Leakage questions

Hi all,

I have a 91 Camry with 129,000km on it. Yesterday I went to the local Toyota dealership to get my oil changed. After they were done, they came back and told me that there were some leaks.
1. The oil pan gasket
2. Tranny pan gasket
3. Rear main seal
4. both front axile seals.

Can anyone tell me where to look under my hood to find these leaks? Im assuming that it would be a visual thing. I just want to know how bad it is, because I would rather drive back home to my regular mechanic than pay $1500 (the quote from the dealership). We just had a LOT of front end work done last year, and it was all inspected in November and found to be fine. My father seems to think that because Im female the shop is trying to make money from me... sigh.

If I can make it home to the mechanic that I trust, It would be way better than shelling out my entire food/gas/fun buget for the semester.

90% of the mechanics you encounter are top-notch gentlemen and ladies and would only tell you if it really needed some work. The other 10% see a drop of oil and say that you need $6000 worth of work.

Decide for yourself on the oil pan and tranny seals. Keep checking the oil levels frequently and if they don't lose fluid, its just a weeping gasket and the worst it will do is leave the occasional drop of oil on the driveway. Even if it does leak enough to notice, there is little wrong with just topping it up until it becomes more of a hassle than you can take.

Leaking fluids make a mess, but as long as you don't run low, its fine to let them leak. If you notice that the speed of the leak is increasing, then start worrying. That means its getting worse, which means that somewhere down the road you might quickly develop a large leak which would ruin the engine (if its oil) or the tranny (if its tranny fluid).

All those leaks will probably only be seen when under the car. The oil pan and transmission pan will be beside each other under the car. The rear main seal is between the engine and the transmission, so the only way to spot it is to watch for oil drips from the trans bell housing, on the bottom. The axle seals are on each side of the transmission. Turn the wheels full left or right, and follow the shaft that goes from the center of the tire to the transmission. Where these shafts meet the transmission, there's a seal there. Hope I've helped..

Thanks guys, After talking some more with my father and mechanic, I believe I will be taking the risk and driving home for the fix. By the sounds of it, I will be stopping at every major center on the way to check the oil and such, but other than that, it should be alright. The other thing I am going to do is park the car over the side of the driveway that hasnt melted yet (it snowed a bit last week) to guage how badly it drips. That will tell me more than anything whats up.

I'll see if I can borrow some jacks from one of my friends. Perhaps I will be able to get under the car too before I head home.