Hello Everyone,

Let me start by saying that I am mostly still a noob when it comes to mods, although I have assisted a MUCH more knowledgable friend in modding my ride. A few days ago I started noticing a slight knocking sound in my engine, and when I went to investigate, I found the oil leak shown in the pictures below.

I am hoping that someone here can help me figure out what is causing this. One friend of mine says that the knock might be a valve since I am low on oil. I do have a catch can that has been there 10+ months with no troubles, and I empty it regularly. Hopefully this is not the root of the problem, but if it is, I am more than willing to undo it and go back to stock oil flow.

I have put in a call to my dealer, but the service there is beyond terrible, so I might not get it into the shop for a week or longer.

Any information you can give me that might help me resolve this issue on my own would be super. TIA!!!

 

I have an 03 which doesn't have that same part that you have.. I have seen 2 05's w/ that problem.. It's one of the motor mounts. And I guess the leakage is a sign that it's not holding up properly (maybe the reason for the sounds your hearing)....

If the knocks sounds like "dropping coins" and when you do a WOT or increase of RPM , then that is pinging / knocking, which is a sign of bad A/F ratio...

///gilbert

 

Did you say that you have been checking oil level on a regular basis? If you have been taking oil out of catch can and not replacing it in engine it may explain knock.Clarify please.The area circled is engine mount.No oil should be in this area unless mount is defective or something else is leaking.

 

Yes I have been checking my oil regularly, and taking it o the dealer for regular changes (every 7500 miles) like clockwork so far (everything is still under warranty). The catch can never cathes full-on OIL in my case. It catches water and orangish "sludge". I empty it every month or so, and it never seems to have an effect on the oil level in the car.

I do seem low now, but that is unusual. My friend has done some searching for me and found that this part is the Engine Damper / Motor Mount, and in the 05's it is fluid filled to reduce vibration (explaining my knock noise) and there is a post here on NAM located here:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...otor+mount+oil

EDIT: I just got a call back from my dealer (amazingly) with an appointment for this Thursday, so hopefully it'll hold up until then (seems that long-term running it with no fluid can cause major damage). Still can't find out exactly what it is filled WITH, but hey, at least I know what is causing it now. Thanks!

 

Perfect!!! I've been having the same problem with my 05. I have a small knocking sound and it is the dampner. I barely noticed some fluid leaking out in the same area. So, thanks!! I'll be getting an appointment set up with the dealer.

 

I've seen quite a few posts about this recently, it seems the motor mounts are indeed prone to leak. The good news is its not your leaking out of the engine.

 

That's the link I would have referenced. Mark got all of his stuff taken care of under waranty I believe.

 

Hey thanks again for the help and support! I am glad if this thread helped anyone else. I will try to remember to follow up on this thread after I get the situation resolved.

 

Mine was replaced under warranty. At some point in 05 they started with the oil filled dampers. Took a bit of calling around but evetually got em convinced it was oil filled.

I didn't hear anything, my initial clue was a lot of oil under the car.

 

Even though you're having a motormount problem, oil leaks do suck. My dad had a dumb$%!t mechanis put TWICE the oil in his Outback during an oil change. Once we got it on the highway (road trip) the pressure of A GALLON OF OIL was enough to create a hole in the oil pan

Then, another dumb$%!t mechanis decided it was the seal between the block and the pan. $200 down, and it was still leaking

Finally, we drove 150 miles back home loaded everything we had in the outback into the MINI(ty MINI for massive cargo space) and we left at 6:00 the next morning but yeah...that's my story...sorry to hijack the thread...

 

It definitely looks like you've figured out where the oil/sludge is coming from, and it's not the engine, but this doesn't explain why your engine is low on oil though. How low is it?

 

I had the exact same problem on my 2004 MCS after about 15000 miles.

First thing the dealer said was that I had a pulley installed.

I showed them on their visitor room's computer other people that had not modded their cars that had the exact same problem.

The engine mount was defective and was replaced under warranty.

You should have no problem getting that repaired by your dealer.

 

In the end it was just a faulty engine mount and it got replaced under warranty! Thanks again for all the help!

 

The really GOOD news is that the oil is not leaking out of your engine. Dampeners can be replaced with minimal collateral damage. But you should try to figure out whether your engine's oil consumption is within a normal range or not.