i am pulling the trans out of the car to put a new one in and figured as long as its out, i might as well fix the oil drip.
i figured it was a rear main leak, but after reading that rear main leaks are usually a lot more severe than what i have, do you have any suggestions on how to figure out where its coming from?

i go through about a quart every tank of gas. i get around 16 mpg in the city which is how i do most of my driving. do the math.

i really would like to get the oil leak fixed ASAP and i am pulling the trans tomorrow (the 6th) so any suggestions are a huge help.


also, having never done it before, how would i go about putting in a new rear main seal.
its a 2pc, probably neoprene, but could very well be a rope seal.

 

a qt a tank, thats alot even at 24MPG

you can have a rear main leak like yours or leak a qt over a oil change

i think there is a detailed post about changing a 2 piece, i hate to say the thing that makes me sooo mad on here but

LOL trust me if i had more time i would search it for you and post it

 

i did search and came up with nothing.
any idea who wrote it or anything that would help find it?


i thought that 1 qt/tank was a bit much as well but i few posts on here said otherwise, that a rear main leak literally pours oil out in most cases.

is there a way i can remove the the trans and clean off the back of the engine then run it without the trans to see where its leaking from?
how do i support the engine with the trans out?

 

You can do that.
Support the engine under the pan with a jack.
A quart a tank? You'd have one helluva puddle under your car at that rate. You may be burning as well.

 

i dont know why but i ran the car today on the jack stands to warm up the tranny fluid so i could suck it out and i only got one or two drips. usually its a lot worse. it could be that the PCV system isnt up to the task and it only leaks out when the engine is under load.
i idled it for a good half hour and thats all i got.

any other ideas?
i am fairly certain that its not coming from the rear main seal

i get no blue or otherwise smoke when the engine runs and i would have noticed it running the car in the garage (with the car backed in and the door open obviously)

 

where should i start looking?
if i can minimize the amount of time i have to lay on the ground outside in 28* weather, i would really appreciate it.
i dont have garage time till next weekend at the soonest

 

just try some bars leak rear seal repair, it will get you through the winter maybe till it gets warmer and you can get under there and really look. get some of the uv dye and put it in the oil too, that should help you find the leak too

 

i ended up putting the trans in and power washing the engine bay and underneath the car very throughly.
this stuff called 'LA's Amazing' is great for degreasing a car BTW, get it at the dollar store for a dollar a bottle. i used 3.

anyway, i got the car all cleaned up real well and took it to a mechanic to troubleshoot a trans leak which turned out to be just a cooling line not in correctly (DOH)
turns out my oil leak is coming from the intake gasket

how hard of a fix is this?
do i basically just pull the plenum, runners, and base, then install a new gasket and put everything back together?

i was quoted $350 in labor to fix it, which turns out to about 4.25 hours of labor.
i have a garage to work in (in theory at least, theres a story there) so i wont be in the cold, and as far as im concerned, i can wait till a nice day to do it since its been leaking ever since ive had the car and i just put a quart in every tank of gas.
keeps the car rust free lol!!!

 

ok update:

i replaced the intake gaskets.
the old ones were in perfect condition and the silicon seals were just fine as well.
i need pictures of the back of your engines, preferably with the distributor removed.
back behind the distributor, off to an angle, i have a fitting coming out with a 90* elbow and a junction with the oil pressure sender and oil level switch attached to it.
i THINK oil might be coming from there, but i replaced the oil sending unit to no avail.
i also re-taped all the threads.
it seemed to fix it when i put a drill on the oil pump but when i took it for a spin the leaks came back, but much worse.
now it leaves a huge puddle on the ground after idling for 15 sec in place.

im desperate here guys.
help
i have no idea what it is, but i know that its not:
a) rear main seal
b) intake gasket
c) oil sender and switch

what next

 

help pls!
hands are dirty. trying to fix this

 

anyone?
ive got oil leaking from back of engine. its a lot of oil IMO.
its coming from the distributor area.
its not the intake gasket
its not the pressure sender unit
does the distributor possibly have a crack?