What is an acceptible amount of oil leakage?

[Diablito]

I notice the XJ seemes to be leaking a bit from the oil pan gasket and rear seal. It is such a small amount that I can't notice the loss on the dip stick betwwen regular 3K oil changes, I just notice a little oozing. As it starts to get worse at what point should I bite the bullet and change the seals? Thanks in advance.

[kevin s]

When it leaves a puddle. I wouldn't worry about a little oozing. They all do that eventually. A drip or two on the driveway won't hurt anything, but a puddle gets embarrasing. My '90 leaked like a sieve its entire life up until its untimely demise. My '92 is tight.

Just remember, if it doesn't leak...it's probably empty.

[8Mud]

Dodge truck used to say anything less than a quart every 500 miles was a seep, not a leak. With todays environmental concerns, would guess a quart every couple thousand miles, might be time for some attention.
Thing about seals and gaskets, they are genereally hard to replace (require a lot of cleaning) and there is always the chance, something will go wrong and things will get worse, before they get better.

[old_man]

Didn't you know.....Jeeps don't leak, they just mark their territory. :rtm:

[pabloconrad]

Mine was always "marking its territory" before it finally died. A drop or two is no big deal, but keep an eye on it as a gasket may be going.

[Matthew Currie]

When the rear wiper can't handle the spray. :D

[jneary]

considering the pan holds 6 quarts, 1 quart every 3,000 miles isnt bad. however since you should be changing the oil filter with the next oil change, you may want to replace the oil filter adapter seals and see if this doesnt lessen the leak.

[the_fixer]

"mark their territory". LOL my wifes' gonna love that one.

[Blair Williams]

Heh. Find me a jeep that doesn't leak and/or burn oil and i'll find you a spotted leprechaun. :P

... dancing on a unicorn.

[sidriptide]

When the rear wiper can't handle the spray. :D

your rear wiper works?? :rof:

my rear main cant decide if it wants to leak or not.. its not as bad as it was a few months ago, and come to think of it the front crank seal isnt pi$ing anymore either... it will let you know when its time..

mike

[BIGSLVRXJ]

I had multiple oil leaks at one time for a while. I had the rear main,the oil filter adapter and the valve cover all leakin at the same time. I would lose a quart every 200 miles.