Hi, this is my first post and I'm not sure if I'm doing this right but my car just randomly started leaking oil badly. One day I was driving home and the oil light came on. Luckily I was right near a gas station so I put two quarts in and started back on my way. The next day I was on my way to get more oil and the oil light came on again.. I haven't been driving it but if I had, it would probably cost me about four quarts of oil a day.

Yesterday, I went to Meineke to get them to tell me where it was leaking from. I'm hoping they were taking advantage of the fact that I'm a 23 year old girl because they told me that every single seal that could be leaking, was leaking. And they were ******** about it because I kind of didn't believe them. I think they assumed I was an idiot and was going to get my work done there because they quoted me 1300 dollars. But would they just blatantly lie to me like that?

I guess my question is has anyone heard of all the seals going at once? because I personally know nothing about cars and everyone I know is telling me different things or just acting like they really don't care. My dad will work on it but he expects me to find out where the oil is coming from.. What do I do? :[

Some people are telling me it'd just be cheaper to buy a new car but I don't want a new car. This is my dream car and it only has 170,000 miles on it and otherwise runs great.

 

if the crankcase ventilation system gets plugged up, your engine can and will blow 1 or more of its oil seals. and yes, its fairly expensive to fix, especially if it blows the rear crankshaft seal between the engine and transmission. the first one to go is often the front camshaft seal, and this sprays oil all over the timing belt, so that really should be replaced too. of course, its important to fix the crankcase ventilation at the same time, this consists of the 'flame trap' and an oil seperator box, located down under the intake manifold.

I *would* try and find an independent, non chain, older-euro-car shop, rather than going to a chain place like Meinkes... where are you located, maybe someone here can recommend a better shop?

 

As Pierce said it is most likely the flame trap. I would get a new one and have your father replace it. It comes as a large plastic assembly. Next might be the rear cam seal which is cheap and easy to fix. Once you do these your oil loss should be minimal even if the rear main crank seal is bad. We have 330,000 on my wife's 740 and it started leaking from the main seal about 200,000 miles ago. It leaks maybe 1 - 1 1/2 quarts between 5000 mile oil changes. I live with it and will most likely pull the transmission this coming summer to fix it. If the front cam seal is bad and you are leaking on the timing belt just change it and replace the belt.

 

actually, the flame trap is just a little plastic disk the size of a nickel with holes in it that fits in the vent hose. the big plastic box is the 'oil separator box', and the aftermarket replacement parts are much worse quality than the originals, so unless yours is actually broken, I'd recommend cleaning it rather than replacing it (replace the trap if its fouled and hoses if they are cracked)

there's a front and rear cam shaft seal, a front intermediate shaft seal, and a front and rear crankshaft seal. usually the front cam seal is what blows if the flame trap is plugged up.

flame traps (B in the picture below) should be cleaned every oil change, but almost noone does that. using quality oil and changing it regularlly should also reduce the rate at which it plugs up. running old oil way past its useful life is more likely to increase combustion product blow-by, which is what fouls things up and ends up blowing the seals.

this is the flame trap kit for an 81-87...


if your oil seperator box IS blown/cracked this is the /good/ one for 81-87
Oil Separator Box

88+ cars have a redesigned one.

re the seals, there's a front camshaft seal, a intermediate shaft seal, and a front crankshaft seal, then the rear crankshaft seal. from what I gather, the front cam seal is usually the first one to fail, makes a big mess, and is relatively easy to fix, but you shoudl do the timing belt at the same time. the good news is, these cars are actually very easy to work on, its just that shop mechanics will rack up the $100 hours with book time, thats what drives up the prices of having them serviced. chains are absolutely the worst rippoffs at that, too.

 

Meineke is full of it! Disregard anything they said and seek another shop to fix your seal(s). You may or may not have a plugged Crankcase Ventilation issue. It should be checked. Your car is certainly not beyond help; just don't let it run out of oil!

 

OH YEAH. do NOT rely on the oil pressure light to tell you when to add oil. when it comes on, its really already too late. these engines use about 5 quarts of oil total, including the filter. if you're down 2 quarts, you've only got 3 left. if you're down 3, the 2 quarts that are left are not enough to keep things happy in there.

 

yeah, i use the dipstick, I'm just saying I wouldn't have thought the oil would have leaked that fast in the beginning. then when i was on my way to get not so overpriced gas station oil, it came on again. I just never thought it would leak out that fast.

 

I have seen those seals just pushed out by the pressure and oil pouring out really, really fast! Really, the car is not drivable at such a stage--may be hard to handle it but better to stop and deal with it than hope for miracles and lose the car. Any engine without oil will die a quick death!