Oil Leak Or Not?

[branshew]

I took my '95 ES300 to the stealership the other day to have them diagnose an electrical issue (that turned out to be no big deal fortunately).

While they had my car there the scoured over it and came back with the usual list of "Recommended Maintenance/Visible Problems" so that they could pad the service bill. One of the things that the mechanic mentioned is that there is an oil leak on my pan and/or main seal. I asked them why they thought this and the mechanics response was the buildup of oil around these gasket areas. (@ $1400 for both)

I am not leaking any oil on my driveway at all, and I am not losing any oil on the dipstick between changes. I think that the buildup is being caused by all of the oil changes over the years. As anyone with this engine knows that it is a serious pain in the @$$ to get to the oil filter. Due to its position, when the filter is removed, it inevitably spills most of the oil left in the filter on to the bottom part of the engine. Personally, I think this is what is causing them to think it is leaking.

My regular mechanic has never mentioned anything about a leak to me, and based on the fact that I am not losing any oil, I don't think that the dealer mechanics were correct.

Should I have a second opinion, or does it just confirm my theory that the stealership is trying to pad my repair bill by adding unnecessary repairs to it? (Ever notice how nothing goes worng under waranty, but as soon as it expires and you're paying, they find alot of things that should be done???)

Anyone else have an opinion here?

[Latoilette]

welcome to the world of oil leaks.

my 2nd car had a bad oil leak problem, i didn't know where it was coming from..what kind of oil it was...just absolutely clueless.

i took my car to 4 different places. each place told me that different parts of the car was leaking.

so i took my car to a hurricane bay car washing place. put $4.00 worth of quarters. degreased the whole underbody.

you have to make sure all the oil is off the car. wait a day. go to a shop.

if no leak, wait another day go to a shop.

do this until you are 100% sure you have no oil leak OR you find an oil leak somewhere.

rear main seal + oil pan shouldn't cost you 1400 bucks.

rear main seal = 200-300 bucks and oil pan - under 100 bucks.

call around and find the cheapest places.

i personally woudn't pay more than 400 for the whole thing.

[SKperformance]

Why are you so upset at the dealer. You should be upset at yourself.Why didn't you ask to see the leak so you could judge for yourself?

None of us can see the car ,you had the oppertunity to and didn't.