I noticed recently that the center of lanes on the freeway aren't darker than the sides of the lanes and there aren't dark spots in the road after bumps. It used to be that the middle of every parking spot was a greasy mess and outside of Walmart and AutoZone parking lots, I can't remember the last time I tightroped the painted stripes to keep from getting grease on the soles of my shoes.

Obviously, EVs aren't leaking much and Nissan Sentras don't have any oil left in them, but those are a minority of vehicles on the road.

Is it as simple as no longer using rubber and cork gaskets?

What else have I failed to notice about modern vehicles.

Early 2000's?

I've noticed this too on my own stuff. I have '01 and '07 chevys. Neither leak. I had an '01 dodge caravan that I ran to 350k. It didn't leak that I can remember. I have a couple square bodies. They leak ps fluid, engine oil, transmission fluid and it's work to make it stop.

Seemed like everyones dad or uncle kept a quart of oil in the truck or trunk and probably some antifreeze too. You just don't see that anymore. I think you are on the right track with improved materials. The gaskets, seals, plugs and everything in between has been improved. I work in material science and these guys are constantly improving regular stuff we have been using. No big headlines, just a product that now lasts 20 years instead of 5.

In my old 75 square I check the gas and add some oil.

Had a couple of late 80s Chevy trucks and neither one dropped oil. There seemed to be a jump in tech in 88.

My 2010 Jeep Wrangler disagrees about cars not leaking oil.

Also differential fluid.

Probably other fluids too.

Oh and a vapor leak no one can find even after smoking it.

My square leaks power steering fluid until it is out of power steering fluid but the power steering still feels great. I am never rebuilding this magical gearbox!

lb3 said:

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akaggie05 said:

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Gaskets and hoses seem to have gotten 1000% better since the 80s. Not sure if it's usage of more synthetic materials or what. I remember our family cars in the 80s blowing radiator hoses and stranding us on numerous occasions. Seemed like a common thing or maybe we were just unlucky.

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I've seen tons of blistered radiator hoses but none in the past 20 years. People used to talk about "my engine threw a rod" and if you exclude motors with aggressive tunes, I've not even heard of a short block grenade-ing in the past 30 years.

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Guess you missed this thread
https://texags.com/forums/46/topics/2943517/replies/51530950

I missed that. Ouch.

I had 80 series and 100 series Land Cruisers both over 200K miles that dripped on the garage floor, not bad but a bit. I have a second Gen Sequoia with over 200K miles that doesn't drip anything. The manufacturing tolerances and gasket materials have improved.

bam02 said:

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BrazosDog02 said:

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They leak the same as they always have. What has changed is that society has become more disposable and just doesn't keep vehicles that long. Most folks I know get new vehicles every few years. They are perpetually in debt and seem to like it. If folks kept vehicles for 100-200k miles or more, over 7-10 years, there would be more leaks. They don't leak because they haven't had enough time and use to do it.

My older Fords will proudly mark their territory in people's driveways if I leave it there for more than 20 minutes.

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I disagree. OP makes it interesting observation. I've had several high mileage vehicles (175k+) going back to 2005? And they don't leak fluid like my old 89 bronco or the other vehicles I grew up with my family.

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Another thing I see that gets overlooked are undercarriage covers, guards, pans, deflectors, etc. They mask a lot of leaks. Fluids that used to end up on the driveway and parking lot are gloriously evaporated and misted away at highway speeds unless your friendly jiffy lube tech has unceremoniously helped remove such things.

My 2016 Cadillac had a mysterious transmission leak last year. Noticed it in garage. Had it looked at by two different local auto shops. Neither could find anything wrong. It went away on its own.

Randomly, I had some work done by local Chevrolet/Cadillac dealer and they found a hairline crack in a pan that likely explained that leak. He told me they basically found it by accident because it was so small. I had forgotten about it but that in all likelihood explains last year.

Anyway, they still happen if you keep your car long enough.

lb3 said:

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I noticed recently that the center of lanes on the freeway aren't darker than the sides of the lanes and there aren't dark spots in the road after bumps. It used to be that the middle of every parking spot was a greasy mess and outside of Walmart and AutoZone parking lots, I can't remember the last time I tightroped the painted stripes to keep from getting grease on the soles of my shoes.

Obviously, EVs aren't leaking much and Nissan Sentras don't have any oil left in them, but those are a minority of vehicles on the road.

Is it as simple as no longer using rubber and cork gaskets?

What else have I failed to notice about modern vehicles.

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This is a good observation.

Electric power steering is standard now on every car. This gets rid of a major leak point.

Machining practices, sealing materials are all massively improved in the past 40 years.

I remember being satisified that the rear main on my 72 F 250 would only leave a small drop on the ground. Now I'm on the hunt for small weeps at every oil change in my newer vehicles.

When they did away with stamped oilpans, valve comers and cork gaskets

When shade tree mechanics started going to Jiffy Lube

My mom had an '86 Toyota van that leaked transmission fluid like a sieve. We nicknamed it the toaster oven.

My dad's solution was to put a container below the leak (engine was under the seat), and fill it back up each time we drove it. We had extra transmission fluid in the car at all times.

I hated driving that thing in HS. Shocks didn't work either. Built in hydraulics!

aggiepaintrain said:

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they don't leak it, they consume it which is worse!

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Not if you have a bunch of Nazis running your HOA looking for every dark spot or blemish on your concrete.

That era of Toyota van was Pontiac Aztek ugly.

I have interesting observations on this too. My 77 jeep drips some combination of oil, transmission fluid, and/or transfer case fluid regularly, but it's so slow it only leaves marks on concrete but never gets low between change intervals. My 2014 BMW V8 consumed oil like it was going out of style and had to have a quart added between oil changes but never left a mark. My 2017 Porsche V8 leaked coolant like crazy.

Same problems just a different version.

maroon barchetta said:

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That era of Toyota van was Pontiac Aztek ugly.

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Yeah, you know I picked up the women in the party wagon!

Yeah this is an amazing recall and reference!

my '67 firebird leaks P/S fluid but i'm pretty sure the new LS pump blew the seals on the original steering gearbox.

This is the stretch of concrete that prompted my initial observation. That stretch of pavement is nearly a decade old.

The latest episode of Vice Grip Garage has him driving a Model A about 450 miles. One of the things he checks is the drip rate off the rear main seal. A drip or two every minute was supposedly acceptable. Times have changed

Seven Costanza said:

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BrazosDog02 said:

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They leak the same as they always have. What has changed is that society has become more disposable and just doesn't keep vehicles that long. Most folks I know get new vehicles every few years. They are perpetually in debt and seem to like it. If folks kept vehicles for 100-200k miles or more, over 7-10 years, there would be more leaks. They don't leak because they haven't had enough time and use to do it.

My older Fords will proudly mark their territory in people's driveways if I leave it there for more than 20 minutes.

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According to statistics, the average age of vehicles in operation in US has steadily increased over the past several decades.

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Old men yelling at clouds are more factual than statistics.

It's not like those cars that are only 3 years olds and people are already getting rid of are just taken to the scrap yard.....