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Re: oil leaks Posted by Ari [Email]  (#2847) [Profile/Gallery]
(more from Ari) on Wed, 5 Sep 2001 13:06:20
In Reply to: oil leaks, orson, Wed, 5 Sep 2001 12:07:23 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
Aero guy has it pretty well pegged. The cam cover (valve cover) gasket is a common place to leak, but generally that ends up on the exhaust manifold and makes smoke when the engine is started.
I would suspect oil pressure sender, main crank seal, Oil pump O-ring, and the oil level sender. It's possible that the engine leaked all the oil in the half-hour after the car was last shut off, or it just crept out over time.
Replacing the main seal isn't a big job on a 9000 - took me a couple of hours. While you're in there, replace the oil pump O-ring, and give the main pulley (harmonic balancer) a look-over. Since the belt(s) come off to do this, replace them too, and inspect all the idler pulleys.
Clean up the underside of the engine the best you can, and try and pinpoint the leak. To pinpoint the leak in my car last time, I removed the right wheel well inner liner. It takes about 15-20 minutes but opens up the entire accessory side of the engine. I started the car, let it run, then shut it down. That's where I found oil coming from the crank main seal. I also found oil leaking from the oil level sender. That's usually very easy to fix - at the next oil change, pull the sender out. You can either buy the O ring from Saab (about $5), or take the sender down to any autoparts store and find a matching O-ring for about $0.50. Interestingly, most Saab parts departments sell full senders, not the O-ring. That's because in a very small percentage of the time, it's the sender itself leaking. But if the area is leaking, the mechanic will swap out the entire sender, just to eliminate the chance of a call-back. So instead of $5 in parts, the customer gets hit with $40.
It can be hard to find oil leaks - the oil likes to cling to surfaces and the drip to the ground may be far from the source. Also, some leaks only form after the engine is hot. Others only occur when the engine is cold but running.
posted by 140.157....
, Wed, 5 Sep 2001 13:06:20 <-- Viewing This Message
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