When a car begins leaking oil, find out where the oil is coming from as soon as possible. The hunt can take time. But if you have a place to start looking for the oil, such as a drip from under your car, you should be able to follow the trail back to the leak's source.
Determine that there is an oil leak. If your oil pressure starts dropping, that's a good indication you might have a leak, but it's not definitive. If you see black drops beneath your car, however, that's a sure sign that your engine is leaking oil and you should investigate.
Find where the oil is dripping from. If you use a flashlight and slide under your car, you should be able to detect the shine of the flashlight reflecting off the oil.
Track the path of the oil. Sometimes the path is short, and the oil is leaking from a loose oil filter or an oil plug that hasn't been screwed in tightly enough. Other times the leak can be traced up to a hose, or to the gaskets in your intake manifold.
