leak detector dye

Does your light make the dye in it's bottle glow? How about your antifreeze? My antifreeze is quite bright when I shine my UV light at it.

...also, are you sure that you have an oil leak and not burning oil? Or that any goop under the car might be transmission or other fluid?

The stuff in the bottle glows when the light is close to it. Didn't try the antifreeze

The drips seem to be the color of oil. It seems like it's leaking from the top somewhere. I get oil dripping onto the alternator (lower right front of the engine). I thought it was the rear main but looking up the inspection cover it didn't really look like it was coming from there. I'm thinking intake manifold but was hoping to confirm it before yanking it off. It's a bitch to remove.

| >...also, are you sure that you have an oil leak and not burning oil? Or that | >any goop under the car might be transmission or other fluid?

| The drips seem to be the color of oil. It seems like it's leaking | from the top somewhere. I get oil dripping onto the alternator (lower | right front of the engine). I thought it was the rear main but | looking up the inspection cover it didn't really look like it was | coming from there. I'm thinking intake manifold but was hoping to | confirm it before yanking it off. It's a bitch to remove.

Well, when I had that issue myself, it was actually the power steering pump.

Is the oil being thrown up against the underside of the hood?

While the florescent light should work ok, a much better option would be one of the UV LED pen lights. I use a Coast "LED-Lenser Turbo Torch V8 UV Torch" I got from Fry's. It's a key chain type light that runs on several 357 button cells and is remarkably bright. Certainly a lot easier to get into all the areas you need to inspect than a florescent.

Here it is for $10:

Nope. Already resealed the PS pump and replaced a leaking hose. Can't find any more hose leaks or pump throw off.

Thanks. I was just there yesterday !!! One of the problems with my current light is that its so darn big it is hard to get anywhere.

I bought one and it's a lot better then what I was using but it's still hard to really get anything to glow. I can pull the dipstick and tell there's dye in that oil but I'm having a heck of a time finding the leaks. I thought the dye would may it light up like a firecracker.

Only guessing, but maybe more dye in the oil would help.If/when you find the leak, it may be prudent to then change the oil filter and the oil.I dont know anything about using dye in oil. cuhulin

Pretty nice little light isn't it? Impressive how much UV you can get out of an LED. I've only used it with dye in the A/C and there it was quite easy to spot. As noted, perhaps you need a stronger dye concentration in the oil to make it more visible. Perhaps just visit the local car wash in the evening, pressure wash the engine clean and then inspect in the dark when you get home.