developed oil pan leak the first time my 1994 ford van ecoonoline conversion over heated. i am fairly certain the blown gasket was a result of the engine heating that needed to be delt with first; cause before effect, if you will. finding the cause was not to come in a timely manor.about 2 months, three miss-diagnosis, water pump, thermostat, fan clutch, finally a new raditor did the trick. this night mare finally over i’m ready to fix the oil leak. all of the previous had worn my pockets a thin and getting the feeling like the saw me coming, my trust in a certain prfession had worn thin as well; decided to do a shade tree , took 2 days but saved$1,500.00.
the up side is i’m no longer over heating or leaking oil from the pan. the down side is it was less than two days before i noticed the oil trail. naturally, i my first thought was i should have paid the money. but the oil was not coming from the pan or any thing else done under the tree. i can also tell you it is not the head gasket. guessing main seal.i need an unbiased opinion from someone with the expertise to make an educated guess
based on knowledge and experiance rather than commission. hope you can help me get a perspective on some options and enough info to understand my questions.
1.what do your instincs tell you? is there any hope for my engine or is it a lost cause, financially speaking,if i’m going to get out of pocket for the price of a new car, i want to be driving one
2.oil seal leak additives are a strong temptation but seem to good to be true and i’m afraid of making matters worse.the only info i can find is what the product claims, basically the make the same claims but priced from $3.95 to $49.95 i’d like to know the ingrediance, if you will,what are they made of. what’s your opinion,
would you recomend as an alternative to costly shop rates; any particular brand that you would endorse. are their any comparisons for differences, simillarities, where these products or tested , rated etc? how does one know if their particular oil leak is a good candidate to benifit, or if the leaks [holes, rips etc]from their seals can only be replaced. i’m fairley sure yhat by the time i took enough parts to see where it originated, i would be is to replace it.
3. for some reason the van was incorectly diagnoised and repaired accordingly befor promlem finally solved. i’m
my worst fear is that i may have burned up my engine, because for what ever reasons, i don’t know, it was a long time before the problem was found. i was learning this by driving along watching the temp gage go through roof. question, how much extreme heat in a short time can an engine withstand before its cooked beyond repair. how would one if there trading good money for bad.[know when to fold em]
4.how do i know if i’m buying synthetic, or dino oil. this is totally new to me. lastly, what are electrometric seals?