Ticking noise in engine oil leaking everywhere and car keeps overheating

ANSWER : It sounds as if you have a major concern with a great deal of fluid loss. In many cases, a component or seal failure may cause a large amount of fluid loss if it has gone unnoticed for some time.

My best advice to you is to hire a professional to look over the vehicle to find where the fluid loss is happening and make an attempt to correct the situation. With such a large scale of fluid loss, there may be multiple problems.

If you decide to get this fixed, consider enlisting a certified mechanic, such as one from YourMechanic, who can diagnose the source of your leak and perform any repairs that are necessary.

ANSWER : Most older cars have oil leaks. Sealing technology has just not kept up with mechanical improvements to engines so much so that leaks often kill engines rather than mechanical problems. So, it is not unexpected at all to have an, indeed many, oil leaks on a 23 year old car. Oil leaks vary hugely in terms of severity and priority of repair. Oil leaking onto a hot engine manifold is the worst case (the oil can start a fire; at best, you are left breathing oil fumes in the cabin, as the oil burns off of the manifold) while de minimus seepage of oil at the oil drain plug or oil pan gasket, while annoying and messy, if limited enough is not an emergency. Some leaks are easy to repair, while others literally require the engine to be removed just to get physical access to all the leak points. In your circumstance, if you smell burning oil, oil is probably leaking onto a hot engine part such as the exhaust manifold. A certified Mechanic, dispatched by YourMechanic right to your location, can perform an oil leak diagnostic and then let you know of your repair options and costs.

As far as the check engine light, that is not related to the oil leak(s). If you request a check engine light diagnostic, a certified mechanic from YourMechanic would use a code scanner to retrieve the specific diagnostic trouble code(s) from your car’s PCM that have caused the check engine light to illuminate. Using those codes, the appropriate individual vehicle components or sub-systems (often a sensor, circuit, and the like) are then carefully tested, based on specifications set forth in your car’s Factory Service Manual, to pinpoint the cause of the fault or the reason why the check engine light has illuminated. Once the faulty part or component is identified, it is explained to your satisfaction and the mechanic will let you know of the cost to repair. If you have further questions or concerns, do not hesitate to re-contact YourMechanic as we are always here to help you.

ANSWER : Oil additives are not recommended by any vehicle manufacturer for any reason. Additives that purport to resolve oil leaks are useless, a waste of your money, and may result in engine damage. Every vehicle manufacturer strongly recommends against use of these materials. There is only one recommended and approved repair strategy when it comes to oil leaks: fix the leak.

You can only add the manufacturer specified amount of oil to an engine. If you add too much oil, or too little oil, that will cause engine damage. You should check the engine oil dipstick to determine if there is presently too much oil in the engine. If there is too much, the excess will have to be removed to prevent engine damage.

The leak that you are referring to can be repaired if you request an oil leak diagnostic. If you have further questions or concerns as you decide what to do, do not hesitate to re-contact YourMechanic because we want you to make the most of your repair dollars and help you get the best possible results.

ANSWER : Depending on the ticking noise will depending on if it is a camshaft follower or a camshaft noise. If your engine was ran without oil you may have low oil pressure at idle and the engine can get noisy if the pressure drops. A mechanic, like one from YourMechanic, can come and listen to the noise and check the oil pressure to see if it is within specifications.

ANSWER : You might have a problem with the oil filter leaking when you rev the engine and increase the oil pressure. This can be from a collapsed oil filter media or excessive oil pressure from the engine. I recommend having the oil and filter replaced using a good quality filter and have the oil leak verified to be from the filter. Make sure to not run the engine low on oil. If you are finding you do not want to drive with the leak, a mobile technician from YourMechanic can come to your home or office, and replace both your filter, and oil.

ANSWER : Hi There,
It sounds like you may need to replace the oil cap o-ring. If you haven’t done this before there are two O-rings to replace; a small green one on the base of the filter cap stem and the large black one that seals the filter cap (which seems to be the one you are having issues with). The large O-ring sits in a small square-shaped groove that is at the base of the oil filter cap. It is very easy to not properly seat the large O-ring because the threads for the oil cap are quite large and will accept the O-ring if you are not careful. I would suggest having a professional from YourMechanic come to your location to take a look at your vehicle.

ANSWER : Hi there:

It’s really difficult to tell you for certain what’s wrong with your Saturn without completing a visual inspection. However, if you had to add half of a gallon of oil, that’s not a good indication that internal components were not unharmed. I’d recommend that you contact a local professional mechanic as soon as possible to complete an engine inspection to determine of damage that has been sustained.

ANSWER : If the oil filter housing is integral to the oil cooler, or the housing had to be removed to service the cooler, a professional mechanic with knowledge of the limited service life of rubber seals would have absolutely (guaranteed) replaced the filter housing gasket that you are now belatedly finding leaks. However, if the leaking gasket is in an assembly that was not touched, or is not part of the cooler, they might be on reasonable grounds to have not fooled with it. These cooler configurations vary (from Mercedes Benz model to model) so, having the advice I just gave, you can just simply ask them what configuration you have and go from there. The bottom line is, if indeed, the gasket that is presently leaking was "right in front of them" while they did the warranty work, it should have been replaced simply as a matter of course. Indeed, the weak link on modern engines has become gaskets and seals. The engine will mechanically far outlast the gasket and seals but the problem is to replace all of them (once they all leak) you have to literally take the engine out of the car and take it apart just to put all new seals in. Please let us know how we can help further on this issue.