So I changed my oil today and noticed that there was a few spots of oil after warming up my car. It was not coming from the oil pan, head gasket or oil drain plug. It appeared to be coming from some engine cover on the driver side of the car. Anybody have an idea what this is or why it might be leaking oil?? I didn't have time to really inspect it, but plan to take a closer look tomorrow.

 

my car had a leak from a defective cam seal. you could see oil residue around the timing belt cover (the cover you mention) and it leaked onto the a/c compressor. it was covered under warranty and they also changed the timing belt and tensioner all under warranty.
take it to the dealer, that is what a warranty is for.

 

Is it leaking between where the engine and transmission mate up or what (you said driver's side)? If so, then your rear main seal is leaking. What does this "cover" look like?

 

If all else fails have the dealership check it out.

 

So I made an apointment for tomorrow with my dealer to get everything checked out. I'll be sure to let everyone know what is the deal. Just so everyone knows, I noticed the leak right before I changed my oil and oil has lightly coated the suspension and some other parts on the driver side.

Here is a picture of the top of the cover that appears to be the offender. Look for the arrow.

 

You're in the transmission area now!

 

I just got back from the dealership and here is what I found out. It was not oil that was leaking, but transmission fluid. Apparently when Jiffy Lube last changed my oil and checked my fluid levels they did not tighten thigs up very well and my plug worked itself loose. Basically I was almost 3 pints low which is about empty.

So they tell me that this may have damaged my transmission. If it is it will not be covered by my warranty since it was due to improper maintanence on Jiffy Lubes part. You can bet that I'll be stopping by there tomorrow to stick my foot up their asses.

On the same note, when I changed my oil the other day, the oil filter was on so loose I had to put out zero effort to untighten it with my hand. Yey' Jiffy Lube.

 

If your tranny does happen to go bad due to that it is very hard to prove that they even touched the drain on the tranny since you went for oil.
I would go to another dealer if anything happens.

 

Actually I was looking at my receipt from Jiffy Lube and it lists the items they serviced with their "signature service" and transmission fluid was checked and marked "ok".

 

A buddy of mine took his car to jiffy lube for an oil change. He ended up needing an oil pan replacement because they'd tightened the drainplug so tight, that eventually stripped it. When all was said and done, the drain plug basically just spun in place.