Oil spraying from front of engine?

Question

My 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan today while driving spewed oil all over the front of the engine. I noticed a spraying noise 3 blocks after starting the van. I looked in rear view and seen a trail of oil. The dashboard indicated no warning and had to go the additional 15 blocks to get my daughter to school then back home so I continued driving. When I got home I lifted the hood and there was oil sprayed all over the radiator fans, towards the front of the engine. There was also bubbling of looked to be clear liquid at the top of engine where the bolts are where you add oil. I went to check the oil and the dipstick broke off in there. I opened the oilfill and I cant see anything. I read about head gaskets being blown but my van doesnt display most of those symptoms, overheating, frothy oil, etc.. My oil was changed last night then this happens today.

Update:

The oil cap was on and on tight. I talked to my husband, who changed it and he said that it was a real pain to get it back on so I am hoping that this is the case and that is has just sprayed outward and upwards due to pressure.

? · Accepted Answer

The mechanic who changed your oil may not have seated the oil filter properly. Depending on how the oil filter is situated, it could be the cause of your trouble. Take it back to the place you had the oil change and have them look at it.

It could also be that you have a leak coming from your where your water pump attaches to the engine block. The gasket could have gone bad and needs to be changed, and the oil change could be just a coincidental event.

Either way, have the people who changed your oil look at it first and try not to drive it too much before you figure out what the problem is. You're running low on oil and can do some serious damage to your engine if you drive it too much before fixing the problem.
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Have your husband check the oil filter. He needs to make sure that he didn't cross thread it. If the oil filter was hard for him to screw back on, then he did it wrong. Hopefully, he didn't ruin the male threads from the engine.

Pilsner Man · Answer

To me, it sounds like whoever changed the filter did not get the old rubber filter gasket off, and installed the new filter on it. That is not good. It is also not good to drive a car with oil pouring out of it another block, let alone driving for miles.

Good luck.

? · Answer

If they just changed your oil look at the filter to ensure that it is on snugly but not too tight if it gets overtightened it can split the gasket and leak oil at high pressure.  You are sure that the oil cap was on and tight right?

Peter · Answer

the bolts where you "add" oil would probably be the valve covers, those have a gasket that seals them to the engine block and if those go bad the movement from the valves can make the oil spray out

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Oil spraying from front of engine?

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