2007 Impala Oil Leak?

[muddpuppy]

I had a severe oil leak comming from the Oil Filter housing gasket. So while taking half the front end apart to get to one bolt to replace the gasket....I took the opportunity to replace the Original Struts and brake calipers etc. Almost 186XXXmiles on her, she needed some new legs.

Anyway I have another oil Leak......uhg...... Much smaller maybe only 1-2 oz over night. Instead of the half qt a day. Looks like it might be the Oil pan Gasket. This Job is above my paygrade so I am looking to have it done for me.

I was already told it could be something else like a rear seal or ..... What am I getting into I was told 5hr job for the pan gasket plus parts... How much worse could this get? Should I just deal with the smaller leak until it gets worse?

Thank you

[muddpuppy]

I forgot to mention this is the 3.5l engine

[Jeremy airjer W]

That many miles you'll be chasing leaks until its dead.

Oil is still pretty cheap!

[muddpuppy]

So your saying let it leak no big deal? At what point should a person be conerned about how much is being leaked or from where it might be leaking?

This is still a real strong/clean car. I just changed the plugs and all were clean so I have to imagine the car will last me a while longer.

[Jeremy airjer W]

At almost 200k I have to wonder if fixing leeks will become the norm from here on out. As one is fixed another appears and it's a never ending battle. So I have to wonder whether its worth spending significant amounts of cash to save a couple bucks every 3k miles.

I recently had a customer come in that went through seven quarts in less than a thousand miles. A rubber oring had gone bad and was leaking bad enough to leave a trail. This obviously had to be fixed in order for the vehicle to be driven. This o ring was for a variable valve timing solenoid.

The next example is a customer with a vehicle that burns oil so bad the spark plugs foul within 5 thousand miles. The engine has high miles and is just tired. There is nothing that can be done other than rebuilding or replacing the engine. It was not worth the expense so against our recommendations he continues to drive it with one less cylinder.

At some point valve cover gaskets, oil pan gaskets, rear seals, front seals, are going to leak. Are they leaking because of age or are they leaking because the engine is starting to wear out? I would have to say a little of both in your case. I would hate to see you tackle a leak only to have another start because the previous repair was done.

Does that make sense?

[Macgyver55]

It might not be a bad idea to have a dye test done to verify where the leak actually is before making the call on whether to fix it or not.

It could be something more simple and less expensive to repair than a pan gasket or rear seal. Both are costly enough to do even when you are sure, let alone to do because it "might" be leaking. I fully understand what Jer is saying though, its a no win situation when we as mechanics repair oil leaks on older high mileage vehicles only to have another one pop up and the customer is left to wonder if he was cheated or not and then loses trust in mechanics.

[Scott K]

I would check crank case pressure, and make sure the pcv valve is working correctly. Then weigh out the cost of repairing after that. If your talking an oil pan gasket, I would do it, if your talking rear main seal, I wouldnt. This car could easily make 300k, so a few hundred in repairs can be well worth it.

Are they sure it isnt just a oil sending unit leaking?

[muddpuppy]

Airjer, I hear what your saying and fully understand.

I have herd about the oil dye's before have never seen one though. I will have to look into it. Thank you for the IDEA...

I am not sure how to perform a crank case presure check I will look into.