Hey everyone. Well I may have finally found the source of my oil leak. I found a puddle of oil under the truck, but nothing other than antifreeze went down a little bit in the past few months (and it isn't going into the oil or onto the ground). The oil level hasn't changed (up or down) in a month since I changed it. I degreased under the truck the best I can and found that there was some oil moving from near the sensor behind the crankshaft pulley. It is making it to the crossmember behind the plastic skid plate and leaking only there. How bad of a repair is that seal? Would it involve pulling the engine? If it is only leaking a tiny bit then I would rather not fix it, but I am more concerned about having to buy more cat litter to keep the oil off the ground or the illegal fines or towing the condo board likes to try. Thanks

 

Im not sure how hard a in-chassis seal replacement would be, i suppose if you can get the damper pulley off the crank, the seal itself wouldnt be too bad. I did mine (front and rear crank seals) on my junkyard replacement motor, but i did those while the motor was on a stand, not in the vehicle.

 

I can not believe I am saying this.... so please... put me down now.. but since your condo seems to be asses... Try some Lucas stop leak.. since it does not seem like its a huge leak, it could work for you.
Once the leak has stopped. Change the oil to something fresh.

I cant believe I just suggested that.

 

Umm... Thanks but I would like to avoid stop leak. May fix the problem, but for how long? Plus who knows if it will destroy other things? Also would make the benefits of Mobil1 useless if it is diluted with that.

For now to avoid the condo people saying anything, I have been using cat litter to get rid of the oil, but it is visibly dripping under the truck, so it is not a small leak.

Any other alternatives? I would like to investigate getting the seal done but not if it is going to cost 4 figures. Thanks alot.

 

Ok I give up putting cat litter under this truck to soak up the oil. How much does it normally cost on average for a reasonable mechanic to replace that seal?