oil leak please help

[leroy12]

Hey guys I have had an oil leak everysince I switched to synthetic oil. First the valve cover gasket then the oil sending unit. Now after replacing both of those it seems the motor is still leaking right under transmission. Does thus point to the rear main or cold it be somthing else? Lmk asap plz. Oh also would$ 350 labor be about right for a shop to replace the seal while installing a new clutch?

[boost_boy]

Hey guys I have had an oil leak everysince I switched to synthetic oil. First the valve cover gasket then the oil sending unit. Now after replacing both of those it seems the motor is still leaking right under transmission. Does thus point to the rear main or cold it be somthing else? Lmk asap plz. Oh also would$ 350 labor be about right for a shop to replace the seal while installing a new clutch?

First of all the labor price sounds, but the seal only cost around $15. If they are doing a clutch for you and you've never changed the rear main seal, then you might want to ask them how much are they charging you for the seal before you just okay it. Why are you using synthetic oil on this engine? Synthetic is too slippery and will find it's way out of yester-years engines, to include the CAs. Todays engines uses timing chains and are all sealed-up with silicone or whatever they use from factor, so they seem to do somewhat of a better job of retaining the slippery oil. You may want to change your valve cover gaskets as well as the end plugs or half-moons on the firewall side of the head and make sure you re-tighten the head with gentless or you'll crush the new gasket. Hope this helps.

[leroy12]

It had the shop replace the valve cover gasket. Would the half moon gaskets be apart of that? Also im since im having the rear main replaced im just gonna go ahead and give the shop a new clutch and flywheel to install instead of the old clutch. I nevery realized that the synthetic would do harm until now so thanks alot for the advice. It it ok to switch back to regular motor oil now?

[boost_boy]

I personally use a part synthetic oil. I live in the southeast, so I run a thicker 20w-50 oil. I see oil as a throw-away item when it comes to turbocharging. You can use quality castrol GTX and have minimal to normal wear as long as you change the oil according to your driving habits. If you've been beating the car for 1000miles, then you know you'll need an oil change before the 2000 mark. It's good to monitor the condition of your oil and not depend on mileage to determine the interval for changing it.

[leroy12]

I live in the south east as well. Im using 10w40 full synthetic

[leroy12]

Would it be ok to switch back to regular oil. Would that help slow the leak any by using thicker oil?

[boost_boy]

Would it be ok to switch back to regular oil. Would that help slow the leak any by using thicker oil?

All depends. An oil leak is an oil leak and the only way to stop the oil leak is to repair/replace the part/parts the oil is leaking from. You can switch to a regular oil, but it won't make a difference for your leak. Where is the oil leaking from anyway?

[leroy12]

What appears to be the rear main seal. Its drippin off the bellhousing. I went ahead and replaced the valve cover gasket cause it was leaking and its now fixed and out of the way

[s13drifter88]

Ive always run synthetic in my CA and Ive never had a problem. As for Castrol i wouldnt pour it in my yard, much less my motor. Castrol has gone to a higher periphen (did i spell that right??) content. Its supposed to control thermal break down better but it'll gunk up the inside of the motor. Ever wonder why Kendall GT1 sucks or people call Quakerstate "Quaker-cake"? I run the Yamalube marine 10w30 synthetic. Im a believer in it seeing as how that 4.2l v6 spends 99% of its life close to 7000 at 100 hour service intervals. Boats go through hell and Ive found from when I worked in the marine industry that marine lubricants are far superior to automotive.