaskets and such. try using a thicker oil. or start replacing gaskets and seals.

when you switch over to synthetic oils, the detergents in the oil clean away dirt on your gaskets(if there is any) and thus you get leaking, petroleum oil will not have the same effect.

please someone correct me if im wrong.

[240DRFT]

nothing really looks that bad...around my valve cover theres more than yours and im not having any problems

[crzycav86]

It's not a big problem as long as you always have enough oil in there.

Also, how long have you been using synthetic oil?

[Ren]

I switched to synthetic 3 months ago

[hannibal]

I wager the synthetic oil is the cause of your leaks...

[StrangeLove]

wow... you should see my engine bay, you'd freak. Your engine is very clean compared to most I've seen.

[BadMojo]

wow... you should see my engine bay, you'd freak. Your engine is very clean compared to most I've seen.

Yeah, that's actually pretty damn clean. I don't really see a major leak anywhere. Why don't you put a piece of cardboard under the car and see how much (if any) and where the oil hits the ground?

As mentioned above, your valve cover gaskets might be a little leaky. Another typical place to check is the front crank seal. Still, I'm not seeing anything that looks really serious. Not sure where the oil on the pan is coming from, but if your not losing a lot I wouldn't worry too much about it. Just try to track down where it's coming from.

[574-240sx]

I would replace your valve cover gasket if you have the time. It will take a few minutes and cost you only a few bucks for a new valve cover gasket.