Ask an automobile mechanic.

THATmanMANNY

Well-Known Member
So I got my oil changed about one month ago on my 2002 330ci. Never had any oil leak problems. Car sat in the driveway since then and I pulled out last week and noticed a oil leak on the driveway. I have an appt tomorrow with them/dealer to check their work. I’m afraid I’ll just be paying money for them to tell me I have a leak elsewhere. I really don’t think it’s a previous leak. Can an oil change change cause an oil leak to happen at a oil pan gasket or elsewhere all of a sudden?

I’m going to roll up and ask to speak to the service manager. All I want it for them to check their work and charge me $0. If it’s a leak elsewhere I really don’t care as I wouldn’t want them to fix it. Charge probably double then a bmw independent shop and prob can’t even fix it right.
 

shrpshtr325

Infinite Source of Sarcasm
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Can an oil change change cause an oil leak to happen at a oil pan gasket or elsewhere all of a sudden?


Nope oil change can cause a leak at the drain plug or more likely the oil filter. Unless they put some sort of chemical flush in that ruined the gaskets ( this is unlikely if you didn't ask for or pay for it)
 

THATmanMANNY

Well-Known Member
Didn’t think so. First time I’ve had my oil changed by dealer in somewhere like 15 plus years. We will see what happens! Maybe they just hated the coupon I used from their website haha
 

Patrick

Overthinking the draft from the basement already
Staff member
Didn’t think so. First time I’ve had my oil changed by dealer in somewhere like 15 plus years. We will see what happens! Maybe they just hated the coupon I used from their website haha

so you brought it back to the same people that did the work and expect them to say their work wasn't on-point?

you better be there when they put it on the lift with the service manager.

oh, the oil sensor started leaking....divine intervention.
 

THATmanMANNY

Well-Known Member
I mean I can check it myself but honestly I just can’t right now. I made the appt two weeks ago before vacation just in case. I could totally no show/cancel and use that time I would have traveling and waited to check myself. Just don’t have the energy.

Edit: Damn you Patrick. Going to try my hardest to get up early and run a self check.

Edit 2: well I f’d up. I’m pretty sure I’ve had no issues with oil leaks before. I would have noticed it on the driveway. I’m pretty good seeing stuff like that. I just reviewed the docs from my oil change visit. All the paperwork doesn’t mention any oil leaks but I didn’t notice they did a video inspection too. I opened that link and the tech said on the video my oil pan gasket is leaking. Grrr! Just odd to see it on the driveway now. Any technical reason now with fresh oil? Flushed the buildup out?
 
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shrpshtr325

Infinite Source of Sarcasm
Team MTBNJ Halter's
if you drive it every day and its a slow leak at the gasket the oil drips will blow off when you drive, when the car sits they collect and drip off (not sure if this is the case for the car or not).

otherwise the gaskets fail slowly over time so eventually they will go from just wetting the pan to dripping on the ground.
 

THATmanMANNY

Well-Known Member
It’s been driven like 5 times since November ha. So it’s just odd or coincidence that it’s leaking pretty good now after an oil change. Regardless, I’ll still check the bolt and filter myself. No rush though. Get under there and verify anything else and bring it to an Indy.
 

shrpshtr325

Infinite Source of Sarcasm
Team MTBNJ Halter's
It’s been driven like 5 times since November ha. So it’s just odd or coincidence that it’s leaking pretty good now after an oil change. Regardless, I’ll still check the bolt and filter myself. No rush though. Get under there and verify anything else and bring it to an Indy.

im not familiar with the setup on your car, but an oil pan gasket is a fairly quick simple straightforward job if theres nothing in the way . . . .
 

qclabrat

Well-Known Member
I have an e60 and my mechanic says almost all bimmers need the pan and valve gaskets done at about 80k, not sure what mileage you have doe. Elected to only do the valve gaskets and not oil pan which was about 50% more (recalling about $1800). It's still driven daily and I feed it a quart of Mobile1 every 2 months. To me it wasn't worth the cost given the age and mileage of the car. The valve gasket leak before the repair was burning the oil making it a stinky drive and potential fire hazard.
 

