bowlersp

First I want to say that I love the car. It only has about 31,xxx miles on it and it is awesome. I have owned the car for almost a month and I discovered about a week ago a very small oil leak.

If you are looking at the front of the car, the oil is leaking from less than a foot (to the left) away from where the A/C water leaks under the car. So, I thought maybe its just from a faulty oil washer. I had the oil changed to today and I am still seeing the same result. I would say the rate of oil leaking is maybe one drop per 45-60 minutes.

Sucks that this happens to me with a new car, the car is a 2003 evo 8 and I really love it besides the fact that it is leaking oil. Is there any common problems that this leaking oil could be?

I live in St. Louis and really don't know anyone in the area that I would trust looking at my car. Any help from anyone would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Bobster22388

iTrader: (13)

Could be they used the wrong filter and its not sealing right,could have not coated the oil filter gasket with oil first. Or it could be the drain plug gasket or a number of things. Got any pics to help up here?

Sinbig

iTrader: (5)

That sounds exactly like when my t case sprung a leak. Mine was dripping maybe one or two drops and I thought if was just a small oil leak. For me it was a small gasket on the top of the t case. Try to get a collection of drops and smell it. Smell like sulfur? Thats LSD gear oil. It could be engine oil. There are tons of locations right there for it to happen, oil drain plug missing a gasket, oil filter hit some road debri, there's a bolt higher up on the block right in that area i've seen a leak develop on and that one was bank to fix. First, I would collect the fluid, maybe over the weekend and smell it. Also check the oil drain plug and see if it's leaking due to a missing gasket. From there it could be anything from a damaged head gasket to an oil return line on the turbo.

bowlersp

thanks for the help. however, they changed the oil and it is still leaking. so i think it is not as simple as a problem with the oil filter gasket or the oil drain plug.

Is there anyone on here from the St. Louis Area who can help me find some support for Evo's in the local area? A reliable shop or someone in the area that may be able to help me find out what the problem is?

Thanks,

bowlersp

one quick thing to mention is that I am not sure if the previous owner had the 30,000 mile service done. That includes flushing all fluids. If this was not done could this possibly be why the car is leaking some oil?

Thanks,

stackhouse

iTrader: (8)

Doubt it. Its leaking because somewhere a seal has given it up. Try to find the source of the leak and post it up. You can clean the area that is leaking and try to follow the trail.

bowlersp

How much did it cost for you to get your transfer case fixed? I will do like you said and collect the oil and see what it smells like. Hopefully this will not be a huge deal to fix. what if it is a head gasket that is leaking oil, is that expensive to fix?

Thanks,

Sinbig

iTrader: (5)

Headgasket would be easier to Fix. You can buy a dye kit off of amazon for probably 30 bucks or pick one up from autozone. It's added to your oil you simply run a uv light on any drops to detect the dye. If it glows it's definitely the engines oil. The dye is really helpful in pinpointing the leak. Check on the rear of the head under the intake manifold for a start if it's engine oil. I never fixed the leak on my t case thinking I had a tiny oil leak and eventually the t case went out which was a $4k ordeal at mitsu but was covered under warranty. You'll be covered to depending on if your under 50k miles have no major modifications, especially drivetrain, and your local mitsu dealer is friendly. As far as replacing gaskets on a t case...I'm not going to lie, it's going to suck and it's frustrating, the gasket on the top of the t case is also very prone to damage on removal and install. It would be the cheapest route but it's not for beginners, there's a write up on it I'm sure.

bowlersp

Wow, sounds like I'm in for quite a ride. Thats why buying used sucks, you never know what you are going to get. I hope this is an easy fix, but I guess you have to prepare for the worst.

You said you never fixed the leak and eventually the t case went out. How long did you let the leak go for before the t case went out?

Also, can you please explain to me how Mitsubishi is going to handle this if the car is over 7 years old? It only has 31k miles, so yes, I am under 50k miles. Was there a recall or something that is wrong with the transfer cases that Mitsubishi identified and that is why they will replace the T Case?

Also, once I identify it to be a T Case issue, should I take it to the Mitsubishi Dealership and tell them that it is indeed the T Case. Will they then fix the problem without me having to pay?

I have no major mods, just TBE and a tune from AMS.

Thanks,

RevRevGone

You might want to check your turbo oil return line. Your problem sounds alot like mine not to long ago. My oil return line gasket went bad and it had a few drops on my garage floor every morning. The oil blew every where while driving so it was hard to track down, but finally found it and fixed it.

I am from Jeff City and if there is anything else hit me up. We Should go run together some time once you get fixed.

bowlersp

just looked at a little of the fluid and looks to be Green in color? Any suggestions. Also, no strong smell from it.

Antifreeze?

coolant hose, radiator or possibly the water pump?

Thanks,

turbotalawd

iTrader: (11)

Why dont you try getting under the car and see where the leak is coming from instead of looking at the ground and estimating where the leak is coming from. If its green its coolant.

bowlersp

Got under the car tonight with my brother to take another look. He thinks that the fluid is not from oil leaking. He said it doesn't even smell like oil. He thinks its just from the water from the A/C that is running down the transfer case and mixing with the dirt/grime and dripping down as a diluted fluid.

He thinks its just dirty water and that it is not the consistency of oil. So we got some pictures to show and I have attached them. I looked under the car and saw a little dirt/grime but nothing that looks like a bad oil leak.

**Note**
The pictures shown are after we wiped the areas off. But before we wiped them off there was even that much dirt/grime under it. And from above there is no sign of any oil at all. Maybe I am just being a little paranoid with my new car.

What do you guys think judging from the pictures. If the Transfer case was leaking would it look a lot worse than this?

Thanks

bowlersp

The first picture shows some of the dirt/grime that is on the Oil filter that I just had installed one day ago. The same dirt/grime was on the transfer case before we wiped it off. Again, there was not much there but we just wanted to show you guys that we are seeing the same fluid in both locations and that it really doesn't appear to be solid oil. what do you guys think? Could it just be dirt/grime mixing with the water dripping from the AC?

Also my brother had a good idea to run the car a few days without using the AC. That way if I don't see any fluid dripping then we know for sure that it is from the A/C water dripping.

Thanks for the help,

bowlersp

Any takers on analyzing my photos and above comments?

Thanks,