I'm not leaking coolant anymore, but I'm leaking oil faster. The shop only said head gasket when I was losing coolant after they replaced the radiator. First time it was "Theink positive and find us that leak." I found it, they ran it an hour and nothing and now that's stopped, but that oil leak is speeding up and I know I bought the car that way because I took it to get the oil changed the day after I bought it and was told there was an oil leak. I had hoped that it was from the bad radiataor once that was discovered, I know wal-mart picked up an oil leak on my old truck and it was actually the water pump getting into the oil pan.

Obviously that's not the case this time and I'm scared. I pulled the dipstick just now and the stopper separated from the ring. I think they said rear valve cover gasket and I can't remamber where else. I'm pretty freaked out and I"m assuming that shop is no longer recommended...I doubt they'll make me a deal on fixing it since I bought it "as is" though they did with the wheel bearing and assembly...just let me make pmts I mean. Should I call them and ask them whre else it was coming from or just avoid them like the plague?

 

So, if you have a fast oil leak, first is it leaving puddles of oil, if so, generally where? I don't recall which engine you have, but the oil pressure switch/sending unit is notorious for causing fast leaks and it's a cheap part and pretty simple to change. On a 3800 engine, this means that the oil leak most likely is leaving a puddle on the ground, roughly middle of the passenger side. Might even get oil on the belt and a lot of other lower items. If it's the 3400, oil leak will be front of the engine, about middle of the engine.

 

You know what scares me about that given the situation you described? Really makes me wonder if they just dumped in a pack of stop leak to try and gum up wherever it was leaking from to get out of replacing the radiator or fixing any issues. Kinda plays into the whole thing about letting it idle for awhile too to make sure it had thoroughly coated the system before giving it back to you.

I'd either jb weld it back together or just grab one from any 3800 at the junkyard, whatevers easier.

Are you talking about the same shop that's been screwing you over since the beginning? If so, I sure wouldn't. That place is a joke as you've proven numerous times already.

 

No offense intended by this, but have you considered just selling this car and buying something else?

This sounds like a nice project car for a mechanic or hobbyist that has the time and skills to fix it, but this thing seems to have a ton of issues (at least that you've discovered so far). Since you cant do the work, you're having to pay shops (that sound like absolute garbage with how they're treating you), and I'm not sure it makes financial sense to get this thing back to normal.

No doubt on the cheap end you'll never get a 100% perfect car. They're going to have small issues and tiny leaks, but this is nuts - it's just major problem after problem to the point you're terrified to drive it 50 miles.

I'd bail before you sink a fortune into this thing or the engine bricks making it worthless.

Just my .02

 

Yes, actually someone mentioned that to me last weekend, before I did the plugs and wires and they were correct. At the time I still believed I had a blown head gasket. I didn't want to try and sell it without saying so...I'd kind of ruled it out. It is, however, a $3000 car wihtout major mechanical issues, so someone could buy it for the $1500 I paid that does work on cars and make themselves a nice vehicle. I'd have to eat the new radiator , the new RR wheel bearing and assembly, and the plugs and wires I've got into it, plus over a gallon of dexcool and an air filter. I dont take offense to your idea AT ALL. Thank you...I'd somehow blocked that option out. I think it's the fear of having nothing again...We don't have mass transit, taxis or even Uber up here, and my vet is 9 miles away.

 

It was a puddle in the shop when they showed me last Friday, a little on the passenger side but close to midway, and outside in the snow earlier I could only get some dripping from a spot no further back from where the front of the tires meet the ground than the actual diameter of the tire. Mighty close to center on the passenger side. My car was tilded to the passenger side at perhaps a 3 degree incline, if that. It was so orange it could easily have come straight from the radiator.

I guess it needs to run a lot longer in order to get enough into the oil pan for it to run out like they demonstrated. That time they claimed this was all I'd ever had on the cardboard for them, when actually I watched it drip steadily from where the radiator drains if you release the plug. I was down an eighth the day I was told it must be a head gasket since they didn't see a leak, and told that was not a bad oil leak at all for over 800 miles. Last Friday I still wasn't down a quarter of a quart, and asked how that much could have puddled and he said the leak was speeding up. Today I'm at the first dot from the top of the crosshatching.

The cool thing was that I'd driven it a couple miles prior to seeing your reply so after adling for 6 minutes trying to create a puddle, my temp gauge was right where it was supposed to be. It has been reading low. A lot improved when I did the plugs and wires Monday and removed that misfire. I have to stop obsessing about this, obviously.