Possible Oil Leak locations

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Youngah

New member
I have been running with an oil leak for a while now and adding oil when it gets low. The leak seems to be getting worse and difficult to find but it looks like it is leaking from the pan gasket. So this weekend I am going to try and replace it.

What are other common oil leak locations on 2007 Wrangler? :dont_know:
 
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Youngah said:
I have been running with an oil leak for a while now and adding oil when it gets low. The leak seems to be getting worse and difficult to find but it looks like it is leaking from the pan gasket. So this weekend I am going to try and replace it.

What are other common oil leak locations on 2007 Wrangler? :dont_know:
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Welcome to WAL. You could always buy a dye and uv light kit to make sure you identified the source of the leak.
 
I recently had an oil leak from the rear main seal on my 2014. That might a good place to start looking.
 
Youngah said:
I have been running with an oil leak for a while now and adding oil when it gets low. The leak seems to be getting worse and difficult to find but it looks like it is leaking from the pan gasket. So this weekend I am going to try and replace it.

What are other common oil leak locations on 2007 Wrangler? :dont_know:
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as mentioned, could be a rear main seal. to check, remove the transmission bell dust cover plate - if there is oil on the drive plate you have a rear main seal leak. put the cover back on and take it to a shop, I think the transmission needs to be separated from the motor. I thought about tackling mine but chickened out when I saw how much it would take.

FYI, there is a 2 step torque process to replacing the dust cover - Torque the 4 bolts to 25 inch/lbs, then torque the 2 bolts closest to the oil pan to 40 Foot/lbs then the other 2 bolts to 40 foot/lbs - you don't want to jack up the seal in the transmission dust cover.

The oil pan looks like a 2 piece unit but Mopar considers the oil pan as the whole unit. the lower pan is sealed with some kind of heavy duty RTV and is not to be removed. Once you have the oil pan off, there are a couple of places where you need to apply RTV to seal where the timing cover and rear main seal mate up with the oil pan. There are also a couple of places on the oil pan surface to hold the gasket in place. you need to make sure to RTV these area or you'll have leaks - you should be able to tell were RTV goes since you have to remove the old.

Take your Jeep to a self-serve carwash and spray the oil pan and everywhere the oil appears with tire cleaner low spray then rinse it off (low spray) this is what I did and it cleaned the area really well. I was actually able to see where the upper gasket was oil wet so before I did anything I used my inch pound torque wrench and checked the torque on all the oil pan bolts. starting from the middle, and working in a crisscross pattern moving from back to front, torque to 105 Inch/lbs. be sure to use an inch torque wrench, the oil pan is aluminum and you could strip or snap a bolt in the motor. The lower pan torque is 85 inch/lbs ( I have my EVO skid on the pan). I got lucky and found all the bolts were slightly loose and since torqueing them up no leaks :thumb:

work slow when torqueing the bolts so you can feel/hear the click on an inch pound torque wrench.

If you have to replace the oil pan seal (mopar considers the entire oil pan as one unit) you'll get an o-ring to replace the oil pick up tube o-ring, that bolt is 21 Ft/lbs.

other place it could leak from is the timing cover.

Good lluck :beer:
 
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jeeeep said:
as mentioned, could be a rear main seal. to check, remove the transmission bell dust cover plate - if there is oil on the drive plate you have a rear main seal leak. put the cover back on and take it to a shop, I think the transmission needs to be separated from the motor. I thought about tackling mine but chickened out when I saw how much it would take.

FYI, there is a 2 step torque process to replacing the dust cover - Torque the 4 bolts to 25 inch/lbs, then torque the 2 bolts closest to the oil pan to 40 Foot/lbs then the other 2 bolts to 40 foot/lbs - you don't want to jack up the seal in the transmission dust cover.

The oil pan looks like a 2 piece unit but Mopar considers the oil pan as the whole unit. the lower pan is sealed with some kind of heavy duty RTV and is not to be removed. Once you have the oil pan off, there are a couple of places where you need to apply RTV to seal where the timing cover and rear main seal mate up with the oil pan. There are also a couple of places on the oil pan surface to hold the gasket in place. you need to make sure to RTV these area or you'll have leaks - you should be able to tell were RTV goes since you have to remove the old.

Take your Jeep to a self-serve carwash and spray the oil pan and everywhere the oil appears with tire cleaner low spray then rinse it off (low spray) this is what I did and it cleaned the area really well. I was actually able to see where the upper gasket was oil wet so before I did anything I used my inch pound torque wrench and checked the torque on all the oil pan bolts. starting from the middle, and working in a crisscross pattern moving from back to front, torque to 105 Inch/lbs. be sure to use an inch torque wrench, the oil pan is aluminum and you could strip or snap a bolt in the motor. The lower pan torque is 85 inch/lbs ( I have my EVO skid on the pan). I got luck and found all the bolts were slightly loose and since torqueing them up no leaks :thumb:

work slow when torqueing the bolts so you can feel/hear the click on an inch pound torque wrench.

If you have to replace the oil pan seal (mopar considers the entire oil pan as one unit) you'll get an o-ring to replace the oil pick up tube o-ring, that bolt it 21 Ft/lbs.

other place it could leak from is the timing cover.

Good lluck :beer:
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Good info thanks! I too noticed a slight weep from two bolts on the pan. One was snug the other finger loose! All back to spec now but makes you wonder on loose bolts.
 
I have a little bit of oil that always collects on the bell housing right by the vent of my 6-speed. I was told that was usually the sign of a rear main seal leak. I haven't looked into fixing it though. I just watch the oil level.
 
JeepDrum said:
I have a little bit of oil that always collects on the bell housing right by the vent of my 6-speed. I was told that was usually the sign of a rear main seal leak. I haven't looked into fixing it though. I just watch the oil level.
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I've noticed even leaks from the pan seal collect on the bell housing, the oil gets blown back when driving and seems to travel along the top of the oil pan (acts like a gutter). same is true of a timing cover oil leak, it travels down, along the pan and blown back.

I've had the rear main replaced and thought it was leaking again - less than a year later. Took it back to the shop and they confirmed it was not the rear main but couldn't tell if it was timing chain cover or not and didn't want to tackle it and referred me to the dealership.

Dealership wants $550 to replace the oil pan gasket so I took it on myself to find out why it's so expensive - it's all labor. They've made this oil pan cover structural and as mentioned in the previous post it's also part of the timing chain cover and rear main seal. It's no longer the easy pull the pan, new rtv and put it back. It doesn't look like a difficult thing to do but it is time consuming and you have to do every step or you'll have a worse leak.
 
I am currently fixing this problem myself. I thought it was a busted oil pan when i was on a trail somehow because oil was all over the pan. No cracks in the pan, moved to the rear main seal and oil pan seal and they were good. After I cleaned off the oil pan I watched it for a few days and it was coming from the timing cover, took it to a dealer and they confirmed that it was dripping from there and said they would fix it for a cool $760 bucks. Luckily my brother's school is helping me out on the labor and all I have it in is parts (timing gear kit, new seals, and an oil change)
 
Valve cover gaskets

It was the valve cover gasket leaking from the back of the motor. Even with the dye we couldn't see it until it was up on the lift. We also used FelPro gaskets, anyone else used them before? Good or bad?
 
Youngah said:
It was the valve cover gasket leaking from the back of the motor. Even with the dye we couldn't see it until it was up on the lift. We also used FelPro gaskets, anyone else used them before? Good or bad?
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Glad you found it. Felpro is fine.
 
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