THATmanMANNY

Well-Known Member
Its accessible. It's probably not hard from what I've seen before but no time.
It's low 70k. yes the gaskets fail. Previous e46 m3 valve cover gasket was fixed before I bought it.
I'm going to check out this hole in the wall shop next time and see what they will charge.
 

Effjay

Member
How big is the spot in the driveway? I've seen it (read done it) where either there's a spill while filling or removing the old filter spills all over a cross member/brace/shroud and the car continues to drip for a while. Look at me being all optimistic.
 

THATmanMANNY

Well-Known Member
@Effjay I like it! but the filter of these cars are vertical and hard to spill and continue to spill. I just wonder if it's just perfect timing to something to do with fresh oil making it seep more. I don't know. Reached out to my mobile guy to get an estimate.
 

GTCHAMPION1

Well-Known Member
So I got my oil changed about one month ago on my 2002 330ci. Never had any oil leak problems. Car sat in the driveway since then and I pulled out last week and noticed a oil leak on the driveway. I have an appt tomorrow with them/dealer to check their work. I’m afraid I’ll just be paying money for them to tell me I have a leak elsewhere. I really don’t think it’s a previous leak. Can an oil change change cause an oil leak to happen at a oil pan gasket or elsewhere all of a sudden?

I’m going to roll up and ask to speak to the service manager. All I want it for them to check their work and charge me $0. If it’s a leak elsewhere I really don’t care as I wouldn’t want them to fix it. Charge probably double then a bmw independent shop and prob can’t even fix it right.
2002 vehicle that does not get driven, is most likely to have oil seepage, and probably had it for a while, it's just that it finally reached the ground, an oil change will NOT cause leaks unless they didn't clean the drain plug area or oil filter area after, and if you already had a seepage, sometimes by cleaning it you making it to flow freely because you removing the gunky formation caused by dust mixing with the oil seepage
 
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GTCHAMPION1

Well-Known Member
Nope oil change can cause a leak at the drain plug or more likely the oil filter. Unless they put some sort of chemical flush in that ruined the gaskets ( this is unlikely if you didn't ask for or pay for it)
The best engine flush is just to put slightly lighter oil viscosity, drive the car for about 5 to 10 miles and drain that oil right after, chemical engine flushes can ruin your crank bearings and piston rings as well
 

shrpshtr325

Infinite Source of Sarcasm
Team MTBNJ Halter's
The best engine flush is just to put slightly lighter oil viscosity, drive the car for about 5 to 10 miles and drain that oil right after, chemical engine flushes can ruin your crank bearings and piston rings as well


I always recommend putting nOthing except oil in your engine. But what do I know I'm just an engineer. My wife who designs engine oils for a living agrees
 

Bisquick

Well-Known Member
I know its not a car, but i'm working on a 2001 BMW K1200lt. Its been sitting for 8 years. First issue was the fuel pump, the gas turned to varnish and ate through the fuel pump wire pass-through. $400 bucks for a used ebay fuel pump and the bike is now running.

Now there is a new issue. It is burning a ton of something and I can't figure out what. The smoke looks slightly blue and mostly white. I can't tell if there's coolant in it or just a lot of oil is burning.

This leads me to a compression test. Turns out it has good compression on all 4 cylinders (190,202,192,200). The good compression makes me belive I wouldn't learn anything from a leak down test? I don't want to pull the valve cover and buy a leak down tool if it wouldn't help.

I then ran one of those fluid-air head gasket leak detector kits on that radiator and it detected no leak. The fluid didn't seem to bubble much, and looked very clean in the inspection glass. No evidence of combustibles.

My next logical guess would be either valve stem seals, or a stuck oil control ring. Is this the correct line of thinking? I think a normal test for this on a vacuum based crank vent system would be to bring the RPMs high and steady, then see if it smokes during engine braking/high vacuum. On this bike though the crank vent preceds the throttle body, making it a venturi based system. This should mean it would smoke during accel and high throttle? I think this also means a compression test wouldn't provide any info, as the oil could be sucked in from the intake side valve stem seal during a venturi event.

The bike makes way more smoke under accel and high rpms, not much under decel.

Any input would be appreciated.
 
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