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As stated, it's not uncommon for older cars to leak oil. It normally happens as the gaskets or seals break down, and allow a little seeping. Oil consumption is also common in both new engines, and high mileage engines.
As to why an engine can leak oil and still run great, you have to separate the idea that an engine that leaks oil will have any major malfunctions. A bit of oil can come out of a location on the engine that will have zero effect on how an engine runs, specifically leaks around the oil pan, drain plug, or rear main seal will have zero impact on how the vehicle performs. We have an 06' Volkswagen with about 115,000 miles on it, that leaks a little oil from the rear main seal. Considering there's no easy way to fix the problem without dropping the transmission, I simply decided that it wasn't worth fixing. If the leak becomes excessive, and I find myself adding oil on a more regular basis, it might be time to address the leak...until then, it can mark the cardboard I put down in the garage.
Yup, my 21 year old YJ runs fine. It's leaks are the rear main seal, and the back of the valve cover.
No worries.
Quote:
Originally Posted by luzianne
My Jeep is almost 8 years old and doesn't leak at all. We have a new driveway and if it leaked it would not be allowed on the driveway.
My 85 olds leaks oil from the manifold. Its annoying but i check my oil 1 x a week & its rarely low. Once yrs ago my 78 mustang was 2 qts low & the lifters were knocking big time. Not long thereafter the car blew a headgasket @ 178k miles. I bought a 77 chevy monte carlo that ran good for 3 yrs until i sold it. The plugs did foul out everytime @ 2000k miles & i just cleaned them & drove on. According to the new owner the engine blew @ around 150k. If i didnt need a car for work i would do without.
My 2006 Cadillac SRX was terrible on oil, would take about 1 QT/ 1,000 miles and Cadillac dealer was telling me this is normal - this is the 3.6L (HFV6). Awful engine (widely used today), glad I got read of it when it started to develop timing chain issues (around 55,000 miles).
If you do search on this GM engine, you'll find many others who have problems.
Part of it, it is that the timing chain cover does not use a gasket/seal but glue. As the engine block is never wished on the assembly line (they do wash it after the block line, but then stored). The lack of clean surface between cover and block allows for many of the engines (not all) to not make a good seal. Hence the reason I much prefer the old fashion gasket.
In typical GM fashion, it is never their fault...my many calls to the GM I was told that since car is out of warranty nothing they can do. So I dumped the SRX (at huge loss) and promised to never buy a GM product again. I should've learn my lesson after the Buick Rendezvous had a cracked engine block after it just came out if warranty (coolant issues).
Never had any engine issues with much older Japanese cars (with 3 times the mileage) and so far, with European ones.
My 1987 Trans Am with original engine and over 180k miles doesn't leak a drop of oil. The valve seals leak a little which causes a puff of smoke at startup, but thats it.
My Toyota 3.0 is a oil sieve. it leaks more than my old cars and trucks do.
You can throw seals at it all you wish, it'll just spring another leak.
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