Oil leak? Worth worrying?

[Night Runner]

Morning all,

Just checked the oil (which is not dropping noticeably), I saw what might be a slight leak/weep- I've tried to get it in the pics below. It looks to be originating from below thus silver elbow on the side of the block.







I'm on my iPhone so am a bit limited- driving 1000 miles in the '5 this week!

[LukeSi]

Well on the bright side, if it all goes tits up you won't exactly have a big bill. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MAZDA-MX-5-MX5-EUNOS-1-6...

[Night Runner]

It didn't cost much to begin with. What worried me slightly were the oily marks on the undertray - implying a fair amount has come out - couldn't see and fresh residue though.

Just done another 350miles without bother though!

[Snoggledog]

An oil leak is called rust proofing.

In all seriousness though, unless it's actually pissing oil out (or you have forced induction) you probably don't need to worry too much. Mine has a leak which uses around 5 litres of oil every 5,000 miles.

[Riknos]

Snoggledog said:

An oil leak is called rust proofing.

This

Old cars are bound to have an oil leak somewhere. And as long as it's gradual and you're keeping the oil topped up, no problem!

[MX-5 Lazza]

Snoggledog said:

An oil leak is called rust proofing.

In all seriousness though, unless it's actually pissing oil out (or you have forced induction) you probably don't need to worry too much. Mine has a leak which uses around 5 litres of oil every 5,000 miles.

That's handy - you never need to do a full oil-change