Something to worry about?

There is some oil leaking from under my 328 at an unusual spot. Can't figure out where it comes from.
Location: just in front of the right rear wheel, bit more towards the middle. Where there is a triangular shape of the chassis.
Tried to take a picture, you can see the blurred reddish drop hanging from some kind of heat shield.
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Usually anything besides seepage is something to worry about. That looks like a drip which is more than seepage.

Plus is looks like it's right by the exhaust? If so oil does burn....

 

It is actually fairly easy to get in there and see what is going on. If you don't have a lift, you can jack the car up and put the rear end on jack stands (never work under a car that is being supported by a jack). Remove the right rear wheel, and then remove the wheel well liner. It has about 8 screws holding it in place. Remove the screws and then shift the liner around until it comes out.

Once you have the liner out, you can easily look around on that side to see where the leak is coming from. Remember, the stuff leaks down, so when you see something wet down low, don't assume you've found the source. It could be coming from someplace up above and then working its way down.

There are a bunch of things is could be coming from. If it is a minor leak from the valve/cam cover gasket, that's not a big deal. They do tend to leak. It might be coming from the cam seals also. If its the edge and it is minor, not a big deal. If it is from the cam itself, you need to keep an eye on it. If it is leaking from the cam drive bearing down low, then you have to be concerned. And if the leaking from whatever source is profuse, you really need to address it.

Hope that helps. I'm sure others will chime in on the issue of what constitutes a serious leak, and with alternative sources to look at. But this is as good a place as any to start.

 

My car was leaking a lot of oil, it more "smoulders"........

I suppose it could burn, on a CAT equipped car......

 

Steve is right, cam drive bearings seals would be very bad news.....

 

Look-up for a shiny, clean spot. Leak sources tend to wash road grime away and look clean.
Don't exclude the A/C compressor in your search; the oil color looks more like A/C oil.

Best,
Mark

 

Good advice so far...

...best you can do is to put the car on jacks and start cleaning...drips can be traced better with a cleaned engine. Removing the wheel wells will help with access too. There are many sources of oil leakage: shift shaft, oil pan, cam covers, bearing leakage; hose leakage (oil cooler hoses), sensors and more.

Clean it up and place white paper under it over a couple of days in a garage. This will help you ID the fluid (could be gear oil or coolant having picked-up some oil on drip path) and its location. Then ask us for special assistance. We're a good group with lots of experienc...for free!

If it's a minor drip (1-2 drips per day max), it's not a driving-limiter. You can take some time to plan the clean-up. If you get a 'puddle' per day, investigate immediately.

 

Really appreciate your help! There are some events coming up, that's the main reason for making sure I can drive it.

To be more specific and answer some questions.

It's maybe a drop or two per day, I put carboard under it and in one week the oil created two cirlces on it 2 inches and 4 inches in diameter.
Will remove the wheel well liner as suggested to have a better look and take more pictures before cleaning it.
A/C was fixed almost two years ago, but doesn't seem to work anymore.
Oil cooler is on the other side.
Car is not CAT equipped.

 

Took the wheel well lining away as suggested, really easy.

Found a drop hanging from the front cambelt cover. pic 1 and 2.
There was also oil on the horizontal part of the heatshield. pic 3, looks like a puddle on the pic, but it's just oily.

So it seems that the horizontal part of the heatshield is collecting oil from somewhere.
The located drip is not exactly above it, but the oil could have travelled across other parts onto the shield.
So does it come from the valve cover gasket, going down the inside of the cambelt cover?

Your comments are highly appreciated.
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Hopefully cam cover gasket and it's running down the block..

If it's coming from under the timing belt cover itself it may be a cam drive bearing seal going bad...

These cars are all getting 'of an age" where cam drive bearings are getting tired.......worth looking at during the next belt service, unless they start making a 'grumbling ' noise......

 

Are you running normal or synthetic oil?

Might go back to conventional oil on the next change......

I run Royal Purple and put up with a few drips.....

 

If it is the cam cover you can squeeze some "additional sealage" by retorquing the cam cover nuts. You may even want to over torque a little because the gasket has likely hardened-up. If it is the seal, you may as well wait until the belts needs to be changed and at that point I would micro-polish the cam with 220 grit paper so the camshaft will hold some oil. The cam will be shiny where the seal lip rubs and the shiny area will burn-out a replaced seal.

 

Heres a shot, if it helps: someone mentioned that it could be ac oil, gear oil/coolant, etc etc. You said it felt "oily", but eben liquids that are not oil feel oily, so to eliminate coolant (not sure if coolant hoses/flanges are even above that area), take a drop on your finger and dunk it in a glass of water. Rub finger a few times to mix with the water. If its coolant OR brake fluid, your finger will come out clean , grease free. If its still oily, its NOT coolant or brake fluid, and you can go from there.

 

Belt service was done almost two years ago, so how much time left?
Will it hold?

Oil change is due now.
It already went from semi to synthetic to semi (have to check). I read somewhere (oil bible) that it's not advisable to go from synthetic back to organic.

When I have the oil changed, will have them try the little extra torque, although the gasket must have been changed during the last service, so not so old.

Definitely oil. Biggest worry was brake fluid but that seems unlikely now. If there's a new drop, will do the finger dip test.

Another question for Sunday, can the antenna hold an SF flag?

 

Good. Now, we have 2 tests for auto fluid testing: Finger Dip Test, and Paper Towel Test (although PPT probably would not involve most Ferraris)