Need help ASAP

[p3nnywi5dom]

Today when I parked my car at the airport after driving for about 40 min, I noticed some smoke coming from under my hood. Since it was only a little bit of smoke I popped the hood (I know, I know) and noticed a small oil fire ontop of the engine! I quickly put it out with a little bit of snow, only to notice that the oil was pretty much everywhere.

Now, my main problem; Getting it fixed wont be an issue, because I have 3 days off, and nothing to do, but I dont think I should drive it home.

What do you guys think? Would it be safe to drive home and stop every 10 or so kilometers and let it cool down?

I dont want to do anything stupid, so I'm just getting a general opinion of the situation before I do anything.

[angierideswitme]

Shit, that would suck,

First you should find out where the oil is coming from, figure out why the oil is coming out, you don't want to drive a car with no oil pressure.

[p3nnywi5dom]

And how would I do that?

[1badPT]

myself, I'd flatbed it back to the house, but hey I'm a paranoid fucker.

[djfob]

Why risk drivin it without truely being able to access the problem first. I'd personally tow to somewhere warm than take a closer look.

[p3nnywi5dom]

Towing it is.

Too bad everything is FUCKING busy.

[finboy]

call krazy kooter, 50 bucks flat rate towing, flat bed truck...

510-1083

he's done a few tows for me and all of them turned out excelent.

[p3nnywi5dom]

$50 flat? Even on a 40k tow?

[finboy]

if its in the city, i believe so

[illeagle]

Check where the oil is commin from, it could be a hose that just popped off, and all you need to do is connect it.

- find a partner
- buy a Liter of oil and some paper towel
- check your oil - clean up the spilled oil a bit
- if you have enough oil in the motor, start the car, and have someone look for the leak. Don't run it long, use common sense. 30 seconds

- check around the block heater, turbo lines, valve cover gasket could have blown/leaked.. Talon's come with oil pressure guages, right? between the gas and temp??

- if there was ALOT of oil spilled, i'd get it towed. Isen't this car for sale?

[CelicaST-162]

During the day when you can see clearly, trace the oil leak to the top if the engine, that should be really straight forward :thumbsup:

[EK 2.0]

From a DSM owner...

1. Check your dipstick...they tend to pop out due to age and oil sprays from them onto your hot exhaust manifold...

2. The oil cap is supposed to have a gasket, make sure it is still pliable, if not replace it, oil WILL leak out of there...

3. Check the oil line leading from your head to your turbo, make sure its not cracked...

4. If none of the above work, PM me and maybe I can swing out and take a look for you...

Arif.

[Wookie]

There are a thousand places the oil could leak from. Check the dipstick to see fir its been blowing out, the seal around the oil cap could be cracked and in need of repair, the cam seals could be gone, which would sling oil every where when it hit the timing belt and found its way out from the cover, or the oil filter oil cooler
setup coul be coming loose. Check all these first.

[Ducati]

Illeagle and Cyclone's advice is sound, however oil, although flammible, does not usually heat up to the point of combustion merely by leaking or seeping out on top of your engine - as even a hot intake manifold normally shouldn't ignite it. However a hot Exhaust manifold will cause the oil to reach a flash point. You say the little fire was on Top of the engine.

You symptoms are strange indeed - and alarming. I will take a reasoned guess that somewhere you may have a fuel leak, and mixed with crud on your engine that caused the leaked fuel to coagulate with the dirt and oily crud, ignite, and burn like tar.
Check all fuel fittings, like the fuel filter, or where it attaches by a fitting into the carb, or for a leaking fuel injector.

For this reason - that it may be leaking fuel, I would attempt home diagnosos first, and DO NOT drive it for long or very far (drive for a minute at most, just to see if you can identify the leak, repair it, and try it again, then reinspect.) If you do drive it for a fair distance you may loose the car to fire. I have personally lost a 1962 Chev Biscayne to fire in exactly this manner.

[p3nnywi5dom]

Wow, thanks for all the advice people. It's now towed, and I'll find out the problem next weekend :(

[Ducati]

Let us know what it was.