UV Dye to Find Oil Leaks...does it work/thoughts?

[bb_zetec]

Hi Guys,

What are your thoughts on using UV Dye in the crankcase to find oil leaks on an engine?

I've seen some Ebay kits for around 30 dollars that come with the UV light and a bottle of Dye, the instructions are pretty simple...it says add dye to the engine oil, run it and look for leaks using the light.

Does it really work and help find niggling oil leaks that are otherwise hard to find visually or is it a gimmick?

Cheers,

BB

[aussiblue]

They do work. Only issue I have ever had is most air conditioning systems, power steering systems and some coolants use (or can use) similar dyes so check for other leaks that respond to the UV light before adding the dye to the cooling system.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by bb_zetec

Hi Guys,

What are your thoughts on using UV Dye in the crankcase to find oil leaks on an engine?

I've seen some Ebay kits for around 30 dollars that come with the UV light and a bottle of Dye, the instructions are pretty simple...it says add dye to the engine oil, run it and look for leaks using the light.

Does it really work and help find niggling oil leaks that are otherwise hard to find visually or is it a gimmick?

Cheers,

BB

Thats exactly how you find leaks with AC systems on cars, I used to have a photo of a VT Commodore A/C compressor with the UV dye showing which would be a great photo to throw up in this thread to show how it works, but unfortunately it went to heaven with my photobucket account.

[bb_zetec]

Thanks Guys...ill give it a going over with a UV light and then chuck some dye in and see what happens.