I have had a '94 Plymouth Voyager 3.0 V6 since it was new, with about 55,000 miles on it. It is used mostly for short trips such as a daily 6-mile commute to and from work and it gets less than 6000 miles/year. I've pretty much babied it other than the frequent short trips.
It has started leaking oil pretty badly. As best I can see, the oil is beginning in a broad band just below the exhaust manifold, on the back side of the engine.
I've done some searching on the internet and I've noted quite a bit of material on leaky rear main seals, and problems with stuck PCV valves causing overpressures in the crankcase, and I suspect that trying to fix the problem would be more expensive than the minivan is worth. It may be cheaper to fix it than to get a new car, but every couple of years or so the engine of the minivan has died while driving (usually on a busy urban interstate highway) so I am reluctant to put too much money into it.
Do any of you experts out there have an opinion on what could be wrong, and what the cost range (best case - worst case) would be to get it fixed? Or is it time to get another vehicle?
Thanks in advance!
P.S. I am not the famous director.