Somethings leaking oil...

[MJW1977]

Just went to take the car out smoke was pouring out of the bonnet vents. Opened up the bonnet and what looks like oil has been sprayed around the engine and underneath of bonnet. There is a small amount of oil on the garage floor. The smoke is where some oil has landed onto the exhaust where it mounts into the engine.

On a closer look, there a pool of oil collected in the "tray" under the distributor, and getting underneath I can see it dripping down the pipes and onto the floor, centre left. When the engine is running it is quite fast, but hardly anything when engine off.

When I say oil, it looks and smells like oil but it doesn't appear to lost any after checking the levels. The car was fine when I put it away 2 weeks ago - maybe it is just desserts for not using it for 2 weeks!

Any thoughts what it might be, sorry for the naff description...

[dogbucket]

A small amount of Oil can go along way, so you may not see a drop on the dip stick.

Rocker cover gasket?

[Cider Andy]

Does your car have power steering? There's a 'U' shaped tube just below the pump that often seeps fluid. Usually fixed by adding an extra jubilee clip at either end, but if it is that it sounds like you're leaking quite a bit more.

[MJW1977]

Thanks for the replies. Yes it does have PAS and after further inspection in the light today it is PAS fluid not oil. What has happened is the fanbelt was rubbing on the pipe behind it, and has eventually gone right through causing all the fluid to leak out.

[GreenV8S]

Sounds as if you were lucky to avoid a fire there.