puking oil

[marco pabst]

So I go outside this morning to get in my cabby. and there is a giant oil puddle . . .awesome. so I ask my dad and he says that maybe I have a loose oil pan and so I check all the bolts and a few are loose. so I tighten them and still she pukes oil. i can't exactly tell where it is only that it is somewhere on the lower side near the tranny. any ideas on what it could be are most welcome.

[Briano1234]

Well, it could still be that the oil pan gasket has given up the ghost and that you need to replace it, other wise you are looking at the rear oil seal, which constitutes
the tranny being dropped.

[sixsracing]

If there is oil actually pouring out, then you may be experiencing the oil cooler seal blowout scenario. No other leak that I can think of dispenses so much oil per minute. Check over the oil filter and see if it's coming from there. Oil pressure switches can also exhibit rapid oil diffusion. These are a lot easier than a rear main seal.

[gull]

I second the suggestion to check the oil cooler area and the oil pressure switches. The oil comes out amazingly fast if you lose one of those, because it's under pressure. Oil from any of these spots will tend to run down the front of the engine onto the oil pan and transmission, so at a casual glance it might look like a leak from that area. The switches can actually fail internally and leak oil around the wire connections, filling the little rubber protective boots up with oil.

I had the high pressure switch fail once and lost over a quart in 60 miles. Another time I had the oil cooler seal fail and lost all four quarts in about three miles.

[tolusina]

Engine oil or trans oil?
Massive engine oil leaks are most often pressure leaks, cooler and switch/sender suggestions above are excellent.
Trans oil, uh oh, goggle "self machining syndrome", read about the possible bad news. The number of google search returns will give you clue as to how common it is. I mean, it's not so common as to happen to every car, like ignition switches, but it's common enough to have a name.

[gull]

Didn't think of that, but it's a possibility if you have one of the model years with that problem..,'84 through '86, I think. You can tell whether it's engine oil or trans oil either by checking the dipstick to see if you've lost engine oil, or by smelling it...normally trans oil has a strongly sulfurous smell. It's pretty unmistakeable. Some synthetic transmission oils don't have the smell, though.