oil leak
 

ok guys and girls...

1987 420sel with over 200k and a used block replaced by mechanic at austin ********(a very reputable shop in austin, tx)

had oil changed in alpine, tx where i am at and now have an oil leak.....slow drip under the oil pan and smoke from under the car....ideas on how to attack please...

lyle

You have to locate the source of the leak before deciding on how to proceed. Let us know and then we can help.

Never, stop in Alpine.Bad place to be,put some sealer in and head to Van Horn or Del Rio.

Hard to say what the issue is, some things to look for based upon my 560SEC experience are: valve covers, heads, rear main seal. All three of these can cause what you are experiencing. Last two are expensive. A good visual inspection will help you. You should be able to see around the valve covers and heads with a good light- if heads only, you won't see oil on surfaces above the head gasket. This assumes a clean engine to start with. One problem is that all of them could be leaking a bit, which makes finding the source difficult.
My mechanic used a dye in the oil that shows up under ultraviolet light (I think) and with this we were able to see very clearly leakage from the head gasket. I had an upper engine rebuild and now the upper block is dry, dry dry. I still have a small leak from the rear main seal, and am watching closely but don't want to repair until I need transmission work. The leak is small today, but a bit annoying, as occasionally a few drops of oil drips onto the hot exhaust and causes smoke. Not every day, but still annoying.
Good Luck!

oil leak
 

maybe it just the oil filter leaking? you did say you just had the oil changed.

Yeah,
It's best to check the easy stuff first. A good visual inspection will tell a lot.

oil leak redux
 

got under the car (87 420sel) and sprayed with engine brite to degrease...went to my local indy and found out front crankshaft seal is leaking by....

but on the bright side got rid of all the allen hardware for the oilpan and went to hex-heads instead...

front seal being replaced this week....

lyle in marfa, tx