Hi Guys,

My 80 Aspen only has 28k miles on it. Its in great shape and I even just had it repainted. The only problem is that it seems to leak a ton of oil. It even seems to drip out when I just have it running and sitting in my drive way. So I have to add a can of oil about once a month, if I drive it a few hundred miles.

So the question is, why is it dripping out so bad, can I still drive it? I would guess its the oil pump, but I not sure I want to change that myself.

Thanks
Jeff

Park the car, put a big, clean sheet of scrap cardboard under the engine and run it for awhile. If there are drips on the cardboard, look straight above them to locate the source. The source could be near the bottom of the engine but also make sure it's not coming from higher up and then running down/dripping off.

Dip your finger in the drip and examine the fluid. If it's reddish in color it's ATF from the tranny and not engine oil (which will be brown or black, not red). In that case, the drips are unrelated to your engine oil loss which may be due to burning, not leaking.

Prime suspects, if it's leaking oil? I'd guess spark plug tubes (get new "O" rings or clean and seal with RTV) or main seals (front or rear). The front one is behind the harmonic damper, seated in the timing cover. It seals the front crank snout. The rear one is just above the back edge of the oil pan lip, right where the tranny bellhousing starts.

Grooves get worn on the crank surfaces that mate to the seals and can prevent even a brand new seal from working as it should. There are inexpensive repair sleeves that can rectify the problem, or you can use a "rope" style seal in place of a neoprene rear one, but if you don't feel confident to replace an oil pump, the job may be beyond DIY for you.

Leaks from a bad front main seal get thrown around by the harmonic damper and blown back by the cooling fan, so if there's alot of oil on and around the timing cover, that's a strong indication.

You can keep driving the car, so long as you keep topping off the oil level, but it would be best to track down the cause of the loss and fix it.

My brother drove '55 Ford his senior year of highschool. There was a gallon can of Pep Boys 30 wt. in the trunk at all times until he got around to rebuilding the engine. He never ran it out of oil and threw a rod because he checked his dipstick religiously.

Don't put too much stock in your odometer reading of a 20+year old car. Unless you got the vehicle from your grandmother who bought it new, it may or may not accurately reflect how many miles the car has seen.

Good luck!

_________________
obliquely-inclined state of mind

There are no spark plug tubes to leak from an 80 head. Does it leak only when it runs or when sitting? If while running I would bet on the oil sending unit; plastic crimped to tin isnt a real promising seal especially given the age. An oil sending unit for that car should be <$10.

If it's right under the oil pan bolt, check to make sure it's an OEM version, the aftermarket versions from most autoparts stores are metric and leak (they screw into the threads but won't tighten down...)

Hope it's something simple!

Good Luck,

-D.idiot

When it comes to the car only having 28k, that is dead on. I am only the 2nd owner and bought it off, my 90 year old great Aunt, with 23k miles on it. It had been sitting for a few years at the time when I bought it, about 5 years ago. But someone had always started it once a month or so, it just never left her driveway. I only drive it on nice days and the rest of the time, sits in my garage or driveway.

Back to the oil leak, it comes out when the car is running. It seems to be towards the back of the engine and a steady drip.

steady drip while running... change that sending unit! On the new ones being metric, there are many part numbers that look really similar.... If you go by application you should get the right one with 1/8" N.P.T. if the person behind the parts counter has even 1/2 a brain! (Hint;; avoid the "grocery store" style parts stores.) That meand no Advance, Useless Zone, O Reillys, Murrays, Pep Boys, etc. Go to a Napa, Car Quest, Bumper to Bumper,etc, that has been around a while. The grocery store places are great for fluids, spark plugs, etc but not much else.

I had a leak similar to yours on my 79 225. It was the valve cover gasket and the oil would run down and drip off when running. Show a friend these posts. Two heads are better than one. You'll find the problem.

Yeah it could be valve cover, another low priced repair that certainly wouldn't hurt to do on that car would be a valve cover gasket, also a great excuse to adjust the valves! These fall under the "do automatically" when getting a "new"-to-you cr and making it dependable. But if it is a visible steady drip... well, if theres a chunk gone out of the v c gasket, maybe.... also COULD be the rear main seal, but you need to powerwash the engine and watch it... by the time you exhaust all the "could be's", before you know it you will have the engine out for a rebuild, which with those low miles almost certainly isn't needed in a mechanical sense. (the rings, bearings, etc., should not be worn out yet by a long shot) It is hard to guess over the computer.

I'll check out what everyone has told me this weekend or whenever it warms up a little in Ohio.