[Craig]

Hello all.

My 2010 i30 CRDi auto appears to have sprung an oil leak.  Two slicks appeared under it today, and when I checked the level it was rather low.

The car drives well so I'm hoping it's not too serious. It's at 58,000 miles.

Is there a likely cause for this leak given the model and age?  The warranty expired six weeks ago 😞

Thanks.

[eye30]

Yes,.... just out of warranty......

[Dazzler]

Hi Craig,

Have you had a service recently? Maybe they cross threaded the sump plug?

Have you hit anything lately? Damage to the sump?

Have you done a visual inspection to see if you can see where it is leaking from. Maybe the seal between the Engine and the gearbox?

I'm no mechanic but just a couple of thoughts. 

[Craig]

Last service was 6000 miles ago.  Not really hit anything of note recently other than a few potholes.  Sadly I have no way to inspect under the car so don't think I could see if it's between the engine and gearbox.

In the dark, the only oil I noticed was on something just to the right of the dipstick hole; see the attached picture.  Now I suppose that could have come from the dipstick hole but I don't see it really being the source of the problem, unless it had come very loose by itself recently for some reason.

[eye30]

If you can put one side of the car on the kerb.

This should give enough clearance to at least get you under the front end.

[Craig]

If you can put one side of the car on the kerb.

This should give enough clearance to at least get you under the front end.

I'll see if I can give that a bash tomorrow and see what I can find, cheers.

[Lakes]

When it's cold ( motor ) see if oil filter tight but would think in 6,000 that would have showed up long ago if loose. if not raining try putting clean dry cardboard under car over night to see if it gets lot of oil on it and see where it drops from. like you can pull cardboard out in morning to look then u have an idea where & how bad.

[beerman]

I had a gasket go in the Auto, but if the oil level is low thats obviously not it.

If you had it dealer serviced you could try taking it back and putting up a fuss.....

[Dazzler]

When it's cold ( motor ) see if oil filter tight but would think in 6,000 that would have showed up long ago if loose. if not raining try putting clean dry cardboard under car over night to see if it gets lot of oil on it and see where it drops from. like you can pull cardboard out in morning to look then u have an idea where & how bad.

Good idea John! 

[Phil №❶]

Whatever you do, maintain the correct oil level. So if necessary, refill with oil. Loos to me like the oil filter cover. Ours has no oil around it whatsoever. It could be cross threaded or a seal has given way around the perimeter, under pressure, oil can leak.

[h20melon]

I had an o-ring not seal in the oil filter housing (the black bit to the right of the dip stick). Took back to the mechanic and they put a new filter and o-ring in.

I lost a bit of oil in the 3 days. Enough to top back up.

Hopefully your problem is just that.

[Craig]

Whatever you do, maintain the correct oil level. So if necessary, refill with oil. Loos to me like the oil filter cover. Ours has no oil around it whatsoever. It could be cross threaded or a seal has given way around the perimeter, under pressure, oil can leak.

I agree that it looks suspicious, especially as I have been rather negligent in checking the oil level, so it wasn't my somehow depositing oil on it whist measuring.

Speaking of measuring oil level, what is the recommended procedure?  I asked Hyundai and they said to measure hot, though I find that can seem a bit inconsistent depending on just how quickly you measure.  Does anyone here measure cold?

[Craig]

I had a gasket go in the Auto, but if the oil level is low thats obviously not it.

If you had it dealer serviced you could try taking it back and putting up a fuss.....

It's only been dealer serviced so far, though I hadn't planned on using them for the next one due to the cost.  I think I'll book it in with them to get it looked at.  Hopefully they can consider a contribution if it's something major.  They have been generally ok to work with, other than ordering the wrong part twice in a row when fixing my a/c.

[Craig]

I had an o-ring not seal in the oil filter housing (the black bit to the right of the dip stick). Took back to the mechanic and they put a new filter and o-ring in.

I lost a bit of oil in the 3 days. Enough to top back up.

Hopefully your problem is just that.

Hopefully.  Given how long it's been since service then it certainly could have lost a fair bit of oil since then.  I'd have thought I'd have seen a bit of a slick before yesterday, but there's not really been much rain.

[Asterix]

Speaking of measuring oil level, what is the recommended procedure?  I asked Hyundai and they said to measure hot, though I find that can seem a bit inconsistent depending on just how quickly you measure.  Does anyone here measure cold?

Doesn't matter if you measure cold or hot, the important thing is not to measure before the engine have been stopped for at least 5 min. Measuring cold however will give the most correct result as all the oil have had time to get to the sump.

[Craig]

I had an o-ring not seal in the oil filter housing (the black bit to the right of the dip stick). Took back to the mechanic and they put a new filter and o-ring in.

I lost a bit of oil in the 3 days. Enough to top back up.

Hopefully your problem is just that.

Had it in at the mechanic today and they just came back and confirmed this was pretty much the problem.  Described as a 'leak from the filter housing' but basically a change of filter will sort it.

[eye30]

brill result at hardly any cost compared to what it might have been.

Drinks all round...

[Asterix]

I had an o-ring not seal in the oil filter housing (the black bit to the right of the dip stick). Took back to the mechanic and they put a new filter and o-ring in.

I lost a bit of oil in the 3 days. Enough to top back up.

Hopefully your problem is just that.

Had it in at the mechanic today and they just came back and confirmed this was pretty much the problem.  Described as a 'leak from the filter housing' but basically a change of filter will sort it.

 

[Dazzler]

 

[Phil №❶]

Make sure they install the correct size filter for your engine. Ther are 2 sizes in that particular year. Tell them to order or at least confirm the correct part no using your car's VIN #

[Craig]

Make sure they install the correct size filter for your engine. Ther are 2 sizes in that particular year. Tell them to order or at least confirm the correct part no using your car's VIN #

Hmm. I wonder if that was the problem in the first place?

[Phil №❶]

Either way, oils should not have leaked from the housing, but the filter may not have been protecting your engine