'87 Mustang leaking oil

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posted
20 years ago

Tue, Oct 21, 2003 1:25 PM

I have an '87 Mustang 5.0 that's leaking oil pretty bad (about a quart/week) and gets on the exhaust and smokes like crazy. Appears to be coming from the top of the engine in the back on the drivers side. My guess is valve cover gasket. Anything else in that part of the engine that could cause this? What should a shop in the Las Vegas area charge for something like that? If I want to do it myself, what things should I be carefull about? Looks like the intake assembly needs to be removed.

Thanks in advance.

Jason

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- A Guy Named Steve
  
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posted
20 years ago

Tue, Oct 21, 2003 11:50 PM

Valve cover gaskets on that side aren't tough to do. You may have to unbolt the upper intake and pull it off to the passenger's side, but no big deal.

I would be surprised if you left a mechanic's shop for under $100 including the part. In fact $150 wouldn't surprise me either. On the other hand, you should be able to do it yourself for the price of the gasket and a little time.

Good luck,

Steve

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posted
20 years ago

Wed, Oct 22, 2003 1:55 AM

Well, time is money, and I found a shop near my work that needed my car for less than 4 hours today. Replaced both gaskets, the gasket for the upper intake, and did an oil change/chasis lube for $250. Now for the water pump. I think I'll tackle that one myself.

Thanks for the input

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posted
20 years ago

Wed, Oct 22, 2003 2:33 AM

Hey Jason,

That sounds about right for 4 hours worth of labor.

I did the water pump in my 86 5.0 notch. The worst parts were waiting for the pump to arrive at the parts store, and the dreaded scraping of the old gasket! It was a bit of a knuckle-buster. They're easy to do.

Steve