17 SQ5 oil leak

[vinny7]

Hey guys,

New member here. Been reading here for a while, but wanted to post about a problem I'm having. About 2 weeks ago we purchased a 17 SQ5 with 55K miles, from carmax. Had it for a 24hr test drive, all was well. When we brought the car home during our test drive I smelled oil burning, and when I opened the hood it was smoking pretty good. Now they had just detailed the vehicle, so I assumed they got some detailing oil/whatever they use on the egine.manifold/cats, and that was burning off.

Anyway, we've had it for about 2 weeks now, and when my wife parks it in the garage I can still smell an oil burn. No visible smoke with flash light though. It's left some pretty good marks on the garage floor, and the bottom of the car is coated in oil. Mainly drivers side, but passenger side too. I haven't had time to get under the car yet to drop the cover and see where it could be coming from, but it's leaking pretty good, definitely more than a drop or two.

Any known areas that leak this significantly? I do have VCDS but haven't done a scan yet, planning on doing that tomorrow. We do have a 90 day warranty from Carmax and I plan on having them fix it, but I'd like to diagnose the issue first before someone tries to blow smoke you know where.

thanks for the help!

[R-o-n]

vinny7 - could it be that when Carmax did the oil change/service, they forgot to include the sealing o-rings for the oil filter housing?

[vinny7]

That is certainly a possibility. I don’t know if they changed the oil or not. If they did, they didn’t tell us. If that were the case, would it be leaking from the oil filter cap?

[EvoToSQ5]

Yes, take a look to see if there’s any oil leaking from the base of the housing where it threads onto the engine. There are 2 o rings that need to be replaced on the housing. One goes around the base attached to the engine just above the threaded portion, the other is inside the actual oil filter housing.


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[Norskie]

You can visually check the oil filter area for leaks.

Bring it back to them and let them deal with it. You don't want them to blame you for something, like a cross-threaded oil pan bolt.

You describe so much oil under there that any attempt to find the source will require cleaning it up. Let them do the work of cleaning all that up.

There's a 'diaper' on the engine tray that absorbs a lot of oil before it leaks on the floor. That is likely saturated. They should replace that too.

They might have re-used the oil pan bolt, which has been known to cause leaks.

[vinny7]

You can visually check the oil filter area for leaks.

Bring it back to them and let them deal with it. You don't want them to blame you for something, like a cross-threaded oil pan bolt.

You describe so much oil under there that any attempt to find the source will require cleaning it up. Let them do the work of cleaning all that up.

There's a 'diaper' on the engine tray that absorbs a lot of oil before it leaks on the floor. That is likely saturated. They should replace that too.

They might have re-used the oil pan bolt, which has been known to cause leaks.

Yes sir you had it correct. Took it in today, got a call a little while later that it was leaking from the oil drain plug. So they changed the oil, and replaced the bolt. He said he was trying to clean the engine tray with a degreaser, but if that didn't work he was going to order a new one. He called me back and said all work is done, replaced the battery as well, and he ordered a new engine tray.

thanks for the help guys

[MSq5]

Yes sir you had it correct. Took it in today, got a call a little while later that it was leaking from the oil drain plug. So they changed the oil, and replaced the bolt. He said he was trying to clean the engine tray with a degreaser, but if that didn't work he was going to order a new one. He called me back and said all work is done, replaced the battery as well, and he ordered a new engine tray.

thanks for the help guys

Glad they found and fixed the leak. As stated above, the tray has a big "diaper" absorbent pad. It can hold a lot of oil, maybe several quarts! Its going to be hard for them to get all the oil out.

[Valpo A7]

Ask them if they changed the crush collar with the drain bolt. Its a change every time item. Chances are that they did not change it before which is why it was leaking . . . and will probably leak again if they did not replace the crush collar.

If you decide to do your own oil maintenance get an extractor so you can suck the oil out through the dipstick tube. Oil filter is up top as well so then you have no reason to lift the vehicle and drop the belly pan to change oil.

[schism75]

I just picked up a used 16' Sq5 with an oil drain bolt leak. I am not going to lie, I was sweating a bit while waiting for my oil change kit from FCP Euro. I was thinking stripped pan but thankfully, it was the original drain plug bolt and the new 6mm with copper washer from my kit sealed up nicely.