oil leak - what too check?

[pillzor]

parked the car over night on a fresh piece of cement so this is the first time ive noticed this, a patch of oil right at the front of the car so im guessing i should be checking for cracks in the sump etc? what else should i be looking for? it hasnt leaked much so im about to go for a drive and warm it up the park it over newspaper so i can find out where its dripping from properly but..... i dont know much about this stuff so what should i be looking at.

[Vee-ard]

check the gasket on the oil filter and sump bolt first. Could check sump gasket itself too.

[stocky]

drive to a car wash and clean the engine first. easier to find a leak that way

[pillzor]

drive to a car wash and clean the engine first. easier to find a leak that way

my local only has high pressure water , i assume thats not good for hot extractors

[pillzor]

also seeing as its leaking anyway its not going too matter if i top it up with cheap shit is it?
ive got a 200km straight drive to do tonight / tommorow , just did that yesterday ... could it be the oil filter not coping or something , going by the sticker on the wind shield its 5000ks past due service

[pillzor]

just had it checked out, the oil filter is leaking so ill be doing that and an oil change seeing as its due anyway... see what happens after that i guess

[hako]

If it's a Ryco filter then it could have loosened. Also have a close look at the oil pressure switch that's next to the filter - they have a habit of leaking.

[pillzor]

mechanics doing it so ill tell him that and hope hes not lazy

[alex2_s]

How did it get 5000kms past its scheduled oil change in the first place!

[pillzor]

i bought it at 192000 , was due at 195 , i said bugger it ill do everything at 200 which is what im doing now.

[ trans service , plugs , leads , oil filter etc etc ..... something possesed me too do performance mods first haha)