If you're searching for “how to know if your car has a serious oil leak,” below are the most serious signs:
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- Fluid puddles under the car
- Low oil level
- Burning smell
- Smoke from the engine compartment
- And overheating
- Strange engine noises
- Complete loss of power
- Check engine light
- Oil in coolant
- Visible damages to the oil lines
Motor oil is one of the most critical fluids in your vehicle. It must be maintained within the right quantity and quantity. Any problem with the water oil leads to significant issues that could cost you the entire engine, if not the vehicle.
Understanding what symptoms could indicate an oil leak is very important to help you avoid further complications that might cost you thousands of dollars on your pair.
This article highlights the ten most common symptoms indicating that you have a serious oil leak. Whenever you deal with these symptoms, you must consult your mechanic and have him fix the vehicle as soon as possible.
How do you know if your car has a serious oil leak?
Many people understand that it's important to maintain the oil quality, so they never skip on oil changes.
However, maintaining the oil quantity is another important thing you must keep up with. Even if you think dealing with a minor oil leak is fine, that is not the case because it can easily evolve and lead to significant problems in your car that might cost you the entire vehicle.
One of the basic skills that you have to know as a car owner is what signs could indicate that your vehicle is dealing with any oil leak, and you also need to know which signs are indications of major and serious oil leaks that mean that you can't drive your car for a single inch.
The following list highlights the common, most reported indications that your vehicle suffers from a significant oil leak that could help you answer the question “How to Know if your car has a serious oil leak?”
1. Fluid puddles under the car
If the oil leak has been happening for a long time, you'll immediately see a puddle of fluid sitting underneath your car after you parked for some time. This fluid might be oil, but it could be some other types of fluids that you must address.
Regardless of which fluid you're dealing with, it would be best to address it as soon as possible because the more fluid leaks you have, the more likely the component negotiated with this fluid will break down in no time.
If the oil leak is serious and you think it's a lot of oil, you might not even be able to drive your car up. That's why we highly encourage you to call your mechanic and describe the amount of oil you saw on the floor before driving it to the nearest mechanic shop.
Depending on your mechanic's understanding of your vehicle and your description, you might be able to drive this car to the nearest repair shop; still, in many instances, you might be advised to tow the car to the shop rather than driving it so you don't make things worse.
2. Low oil level
Sometimes, the oil leak might not be external so you won't see the puddle of fluids under the car. That's where you might be dealing with an internal oil leak, and one way to determine whether you leak is by monitoring the oil pressure level.
Luckily, vehicles have a dashboard warning light indicating low oil levels. Whenever you deal with these warning lights, you must take it seriously because it is a clear indication that this is not a normal low oil level, and that means that you might even need to stop driving your car and tell your mechanic to confirm that you can drive it to the shop.
3. Burning smell
As your oil leaks on the other components when the vehicle is very hot, it's not surprising to deal with some burning smell coming mostly from the locations where the oil lines are and typically close to the engine compartment.
Dealing with burning smells should not be taken lightly because it indicates that the oil is impacting other components and is dripping to the point where you can notice the smell. Therefore, you should immediately concern them you can and describe to them where this smell is coming from.
The burning smell might be a general problem and symptom indicating a different component issue. That's why you cannot immediately assume that you're dealing with an oil leak just by noticing this burning smell; your mechanic must perform a more detailed inspection to identify the faulty component.
4. Smoke from the engine compartment
One of the most serious symptoms indicating that your vehicle has a serious oil leak is when you see smoke or clouds coming out of the engine compartment. This can be extremely risky and scary to many inexperienced drivers.
Whenever you get to this point, you should understand that your oil leak is getting to a critical point, making it very hard to drive your car up. That's why most automotive experts recommend that you pull over in a safe area, turn off your vehicle completely, and allow it to cool down for some time before you even reach for help.
5. And overheating
The most critical task of the motor oil in your car is to make sure that it lubricates the internal components and prevents them from grinding against each other. If this is not happening because of the oil leak, you can deal with some excess heat generated due to this friction that leads to engine overheating.
Engine overheating is a serious problem that you shouldn't take lightly because it might indicate that your engine will self-destruct in no time, depending on the source of this overheating and how bad it is.
6. Strange engine noises
When your engine is unhappy with the oil lubrication level, it will overheat. Typically, overheating is associated with some ticking noises. Sometimes, people indicate knocking louder noises from the engine because of further issues related to the oil leak.
That's why if you're dealing with an oil leak associated with engine noises, you must take it seriously and consider it a serious oil leak because that's not a normal situation; it might indicate that you have to have your mechanics take a look immediately.
7. Complete loss of power
If the engine is stressed out by overheating, you can deal with a sudden loss of power. That can be a serious problem, especially if driving on the highways or city roads.
Loss of power is another issue that might be related to different issues in your car. That's why you cannot immediately assume it's just an oil leak you must address because it could be a complete failure in the engine because of other problems.
8. Check engine light
Unsurprisingly, since the oil leak is getting to a serious point, you'll immediately see a check engine light illuminating the dashboard, assuming that your system is operating properly. This light is just a way to grab your attention that something isn't happening internally, and you must address it as soon as possible.
9. Oil in coolant
The oil leak is typically associated with mixing with coolant in many situations. Sometimes, you might notice oil in the coolant, but it could be the opposite. Regardless of what got mixed with the other, having coolant in the oil or vice versa is not a good situation because it might indicate that your vehicle is failing, and the more you wait on driving it, the more heartache is to fix up.
10. Visible damages to the oil lines
Finally, if you're finding it hard to determine whether you're dealing with an oil leak issue or want to be proactive about the problem and do a quick check, look at the oil lines.
If you notice some signs of cracks or potential corrosion or damages, you need to check with your mechanic and see if it's time to fix these seals or even replace these lines completely.
How to Know If Your Car Has a Serious Oil Leak? Final Thoughts
Dealing with oil leaks is never fun because your vehicle suffers from significant problems and might break down quickly. That's why it's critical that whenever you notice any symptoms of a major car leak, you address it and have your mechanic fix the problem.
This article summarized the ten common symptoms indicating a serious oil leak to help you answer the question, “How does your car have a serious oil leak?”
If you confirm that you have a serious oil leak and your mechanic mentioned that your repair costs would be very high, you might be ready to sell the car for someone and use it to value to buy a better vehicle.
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