[Canadian beaver]

We own a 2006 X trail and live on the prairies in Canada and when the temperature dips down, sometimes as low as -30 C there is a noticable oil leak on the driveway. It never leaks in the summer and it SEEMS to leak on startup in the colder days. Took it in to the dealer and found no leaks and informed us to warm the vehicle up for 30 minutes!!! Wow with the price of gas how much would this cost!! Also what they didn't consider is that it leaks when its warming up! Anyone have any ideas? Oil filter is tight and all gaskets are fine.

 

[ERBell]

If it only leaks when it's freezing outside, try plugging the car in if you aren't already.

 

[Canadian beaver]

I understand what you're saying but why should we have to plug the vehicle in? Obviously there is a problem here as the vehicle should not leak oil on startup when its cold. When the dealer tells me "Warm it up for 30 minutes before driving" it's clear they don't understand the issue at hand. Bottom line is if this vehicle was leaking oil in their showroom or lot do you think they would leave it or plug in all the X trails they have????

 

[tbk]

I think the first thing you want to do is track down the oil leak. Figure out where it's coming from. Clean up the oil, get a flashlight, and turn on the car. Once you know where it's coming from you stand a much better chance of getting some advice on fixing it.

 

[Canadian beaver]

That's what I tried doing with the dealer. Being its still under warranty why should I do the work for the dealership??? I took the vehicle to the dealer one very cold evening and left it over night. Their advice....let it warm up for 30 minutes. Back to my first paragraph, a vehicle this age should not leak oil and should not need to be warmed up!!! Wake up dealers!

 

[Xtrailguy]

Using a block heater is a good idea at those temps. A 30 minute warmup seems a little long.

 

[tbk]

ahh, its under warrenty. Sorry, I missed that. I am with you. This is not your problem. If an oil leak is not covered under warrenty, what the hell is?

 

[Caduceus]

I had the exact same thing happen here in Calgary. First the Rogue left a few inch in diameter oil spot on the driveway then I noticed the exact same thing from the Xtrail.

For everyone's information I found out in my case at least that it is just the seal on the oil filter and when it dips down to a really cold temp it leaks past the seal a bit. When I reached down under the Rogue the filter could be tightened by hand, same thing on the Xtrail. So if this happens to anybody in a cold climate check the oil filter first before you panic! (I panicked with the Rogue because we imported it from the states and thought that maybe the coolant mixture wasn't right for our climate and the block cracked! what a relief to find out it was just the filter)