1994 camry oil leak problem

[boo3271]

Hello everyone, I am new to this forum . I have a 94 Camry with about 170,000 miles. It is in good running condition . It has had an oil leak for a couple of years ( not anything that warranted fixing since there wasn't any oil loss between changes). It seems that since the last oil change (4,000 miles ago) that the leak problem may have gotten worse. I checked under my car and noticed that the outside of my oil pan was slick and covered with oil. Does anyone know what could be wrong and if I might be able to " buy some time" before I have to shell out some cash to fix it?
Thanks, Becki

[jsinton]

It could be your main engine oil seal, your rear engine seal, or your valve cover. Do you need a timing belt? If so, I would have the timing belt replaced, and while they are in there, replace the front engine seal, the oil pump, the water pump. Even if it doesn't solve your problem, your car would probably last a while yet. Or the 5 cent solution is to keep pouring oil in it. Put a piece of carpet under it to soak up the oil or something. You can pour a lot of oil cheap for a long time. Think of it another way: Your oil changes itself!

[gator2764]

Don't forget to check the O-ring on the distributor. At the age of the car it will get very brittle and leak. It will run down the back of the head and drip about center of the engine.

[IDoNotKnow]

That is funny because I have a 1994 Camry with 171,000 miles. At around 168-169 thousand miles, my camry also began to get oil leaks. It had just gotten an oil change at a local Jiffy Lube or some chain like that. If I were you, I would check the valve cover gasket. For mine, I could see oil coming right out of a hole in the back of the valve cover gasket. That is an easy fix and cost me $30 and took about 20 minutes. Also, my neighbor was changing the oil pan gasket for me(oil also leaked from there so I watched as he changed it). He saw that whoever did the last oil change(Jiffy Lube) did not put a gasket on the bolt! Those were the 3 places where oil came out of that car for me. It is now useless because something on the inside of the engine broke, probably a cylinder or a rocker arm. Good luck with yours.