Every responsible vehicle owner understands the value and importance of getting regular oil changes.
Oil really is the lifeblood of your vehicle.
Responsible for cutting down on friction between metallic components in your engine, keeping everything well lubricated, and handling temperature control responsibilities as well, high-quality oil that is changed on a regular basis dramatically extends the life of your car.
And while oil changes are (generally) a pretty simple and straightforward process, not everyone has the equipment, the tools, or the know-how to tackle this maintenance on their own.
Most folks turn to expert mechanics and oil change services to handle this heavy lifting for them.
But what happens when you go in for an oil change and notice that your car is now leaking oil right after you drive it off the grounds?
Let’s get into that right now.
Why is My Car Leaking Oil After an Oil Change?
There can be a bunch of different reasons that your vehicle is dripping oil after an oil change has been completed, but they all kind of fall into three distinct umbrellas:
- Overspill or leftover oil dripping from the change
- Cleanup and solvents spills
- Mechanic error
Most of the time (especially if you are working with professional mechanics and legitimate services) the oil dripping from your vehicle is going to fall into the first two categories.
Perhaps a little bit of oil was left on the oil pan itself or the drain plug and is just dripping out. Maybe some of the cleanup materials or solvents are spilling out and it just looks like oil.
Those aren’t huge problems (though they can be nerve-racking until they are properly diagnosed).
Mechanic error, on the other hand, is an entirely different level of issue altogether – that one can be dangerous and very expensive to fix.
The Big Three Reasons
Overspill or Leftover Oil Drips
If you are noticing tiny little drips of oil (maybe a drop or two) on the road, a parking spot, or your driveway after an oil change the chances are pretty good you’re dealing with overspill or leftover oil drips.
Oil changes are (no surprise here) pretty dirty jobs. You are removing the old oil from your vehicle, after all – and that can create a real mess.
Most mechanics and oil job shops do a pretty good job of getting rid of all that old oil after that drain plug has been pulled. Sometimes, though, a little bit of residual oil is left on the drain pan and that’s what you see dripping out of your vehicle.
Again, you’ll notice very small drips almost immediately after the oil change and then no new ones a day later.
If you are still seeing oil dripping after a day has passed, though, you’re probably dealing with a different problem altogether.
Cleanup Agents and Solvent Spills
Sometimes, though, what responsible car owners see as an oil dripping problem is actually a cleanup agent or solvent spill issue and not anything to do with oil at all.
Like we mentioned a moment ago, a lot of professional mechanics take their work very seriously.
These mechanics want to work in a clean space. They know that getting rid of all residual oil from the drain plug and the drain pan allows them to work cleaner but also gives them a better look at these parts and components, too.
The cleanup agents and solvents used to get rid of buildup, gunk, and grime may have to set up on top of these car parts, though. Sometimes scrubbing them off isn’t as complete as some mechanics would like, too.
It’s not at all uncommon to park your vehicle and see little drips of cleanup agent and solvent that are left over from this part of the project under your vehicle.
You need to check and see what color the spills are though to make sure.
If it’s a lighter color than what you are used to seeing from dirty, old oil – or if it’s a bubbly, thin, sweet smelling kind of spell – you’re probably dealing with cleanup agents or solvents and not an oil leak at all.
Mechanic Error
Unfortunately, every now and again you really are dealing with an oil leak problem and it’s almost always because of mechanic error.
Even the most professional mechanics under the sun are still human beings. And that means that they make mistakes from time to time.
Perhaps you caught a mechanic brand-new on-the-job, one that isn’t completely sure of how to go through a process even as straightforward as an oil change. Or maybe you just caught them on a bad day when they were particularly distracted.
Maybe the mechanic putting the drain plug back into the oil pan cross threaded it without even realizing it. They didn’t know that this caused a leaky situation, mostly because cross threading is (generally) more of a slowly kind of problem and it might not even have been spotted until the car rolled off the property.
Sometimes you’ll even hear stories about mechanics – even good, reputable, long-term mechanics – that flat-out forget to put the washer or the entire drain plug back into the oil pan before they fill the engine back up.
This is usually a problem with higher volume mechanic shops that like to move people in and out as quickly as possible, but any mechanic is susceptible to this if they aren’t careful.
The worst thing about mechanic error being the reason behind your oil leak issue after an oil change is that there’s no real way to prevent it short of doing the job all on your own.
Yes, you want to be sure that you are only ever having professional mechanics work on your vehicle.
And yes, you want to be sure that you aren’t pinching pennies to get a cut rate oil change from a high volume shop when you only have to spend a little bit more to get quality work done by more experienced mechanics.
At the end of the day, though, all the research and all the due diligence into finding the best mechanics may not be enough to prevent the leak if mechanic error was the problem.
You will, though, want to go back to that mechanic straightaway and have them remedy the situation before it does long-term damage to your vehicle.