Oil spots on the ground. When do I start worrying? What can I do?

I'm starting to get silver-dollar-sized oil spots on the ground when I park my car. Is this normal? What should I do?

It is just marking it's spot. Actually, you should not have silver dollar sized oil spots, you should have none. Can you look at the underside of the motor and describe any areas that show drops or dirty areas?

Thanks Will. I didn't think so. I'll crawl under there on Saturday morning and have a look. I think it might be coming from the left rear, which is right underneath where the oil filter is mounted. Maybe it just vibrated loose. I hope it's that simple :)

you need the ramps or the hoist tom. bill

Don't panic. My car had a significant oil leak for 2 1/2 years before I finally solved it. Most of these engines leak a drop or two here and there.

First off, do you only see it underneath? Are you plumbed with an external cooler and filter. If the answer to both is "yes", you probably just have a drippy fitting. If it is under the center of the engine, probably a leakiy sump plate gasket or nut. None of these are significant problems, and they can be fixed easily. If it's something else, we will need pictures.

If you have oil in the engine compartment as I did, it may be tougher to diagnose. Mine was finally traced to a porous casting of the pedestal that supports the internal oil cooler inside the shroud. That was a pain to find and fix, and we wound up pulling the engine to do it right. Even that is not as big a deal as it sounds.

Pics and a little more info will help.

EDIT: I reread your second post, And I'm willing to bet that one of the fittings on the oil filter mount is leaking. Even after re-plumbing and sealing threads, I still get a drop or two every once in a while. Probably a Chinese casting that's got some imperfection in it. Not a big deal unless it leaks quite a bit.

Hi Tom-Per your profile, you have not had your car even one month. Try to send a few images back to the builder via e-mail. If he can't fix it personally, find an AIR-COOLED VW mechanic in your area to ID+fix this problem at the builder's expense.
Small drips on ACVWs (air-cooled VWs) are fairly common. (I have built a few excellent engines in the past that never leaked the amount you are describing). Do not take any INCREASING amount of leakage lightly; while the fix may be as simple as re-torqing, it could be something as a failure of an oil-cooler gasket (seal). Hard driving in this condition would most likely result in something very discouraging. Explitives deleted here. A significant oil leak is NOT to ignored! Not for 2-1/2 years and not for 2-1/2 weeks.

If I recall correctly, your engine is from CB. If the leak is under the engine, Pat Downs will probably be able to tell you what is is and how to fix it. If parts need replacing, they will send them free of charge. If it's a part that Carey's guys installed, the same will apply. As Scott said, any leak that is getting bigger should not be ignored. Best best it to clean up the spots on the floor as well as the underside of the car if you can see where it's coming from. Then drive it a bit and park it and see how much leaks how fast. A drip or two under the car a while later is in the "don't panic" category, and is probably not something that you have to address immediately. A puddle a couple of inches across that continues to grow is still not worth panicing over, but does need attention ASAP.

Take some pics before you clean it up and post 'em.

Thanks guys. I'm sure that Carey would send someone if I asked. He's supporting by phone & email and with parts. I knew that this hobby would require me to become more of a mechanic. I would hate to drag someone 9 hours roundtrip for a loose oil filter :). Since I don't have the pride of building like a lot of you, I would like to feel more like a member of the club and do my own maintenance. I've ordered some low-profile ramps. My friend gave me his low profile floor jack and jack stands yesterday. I bought my trouble light and other paraphenalia yesterday and I'm ready to get under there either today or tomorrow. It's 40 in Detroit right now, so not so conducive to cruising anyway. I'll report back later.

Problem(s) located. Both the input and output lines to the oil filter adapter are leaking where the braid meets the coupler. The oil on the dipstick is clear, but the oil leaking seems to getting darker brown. I'm thinking that the oil filter might be clogged causing the system to back up. I also noticed that it seems to be running hotter on the temp gauge. This would also back my theory up.

Tom, good job on getting under the beast and checking it out! Now it gets a little more complicated. Is your oil line going to what you refer to as an adapter coming from the oil pump or is it tapped into the case? Also how does the line route go to your external oil cooler? I don't think that the color of the oil indicates a clogged oil filter. The braided lines that go from the engine to oil filter and cooler have fittings that may just not be tight. Change the oil filter just to rule it out as a problem, and thighten all your fittings on those oil lines. I don't know how to describe how tight is tight. I don't know torque figures and just do them by feel. But wait and see what Larry Jowdy says before you do anything, cause he knows more than me! A second opinion is always good, especially Larry's!

Tom - My one remaining oil leak is at the same place as you describe, but not in the quantity. I think those are Chinese castings of dubious quality, like many parts now. If your engine is set up like mine (likely since we have the same builder) you probably could get away with a new filter bracket thingie that the hoses connect to. Mine hasn't been bad enough to worry about. I have seen where such castings can have voids big enough to cause significant leaks (like my internal cooler pedestal), although you might just have boogered-up threads. How's that for techno-speak?

Regarding the different color, I'd be surprised if your filter was clogged. I would think you'd have far worse problems. The oil drop that is always on the underside of that casting on mine is dirty, too. Probably because of where it's located.

Tom,

If your oil filter is clogged than you have more problems to deal with than you think. There is a by-pass valve in the oil filter to prevent such a thing to happen.

Tom-click this link: http://www.shoptalkforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=113675
The first illustration should be a representative schematic of your installation. You can e-mail your builder and attach above link (with add'l marginal notes as req'd) to describe what's going on. In the illustration, the "return" line enters the case via a threaded hole contained within a cylindrical "boss". Cautionary note: if this is an NPT fitting, OVER-tightening can lead to a fracture of this "boss" wall. I don't recall what thread sealant should be applied. Ask your car builder to provide the info.

Tom - you should feel good anytime you see a "little" oil under your car. This visual reminder serves two very important purposes:

First, it reminds you that you need to check your oil level at the dipstick.

Second, it verifies that there is still some oil left in the crankcase.

Clever engineering those Germans!

Da hast du recht mein Herr. Oel auf dem Boden ist besser als keine. :)

Both hoses were leaking. Carey is fabricating two new ones and shipping them to Bill Demeter. Bill is performing this warranty work on Special Edition's behalf for me. I feel very fortunate to have Bill around. I just don't have time right now to work on this. Hopefully, I'll be rolling again next weekend.