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I have a 2000 Mitsubishi Dion with a GDI engine. I've had it for about 15months and so far I'm happy with the car. I've currently got 110,000 on the clock and I bought it with 95k on the clock.
In April, after a trip from Nelson to Kaikoura and back a slow oil leak was noticed under the engine from the cambelt area. The local repair shop (Richmond auto) replaced the oil seal plugs. ($600 including labour)
Just last week after a trip around the West Coast (1000km in three days) another oil leak was noticed, this time from the rocker box. I took it back to the same shop and they cleaned it and asked me to monitor it over the weekend. I put some paper under the car last night and so far it's clean.
I was wondering if the oil leaks might be caused by an old or blocked PCV valve (to my knowledge this hasn't been replaced, as I'm the only NZ owner and I doubt this was done in Japan.) Is this likely, and what should it cost to replace?
It’s certainly worth checking the breathing side of the engine. The valve and plumbing connected to the breathing system may simply need to be cleaned out with no replacement parts required.
From my experience, the cam cover (rocker box) is often removed as part of the disassembly process when carrying out other repairs (such as replacing oil seal plugs?) and the gasket not replaced on reassembly. It can be one of those seals that looks OK but starts to leak once disturbed.
Best advice I can give at this stage is to see what develops over the next week or so and go back to the garage for another check and a possible clean up of the breathing system if the oil leak reappears.
The engine was fine for the next two months. No oil leaks at all. However after another long trip to Westport I've noticed another small oil patch under the car. It seems only to leak when the engine has been driven hard for a couple of hours. I had the oil changed recently, and it is already a dirty colour. Google tells me that a possible cause is pressure build up forcing the oil through a seal.
If the oil doesn't continue to leak is it safe to ignore this?
A small amount of oil on the garage floor can sometimes indicate a much bigger leak from the engine as oil can pool in cavities around the engine block.
The engine needs to be checked out again as something is not quite right. Base your decision to continue to drive it or not in its present condition, after another visit to the garage.
Well the leak seems to have resolved itself so far. All I did was change the oil and filter every 3 months in the hope that this would clean out the engine. Haven't had problems with it for a while now.