3.8 Grand Caravan, oil leak- please help

I bought my 2000 Grand Caravan 3.8, 176000KM about 2 weeks ago, and have driven it about 2500KM so far. When I checked the engine oil last night, I noticed it lost the oil to the min. I put a cardboard under the car, and this morning noticed an oil spot on it. So do you know if this is easy to fix, where should I start checking.

Thanks in advance for any help-Rob

Reply to
Rob
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I have a 3.3, which is the same block as the 3.8.

Lots of places, but the most common are:

- Valve Cover gaskets

- Front Crank Seal

- Oil Pan Gasket (sometimes)

But why guess! Do this:

- Have the engine shampooed TOP AND BOTTOM.

- Take the van to your shop and have them put a "UV Tracer" into the oil

- Drive for a week or two

- Go back to the shop

They will hit the engine with a blacklight, and every single leak will show plain as day

You can then assess the costs and priorities with getting the leaks fixed.

The engine shampoo should be less than $100 (probably about $70). Just about any car detailing shop can do it.

The UV tracer that my shop put into my van was provided at "no charge". In my case, it was the front crank seal. That repair was less than $100.

Valve cover gaskets, welll, that is a pain in the ass because they are hard to get at. Not sure how much they will cost to do, but it will be a heck of a lot more than $100, that is for sure.

hth

Reply to
NewMan

Why spend so much money on a detail shop and a UV dye? Just pressure wash it using a citric acid degreaser and wait...the oil will be visible very soon.

For a leak to affect oil level, it'd have to be pretty huge. With

176K on it, I'd opine that a lot of that oil's going out the tailpipe.
Reply to
DeserTBoB

I agree with the above procedure to put in the UV dye.

My 3.3 had a bad timing cover gasket that was leaking.

-KM

Reply to
kmatheson

things to check- oil leaks occur from the following:

front main seal- a job but can be done at home rear main seal- a REAL job- you have to pull the transmission off, and pull the oil pan to change it sometimes valve cover gaskets- easy to change usually front timing cover gasket- quite a job also look at your oil filter area, any other area where a distributor, sensor, etc. goes into the engine

one way to approach this is, take your car to the spray car wash, totally clean it with the engine degreaser and rinse, then drive it more and look very closely afterwards, with the car on ramps, to see where it's leaking from

good luck

Reply to
duty-honor-country

I took the car to a shop, he looked at it and said: oil pan gasket and front crank seal has to be replaced. the labour would be 3.5 hr ($300), Do you think if thats DIY job, $400 is much mony for me. Thanks agin for your suggestions-Rob

Reply to
Rob

Get your sockets out, tighen up the pan bolts, clean off the pan exterior and see what leaks after that. If the front seal's really shot, you may have to do the front cover, a real buggar of a job, but I can't imagine that the entire pan gasket is "gone."

Dirty up your knuckles and give it a go...you might clean up 90% of the leak right there.

Reply to
DeserTBoB

My 1994 Grand Caravan had 184,000 km on it, and did not burn or leak a single drop of oil. (3.3 liter engine).

The UV die is "free", and it will pinpoint ALL the leaks. Some leaks are very small and hard to find. I noticed a leak, and the shop could not find it. After the UV, it turned out to be the front crank seal.

I HATE oil leaks. UV is an inexpensive and fast way to diagnose a potential problem and head it off at the pass.

Degrease the eng>>

Reply to
NewMan

Shortly after I purchased my 1994 GC, the oil pan gasket started to leak. I had it replaced, but it was so long ago (about 50,000 km) that I can't recall how much it cost.

Seems to me that it was about an hours labour - so $75, and then whatever the part was. Plus I combined with with a regular lube, oil, and filter - so my bet is it was under $150.

The front crank seal is easy to replace, the complication being that you need to re&re the harmonic balancer to do so.

Again, I had it replaced. Seems to me that this was under $100.

I would say your shop is a little high.

I think the oil pan gasket is certainly doable at home quite easily. The front crank seal, depends on your level of experience. If you are mechically inclinded, and you have the correct puller tool to remove the harmonic balancer, and you have more time available than cash, then you should be able to do it.

Reply to
NewMan

Be careful and do not overtighten these oil pan bolts since they can snap off... Retighten to the correct torque settings for that size bolt per the FSM.

Reply to
Bob Shuman

Do you have a complete tool set that can handle the job, and ramps, and/or garage to work on it in ?

Do you have a shop manual for the procedure ?

Usually the pan will come off with you move a few things out of the way- but sometimes you have to lift the engine up a bit to get it to clear things like crossmembers, etc.

The front cover is a bitch, if that is a front wheel drive car. You don't have much room to work there- and all the drive belts and drive accessories must be removed.

Can you do it ? I think so- I rebuilt/replaced many engines, and did transmissions, rear axle changes at home many times. I did a clutch in my old ' 91 Saturn years ago, in my driveway- and that required pulling the trans off the engine a bit, and suspending the engine with a shop hoist. But I'm set up for this stuff, and have torches, jacks, compressor, air tools, etc.

The front wheel drive cars, for the most part, are NOT mechanic friendly. Have you ever done this type of work before ??

Reply to
duty-honor-country

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