I am going to be travelling to my grandparents next weekend, which is about 185 miles down and then 185 back up. I just noticed that my 91 XJ has what I believe to be a small oil leak. It leaves a stain wherever I park, and it is the same color as my oil. I havent noted any drop in oil pressure, and the oil dipstick still reads farely safe from when the oil was changed about 950 miles/ 7 weeks ago. The leak has been noticable for about 9-10 days now. Is this gonna be a serious issue? I need to go on this trip, but God knows I dont need my daily driver blowing up on me.

 

sounds like it's just marking it's territory!


Did you look under the truck to see where it is coming from? Between engine and trans? maybe near oil filter?

 

well, I did give it a glance at wal-mart, not a full on exam but a look. It seems to be somewhere between the bellhousing and oil pan. I didnt consider a rear main seal because I thought that when they went, they seriously leak.

 

If this helps any, I looked under the ol girl and noticed a bit of "fresh" oil around this bolt on the bellhousing

 

Could be from the valve cover gasket or the oil seal is starting to fail. Either way, go on the trip and take a quart or two along for the ride and watch your oil pressure and check your oil. I have seen MUCH worse.

 

Whew, thank you for your reassuring words.. I am a serious worry-wart with my XJ. I have another pic; took it when I saw a drip when I moved the truck into carport. I had to wait 15 mins just to get like two drops.



I did take it to the mechanic a couple months ago, and he told me I had a minor valve cover leak at the rear of the VC.. could this just be the result of that leak getting worse? I will change it with my uncle next weekend if I get the chance and see how that fairs. Thanks for all the help.

Plus, correct me if I am wrong, when the rear main seal leaks, doesnt some tranny fluid mix in the oil? Because as of now my oil is emmaculate

 

What is that little hole anyway?

 

that looks like a rear main to me. is it coming from inside the lower bell housing? or is it also traveling on the outside? either way, if you can keep oil in there, it's not that big of a deal. just buy some walmart brand oil.

 

I had a vavle cover leak at rear and it ran down back of engine to bell housing like yours. A small leak builds up, looks bad at bottom like yours. Like preveous reply take some oil you should be fine.

 

I am probably gonna replace the valve cover gasket just to be safe. Any recommendations on a gasket that wont break the bank?

 

tranny fluid doesn't travel in the bellhousing. the bellhousing is basically a bracket that mounts your transmission to your engine and holds your torque converter and the flexplate attached together.

 

Rear main engine seal would leak oil if it's leaking. This would come out of the bell housing.

If auto trans fluid was coming out of the bell housing, it would be the front seal of the trans, where the torque converter passes through.

Valve cover gasket leak might run down the back end of the engine & drip off the bell house or it's cover plate.

You could de-grease/steam clean the engine to find the exact leak location, but this can be tricky.

I agree, take some extra quarts of oil & check it often enough to know how much it's loosing at highway speeds.

My YJ's rear main has been leaking a little bit for like six years now, no big deal. I just keep an eye on the oil level.

 

It's your rear main seal but it doesn't look bad enough to worry about yet. Mine took a few months to go from where you are to puking everywhere. Plenty of write ups on here and other Cherokee/Jeep forums for you when it comes time to do the job. Good Luck!!

 

Ugh, I am NOT looking forward to doing that. I have heard it isnt as hard as many think, just drop the oil pan and pop it out then replace.