[Closed] Lots of oil underneath the car...

Also, how far can a car be driven with no oil?

i would say no
where

Dont drive it. Not even round the corner.

It shouldn't be driven at all. Or started.

Possibilities - cracked sump if alloy, rusty sump if steel.
Or an oil feed hose may have popped a leak (there may be one for the turbo).
Or if it's got an oil cooler, that may have popped a leak.

The good news is that it isn't that expensive to change a sump on a VW as far as I know - lots of cheap sumps on Ebay. Pull the covers off, 10-15 bolts, new rubber gasket, smear of sealant, bolt it all back up. Done. Easily DIYable if you have a socket set.

Make sure it is oil - could also be aircon refrigerant (has some oil in, usually with a bright dye), power steering fluid or water.

Check the dipstick.

i've checked the dipstick and the level is dropping. Its thick black stuff, its definitely engine oil.

Probably smacked a hole in the sump over a speedhump or something. You could potentially bodge a fix with chemical metal or similar to get you to a garage, but there could well be bits of aluminium loose in the bottom of the sump.

They could be large bits and get stopped by the gauze in the oil pump pickup, or they could be small bits and have to work their way round to the filter. Or they could be numerous bitty bits and block the oil pickup gauze to a catastrophic level

In all my years of being a motor mechanic I never came across a cracked sump.
But you never know.
More likely to be a hefty leak further up. Open the lid & look.

Is there any possible non-expensive reason why there would be a rather large pool of engine oil underneath my car???

You parked over someone elses oil leak.

If you didn't, your ****ed.

hmm, i reckon its the sump.

Its a Golf and very low slung underneath, sump exposed, soft suspension and heavy diesel engine mean cracked sumps aren't all that uncommon.

how easy is it really to replace this myself??
i'm guessing i *do* need more than a socket set, since theres no way to get underneath to even take the engine under-tray off! i can't drive it up onto ramps so presumably i need some kind of trolley jack or axle stands, which is going to be a pain when its parked on a (quiet) road.

I reckon you've struck oil in your garden. You are now rich. Drinks are on you.

I would just change the sump before you check anything else, I'ts bound to be that. Youv'e obviously whacked it on a speed bump & not noticed. 🙄

(Why are they called 'speed bumps'? If anything they make you go slower.)

Hose off or split would be my 1st suggestion, I've got a T reg TDI Golf with local speedbumps, to crack the sump you'd need to drive like a knob.

Although you could ask [url= http://www.bp.com/bodycopyarticle.do?categoryId=1&contentId=7052055 ]BP Customer services [/url] See if they've lost any?

Whatever you do,don't tell barack obama that your losing oil out of a hole.He will have your guts for garters 😀

With all that oil underneath, I thought you might have parked it in the Gulf forecourt

Loose sump plug or broken sump plug washer should be checked first along with the ^ hoses.

Also check the oil filter. They have been known to loosen.

You don't live in the Gulf Coast do you?

you can drive the car approximately >||< that far without knackering it if it has no oil. In fact not even that far - switching it on would be enough to do damage.

blame BP for it

HoratioHufnagel - Member
Also, how far can a car be driven with no oil?

You can drive it as far as it will go before seizing up...

If the sump is cracked, there would likely be 4 litres of oil on the floor which would be a hell of a mess.. covering a driveway and more. If it's less than that, you mgiht have a failed rocker cover seal or something.

Look in the engine - if there's oil coming out of the top of the engine, then that could be it. Rocker cover would only leak when the engine is running tho.

If the car is sat for more than say half an hour and it's still dripping, then it's the sump, really. Because all the oil sits down there underneath the engine when it's off. Oil leaking from elsewhere in the engine will only happen when it's running... but as you have an undertray, that can collect oil and release it when you park on a slope, say.

Check the rest of the engine for oily streaks I'd say.

Oh, and to crack the sump you'd have to smack it hard on the ground somewhere, I think you'd remember this happening if you did it and be able to easily relate it to the leak 🙂

I had a turbo high pressure oil banjo fitting start leaking on me once. Large pool of oil under the car in Tesco car park, but nothing when the engine was not turning (i.e. drips). Start it up, see the drips, see pool get bigger. See Jack call the AA and get towed back from Watford to Suffolk.

Mind you, it was an easy fix and the car (Nissan Silvia 1.8 turbo) lived on for several months...

If its a golf, the gear box might have cracked open like mine did... is it definately engine oil?

hmm, there was a bit of bang in an off road car park a few days ago. Big rain filled pot hole caused the car to ground out. I'd assumed i'd bottomed the suspension. b0ll0cks. i was going dead slowly at the time, i reckon if i'd been going faster the sump wouldn't have hit! prob damage the suspension instead tho!

there is, roughly, 4 litres of oil on the ground, and yes, its made a big mess.

Guess i need a mobile mechanic or some axle stands to do this myself.

Car has numerous other big expensive problems as well, but i reckon fixing this will costs similar to getting it towed somewhere to get scrapped!?

Fixing a sump should be easy - just don't start it. Axle stands are £10 from Halfords, or you shoudl be able to get underneath it enough to see if there's a whacking great impact mark on the sump with just a jack (although don't get yourself actually under the car if it's only on a jack, and chock the back wheels of course).

Just jack it up and find the source of the leak, simple. If it's the sump it'll probably be a fairly quick job and fairly cheap. I've seen a cracked sump but it's not exactly common, they normally bend a lot before splitting but if you've dragged it over a chunk of rock... Biggest cost will be the sump itself, despite being very simple bits of bent steel they're often not cheap.

Incidentally I did once drive a car with no oil (I'd drained it fully for other reasons several weeks before and forgotten to re-fill it after re-assembly) for 2 miles with no perceivable damage, but it's very very definitely not a good idea, even for a few yards. These days I tape a sign into the windscreen so I have to remember!

Ask Barack Obama to get compensation from BP.

Is there any possible non-expensive reason why there would be a rather large pool of engine oil underneath my car???

It could be oil seeping up through the concrete rather than dripping down from your car? which could mean there is an oil well underneath your driveway which you could exploit and make millions. You could be rich I tells ya.

Hows that?

It was the oil temp sender leaking on mine last time, the new oil and filter I had fitted (as I had to and might as well) cost more than the new sender. I drove it into the garage (not recommending it, it's a Nissan therefore harder than Chuck Norris) with a little top up to get me there.

If there was a hole in the sump, gravity would ensure you and your neighbours would know all about it.