ok heres the thing. I have a 1996 honda civic with 150,000 miles on it. I woke up one moring and saw that there was a dark brown patch under the vehicle near the center of the hood. I checked the dip stick and there is still some oil left in it. I haven't seen the vehicle actually leak the oil. When i drove it to the garage i didn't notice a line of oil leading to the garage. What i'm really worried about is that it will cost alot of money. Since I know next to nothing about cars i will probably have a mechanic do it. I know it is hard to give me an estimate given this limited information but even a general worst case/best case cost range would be useful.


I am willing to pay up to 600$ to fix it but beyond that i am not sure.

How much should i pour into this car to fix this before i should just give up and junk it/sell it. Please help

 

Clean out the engine bay and underside of the motor. Wait for oil deposits to form again after driving a little bit and let us know where the leak is coming from.

I am going to guess and say it is the rear main seal, which requires the transmission to be removed. However, if the car has minor maintenance down to it, there are a number of seals I would think that need to be replaced.

 

Your oil leak could be a couple of things. Depending on how many oil changes you have had. Sometimes if the machanic doesn't change the aluminum ring that goes around the lug nut in the oil pan it will cause leaking over time. If it is that problem...the threads may be worn and you may need new pan. With a 150,000 miles and regular oil changes people forget to replace that 30 cent part with every oil change. I thought I had a rear main problem at 200,000 and it turned out when a machanic did my timing belt and water pumb he put silicon on the camshaft and crankshaft seals, which caused a slight oil leak. Yes it is worth getting the car fixed. Even a bad Honda is better than any used car out there can't beat em.

 

THank you for the replies.

I haven't driven the car far since i saw the patch of oil....however i did move it to a different location not far away and parked it last night. I got down on my knees this morning and looked under and could not see an oil patch but i wasn't positive. I then checked the oil and there was still some in there. Not quite up to the two dots but about half an inch on the tip. When I get home i will move it and see for sure under the car.

the first patch i saw was about a foot and a half in diameter if that helps

really? you would keep it? even if the parts and labor to fix it cost $1000 or more?

 

Don't drive without enough oil to reach the first dot on the dipstick. The proper level is anywhere between the two dots. Find a large cardboard box and unfold it place it under the car to catch drops of oil. Try and see exactly where the oil is dripping from.

 

yes i will try the cardboard trick. do you have an idea of what the problem will be depending on where it is dripping? where would the worst place be? the best place (lol...actually least bad would be a better word)?

thank you for your help

 

Just tell us where it is leaking from. No point in speculating what is best or worse. It could also be leaking from the top and just trickling down to the bottom, making you think the leak is a seal towards the bottom of the motor.

 

well by the time i get home to do that i'm taking it to the mechanic any way.

they're going to do the dye technique.

I guess I just wanted to know what to expect price wise before hand so i don't faint at the mechanics when he brings me the bill.

I guess another question that should be tacked on to this thread is how much is too much to pay for repairs?

if you paid $2,000 for a honda civic and repairs end up being $1,500 would you bite the bullet and pay it? where is your breaking point? when the repairs exceed the cost of the car and everything bellow that is worth it?

 

Thanks for all the replies but

I am still interested in knowing what peoples opinions are on how much is too much to pay for repairs relative to the price you bought it at.

 

Look at the Kelly Blue Book value on your car. If it costs more to fix than the car is worth, throw some leak stop in with the oil and rock it like that.