Is a One Time SC Oil Leak Possible?

[Mike Stanko]

The car I'm looking was described by the current owner as having no oil drips...........except for 1 time when after 6 months of storage (East coast fall-winter-spring) where a dinner plate sized spot below was present. Exact location of the oil spot not known.

Hmm...any probable or more/most likely explanation....any possible explanation???

Car is an SC. Lower case was never split. 135K miles. Top end done 30K miles and 6 years ago.

Thanks all!

Mike

[dbrisson]

Possibly, my SC would do that after long sits only. It turned out to be the return tubes. The leak areas are the return tubes, valve cover gaskets and sump plate, drain. No of those are big issues.

[ramonesfreak]

not sure - but it would help if he said where exactly the drip was in relation to the engine and oil hoses. a dinner plate size oil spot is quite large otherwise i would guess a rubber hose was dried up and shrunk allowing some oil to ooze out from the crimped end the way mine are doing now...though i drive my car everyday. maybe he did an oil change right before storing it and dripped a lot while pouring oil in and it sat on the car somewhere until the next time he ran it? otherwise i cant imagine such a large amount of oil only dripping once, regardless of 6 months...such an amount would suggest something chronic i would think

[Mike Stanko]

Thanks for the ideas. I'll see if I can find out where the spot was relative to the car. Plus, I have the name of the owners mechanic who wiped the area down after this happened.
Perhaps he remembers.

If it's something auxiliary to the case leaking vs. the case split leaking, this wouldn't be horrible.

Mike

[Trotskyite]

My '82 wept three tiny drips one day after a nice long hot run. Hasn't done it since so who knows. At least you know it has oil in it.

[billybek]

I was shocked the first time I saw oil under the SC after putting it away last fall.
It leaks from the return tubes after sitting for an extended time.
As long as it runs every week or so, dry as a bone....
I bet the return tubes after the oil has equalized from tank to sump.

[OldTee]

If'n they are not leaking a little oil they ain't working.