Seems the oil leak I have in my 1992 Camaro Z28 is 2 or more seals.

2 mechanics (2 different shops) has suspected the Rear Main Seal and oil pan.. to start with..

What kind of $$ am I looking at for this? I am being told they have to lift the engine just to get at the oil pan seal?? They claim a 11 hour job for the engine!!?? True?

 

Yes, all of the above is true. I can't tell you how many times I've seen "mechanics" do like that to people. They always do that. Think of it as "going for the jugular".... to start with.

They don't want to work on your car. It's an ancient, filthy, greasy, oil-dripping, steaming pile of junk, as far as they're concerned. They want to make sure that if you get them to do so anyway, it's as profitable as possible.

Screw a bunch of "mechanics". Find your oil leak yourself.

Throw your drive-on ramps in your car. Go to the quarter car wash. Stop along the way and pick up a couple of cans of Gunk Engine Bright or the similar, such as the store brand, "engine degreaser". You're looking for the kind that's diesel fuel in a spray can. When you get to the car wash,drive the car up on the ramps, and pop the hood, and wait about 5 or 10 minutes for things to cool dopwn somewhat. Dose the whole motor with one can of the degreaser; top, front, sides, rear; spray it from underneath as well as above. Wait a few minutes; do it again with the other can. Then hose the entire engine off with the "wash" function, followed by "rinse", and "wax"; from above and below, front, sides, and rear. Avoid the throttle body and the distributor; clean all around them, but don't blast them directly. Depending on how dirty it was, you may want to spend another dollar's worth of quarters cleaning up your windshield and your ramps.

Once everything is clean, you'll be able to see where your oil is leaking. Odds are, it won't be the oil pan or the rear main seal. More likely, it'll be the oil pressure sending unit and the valve cover gaskets.

 

Thanks very much for your reply. The thing is we looked under the car and he showed me the oil pressure sending unit (on the driver side) and it's BONE DRY. Not a trace of any oil whatsoever. He then showed me the oil sludge all around the oil pan rim where the gasket would be. It's ONLY on the passenger side and around the oil pan itself. Then it's sprayed and clumbed under the plastic guard that they removed to see the torque converter and gear by the transmission.

The engine shop who quoted me that $$$ says he thinnks it's unlikely it's the oil pan but is always possible. The thing is, if it's not the oil pan gasket, what would explain the oil sludge all around the gasket (top of oil pan where it meets the engine)?? Nothing on top of the engine.. Thanks

 

Too bad; because if it was that, it's super cheeep and easy.

After you cleaned it up, where did the oil appear to be coming from?