oil leaking

hey my oil is leaking........i took it to midas for a oil change they said my oil was really low then they put some dye in my oil to see where it was leaking from and ......i brought the car back the guy said the problem was th oil sending unit and some valve gasket thingy (excuse my technical jargon) and then he estimated 288 bucks to get it fixed.......fiirst question is this price reasonable .......second can i do it myself , and is it easy(scale of 1-10)

The oil sender is relatively cheap and easy to change. If the valve covers leak, one side is easier than the other. The nightmare side could run into some bucks.

You could do it yourself, do the easy side first. You'll have to check the valve cover flanges for straightness. They get out of shape from being over-tightened. I straighten mine against a piece of 2 x 4 wood in a vise with a hammer. If yours are in bad shape, you can get new ones at the dealer for a few bucks.

Get a good gasket set, shy away from the cork ones. Go for some Victor or Fel Pro rubber ones. I generally glue them to the valve cover with Permatex blue silicone and tie them in place (through the bolt holes) with thin wire or a few strands of nylon rope. The gasket must be fixed to the valve cover or it could get knocked loose causing a worse leak than before.

Bob

I stopped using valve cover gaskets completely about 4 years ago. I now use a substance called "Permatex, the Right Stuff". It will produce a seal that will never leak. The only downside is that you will likely ruin your valve cover should you ever need to remove it again.

Gaskets will work fine as long as you replace them everytime you take off your valve covers, and as long as you tighten the covers properly.

Both jobs are easy to do - dive in and have some fun