97 Caravan Leaking Oil

My Dodge Caravan is leaking quite a bit of oil here are the symptoms so
far:
-mileage is just over 200000 km.
-oil pressure lights turns on and oil has to be added.
-walking past the van after a drive, oil smell is noticeable at the
front
-ocassionally van is burning oil upon starting the engine, this does
not appear to happen every time maybe when I am parked on an incline.
This has occurred twice so far.

I have researched this and have opened the front "rocker cover baffle"
and attempted to clean the drain hole. I have not done this for the
rear cover yet.

Any suggestion would be most appreciated and thanks in advance.

 

If you want to solve oill leak problems, here is how!

#1 - Take the van to an Auto Detailing shop. Have them do a full
engine shampoo.

#2 - Take the van to your mechanical shop. Have them do an oil change,
and then add a "UV Tracer" to the oil.

#3 - Drive the van for a week.

#4 - Take the van back to your shop. They will illumiate the engine
with a "black light" and every single little spot where oil is leaking
will show up clear as daylight.

You can then get an idea of how much it is going to cost to fix the
various leaks, and which ones are more serious. From there you can set
your priorities as to what you want to get fixed first.

You did not say which engine you have. I have the 3.3. The front crank
seal on these engines is a common oil leak problem. Fortuantely it is
not a complicated job. The most complicated thing about it being that
the harminc balancer needs to be removed to get at the seal. The whole
job should be less than $100 including all parts, labour, shop
charges, and taxes.

Note that using the UV tracer will clearly show if the crank seal is
leaking or not.

hth

 

Thanks for the excellent suggestion. Can I purchase the UV Tracer my
self?

btw, I have 3.0 L engine, I think by Mitsubishi.

 

My shop did not charge me anything for putting the tracer in! Of
course, they did get the work of replacing the crank seal as well, so
they did not "lose money" on the deal either. But if you insist, just
check your local auto supply shop. They gotta have the stuff. It is
just a little sealed pouch. You tear off the end and squeeze it like a
tube into the engine oil. If my shop did not charge for it, then I bet
that it costs less than $5, heck maybe even less than $1, but you will
have to check into it since I don't know.

OUCH! That DAMN 3.0 litre Mitsubishi! I had one in a 1994 Acclaim, and
I gave up on it. The one I had ran like a piece of crap. I constantly
had problems with it running rough in "wet" weather. Why the heck any
engine of that vintage would have a Distributor is beyond me!

And don't get me started about the way it literally PUKED oil! I mean
really puked it! It used to be pull into the gas station, fill up the
oil and check the gas! I could always tell where my car had been
because there was literally a TRAIL of oil left behind! I sold that
car about 4 years ago, and there is STILL a HUGE oil stain in my
parking space from it.

Every Chrysler I have had since has had the 3.3 litre engine - and
that was NO ACCIDENT! The 3.3 is a work horse - and, unlike the 3.0
Mitsubishi, has NO TIMING BELT to have to screw around with!

Sorry to hear about your engine. I hope things go better for you than
they did for me with that thing. It will be a cold day in hell before
I ever own a car with the 3.0 mitsubishi in it ever again.

 

Glenn <<<<<<<<<<<Has a question. What engine? 3.0?

 

Common problems with the 3.0 with high mileage...... the valve cover gaskets
get hard and they leak bad, the cam shaft seals will leak along with the
crank seal. The valve guide seals will get hard and cause the engine to
smike at idle, and the head gaskets will deteriate as the vehicle ages
especially if the coolant wasnt serviced at regular basis. My sugestion is
if you are planning to keep this vehicle for awhile, have the heads removed
and sealed from the top including valve stem oil seals

There is no need to clean out the baffle on that year vehicle. that problem
has been fixed in the early 90's and it didnt effect the rear cover.


Glenn Beasley
Chrysler Tech

 

Thanks to everyone for your excellent input. This gives me a lot to
think about.

Any good links on changing the gaskets and the level of difficulty. I
do not want to spend a bundle on such an old van.

Thanks again.

 

I would get it cleaned and do the UV tracer just to baseline what
needs to be done.

But if the head gasket needs to be done.... well that is a BIG job and
not cheap. Other stuff might not be so bad (maybe). But ripping the
top-end off an overhead cam engine... Not something I would attempt at
home.

 

the pcv system was not maintained and the oil seals were all blown out by
crankcase pressure. so start by servicing the pcv system and make sure it has
good vac. flow them clean engine and do th euv test but i would bet the oil
pan is leaking and so is the the valve cover gaskets as well as the cam seal
plugs