| Subject: | Door handle |
| Question: | Well I might as well ask you another question. I have an oil leak and a coolant leak I am fairly sure that it isn't a head gasket and I just replaced my timing belt and tube seals. I'm not getting any blue or white smoke out of my exauhst pipe, but I can't see anywhere that I am loosing water. As far as the oil leak goes, I noticed that I was leaking out of my sending unit but had it replaced and am still loosing oil but am not sure where. I am getting a bit of oil settling on my head gasket cover up around my spark plugs so thats why I replaced the tube seals and put a new pcv valve on. Could all that oil be due to the pcv valve or is it something else. And have you ever heard of or are coolant leaks a common problem with the eclipses if so what is the common problem or problems. I know their could be a hundred different problems but I was hoping that maybe you could give me some things that are typical with eclipses. |
| Answer: | Bryant,
Coolent leaks aren't too common with the Eclipse. You may have a faulty water pump. Those pumps go relatively quickly on the Eclipse. They typically need to be changed every 5-8 years. The cooling systems on the Eclipse is pretty robust, and that pump gets stressed a lot. You may want to check the drain plug on the radiator to make sure its hand tight. That's a simple fix. If you have the wrong mixture of coolent and water (i.e. too much water), it may just be evaporating from the overflow tank. A clogged pcv valve can cause serious oil leaks if not addressed early enough. If a clogged pcv valve is allowed to sit on your valve cover, your compression can build so high that you'll blow your main seal (behind the engine). That's a big repair. I doubt you're having that problem, but its good to keep in mind. A test you can try to make sure your PCV valve is operating correctly is to detach the hose from the pcv valve to the intake. Cap off the inlet going to the intake and put a breather filter on the end of the pcv valve; you can get a breather filter from a store like Wal-Mart, AutoZone, PepBoys, etc... Drive it around for 10-15 minutes with some high revs; highway driving is best. Then shut your car off, and check the breather filter. If you notice oily residue on/in the filter, your pcv valve is working. The factory oil cap that came with your Eclipse may have a worn or hardened rubber gasket. When that gasket goes, oil will easily leak from under the oil cap and accumulate around you spark plug wells under your spark plug cover. A new gasket is about $2. A whole new oil cap is about $8. Like you said, "there could be a hundred different problems"
that could cause an oil leak, but look for the simple and cheap fixes
first. Those tend to be the most overlooked; and the most common. |