2001 NM Exceed Oil Leak

[goforitifudare]

Hi

Im looking at an NM Exceed that i noticed from my photos has an oil leak.
I know its basically impossible to tell where its from, but wondered if anyone has any suggestions as to whether this could be the common rocker cover leak, or something else?

the photo was taken under the car from the drivers side, you can see the exhaust and starter motor, and oil covering the wires and bottom of the (transfer case??) area

Any help would be VERY appreciated.

Thanks,
Simon

20150924_201433.jpg

[GUtripper]

Mitsu's are renound for their oil leaks..... every one ive ever seen leaked. A mate is a mech and he says its a factory no-delete option.
Dont know if its poor castings and mating surface finish, poor gasket material, or poor /insufficient torque settings on bolts etc.
If its coming from high up, rocker cover would be first point. They look at what else is on that side of the block- oil cooler housing/filter housing? Could just be the oil filter itself is not done up tight.
Fix could be simple, to costing a lot if its a cracked housing etc
At least it wont rust...

Can you try cleaning it down then driving it for a while and having a good look to identify where its coming from?

[goforitifudare]

Thanks GUTripper,

I havent bought the car yet, still investigating it. its a good deal, and well priced, so long as the leak isnt more than $1000ish to fix.
I am going to take another look at it this week though, so will try to investigate further. i honestly didnt notice the leak when i looked at the car, until i got home and checked my photos, as I just held my camera under and snapped a few shots.

I certainly understand that leaks are common for this engine, so Im not totally put off by it, as i suspect its a rocker gasket or something relatively fixable

It did get a service which is logged in the book, only 3000km ago, and there was no mention in the book or receipts of a leak at that point.

So yeah, i was wondering if it could be something not tightened properly too. it did also recently have that right side exhaiust manifold replaced.

Cheers

[date]

Quite possibly, the oil leak (on either side) comes from the plugs in the ends of the rocker covers. They are simply an alloy plug with an O ring. Two 10 mm bolts on each side of a flange hold the plug in. The R side one is easy enough to get to, but the L side is very difficult. O rings are fairly cheap buying direct from MM (from memory, abut $5.00 each).

I had a similar leak in my NL Pajero. The oil dripped onto the exhaust pipe and burnt. I never had any oil on the garage floor.