Decided to dig into this pesky oil leak I've been dealing with the past year or so. Hoping it's not the dreaded timing chain cover leak, I notice the oil could be coming from a number of locations on the front of the engine as well as the oil pan. I spent a lot of time cleaning up the question areas and then started it up while on the lift so I could watch it from underneath and try to see where it develops from. After about 5 minutes time I can see the oil start to seep out from around the oil sump bolts and the engine/sump mating surface.

I reached out to a tech at my local dealer who's typically pretty straight with me and he said he's never had to replace a oil pan gasket due to a leak..

It seems odd to be leaking around the bolts like it is. Do the fasteners have some type of seal that could be failing? I tried pulling the bolts tight and they were VERY tight already so nothing to do there.

Has anyone had any issues like this? Thanks in advance for your help.

 

It looks like the gasket to me. If the bolts see oil, then the threads should be coated with sealant. You could try removing them one at a time, coating the threads with oil resistant thread sealant and reinstalling them to factory torque specs.

 

Speed.......I had the same problem on my 95 Jag XJS V12 and what I did was go to ACE Hardware and buy a bunch of copper washers from their bins and install on every sump bolt. Problem solved......Your neighbor in Richmond. Don.......Bond........

 

Another prior owner of a V-12 XJS. Those engines were designed to leak oil. See the attached link for what I had to do to stop leaks on the bottom end of the V-12 engine on my 1978 Jaguar XJ-S

http://bernardembden.com/xjs/egaskets/index.htm

 

That was quite the process and well documented, too. Mine was a 1995 and didn't have many miles so no leaks really. Just a little weeping around the oil sump bolts.

 

I sold my DB9 a while back but going by memory, the front timing cover and oil pan meet at this point in your picture. Unfortunately, I think the only fix is to remove the oil pan and put a new gasket on which is not an easy job. If you do decide to have this replaced, I would also have them reseal the timing chain cover, replace all your idler pulleys and also throw a new serpentine belt on. Good luck!

 

I thought the same when I saw the leaking around the bolts so I did the same thing you suggested and torqued the sump fasteners to the proper spec. I also snugged up all the front timing cover bolts (I could access).

I then spent some more time really cleaning every bit of oil I could find from the engine. I decided to try adding some dye to the oil which allows you to more easily see a leak as its occurring when you expose the dye to ultraviolet light.

I let the car run on my lift this weekend and absolutely no more leaking anywhere.. I then took the car for a short drive to ensure that I got it and everything seems good.. Fingers crossed!

I've read about the timing cover leaking on the V12's and it being corrected with a little tightening of the bolts. I think the oil I was seeing between the sump and block surface was just residual oil leaking out because of the gasket material being soaked in oil from the bolt holes leaking etc.

Time will tell.. Thanks for the help guys.

 

Thanks for the help.. That's a good idea and if my thread sealer doesn't hold up, this is my next move.

Had your car out yet this "spring"? Yesterday was a good day for it.. But finally a little rain to really wash away the salt.

 

No........Not quite yet. I have been working my azz off lately and playing with other cars mechanically. Shoulder surgery in a couple weeks will keep me from shifting for a while.

 

That just looks like oil that wasn't cleaned off. I'd you wash it off and heat the engine..the left over oil in the seams and cracks will expel. Think in all my years, I've done 1 or 2 oil pan gaskets...the common is the timing cover and/or the water pump and P/S pump bolts that go into the timing cover. But by the time the water pump and P/S bolts leak, the timing cover is usually pissing on the ground.

Another common which is a 2 second fix, is a loose oil filter. A lot of those come in from indie shops not being able to torque the filter correctly while the manifold is still flaming hot..

 

Thank you so much for replying. I did the oil change myself about 8 months ago and it was the first time I performed that myself on this car. I noticed no oil leaks at that time so I originally thought this oil was either the filter loose or oil still dripping down that I spilled when removing the old filter. The pictures were taken after I cleaned it up and then ran the car again (before I tightened and thread sealed).

I'm glad you mentioned the power steering bracket bolts. I was thinking they could be a part of the problem too. The water pump and power steering bolts need to receive thread sealer as well as the oil pan? I'll definitely do that while I still have the undertray etc off if so.

I'm hoping it's not the timing cover and it's just waiting for to get really hot again to start up leaking, however it clearly isn't a horrible leak so maybe just the bolts on the front cover and timing cover being loose? I was surprised how much all of the bolts on the front of the engine were taking.. Seemed very loose to me. Is it worth removing all of them I can and sealing the threads?

Thanks again for replying Irish..

Eric

 

I don't really think your issue is the pan or the pan bolts. Just looking at the pic showing the front of the pan, I can see oil stained up higher, the belt will fling oil to the passenger side...not to the drivers side and in an upwards motion.


The oil on the front of the pan looks like left over residue from the bottom tri joint sweating out, which would be where the block/timing cover/oil pan all meet. The stud+bolt your showing(drivers side again), you can also see oil sweat still on the pan There no oil dripping from the stud yet oil sweat on the pan, which means you didn't clean this spot well.


I would clean it off well again(Sometimes I parts cleaner doesn't work and I have to bring on the pressure washer with degreaser) ..after get it hot and see if the oil leaks. The oil "leaking" in the pics...that's a sweat and just looks like run off, don't think it's the "actual" point of leak