1993 Lumina stalling and bad oil leak

[laless53]

I bought this car for 1k from my aunt 2 years ago..no problems until now..I found out the rear seal is causing my very bad oil leak and I just had a new batter installed because the car was dead, now, with the new battery, the car keeps stalling when I come to a stop. I know nothing about cars so can someone tell me why it keeps stalling now that I put in a new battery? Could it be that the idle needs to be adjusted? How long can I wait to do this major work to fix the oil leak, I keep checking the oil and make sure it's full..but this leak is getting worse.

[jeffcoslacker]

The computer needs to relearn it's idle strategy after the battery is disconnected. I just let 'em idle in gear for 20 mins or so, and they stabilize. You can pull the PCM fuse and leave it out for 15 minutes, that will reset it, or you can just drive it for a while, it'll come back.

[jeffcoslacker]

You sure it's the rear seal? There is an o-ring on the back of the motor where the distributor used to go on older models that fails and leaks a lot of oil from the back of the engine.

[laless53]

Hey thanks guys!...well I took my car to STS and they guy there said it was the rear seal and it would have to go back to the dealer..I guess you can't always go by what someone says, even if they work at these places...I am going to have a friend look at it..could it be anything else? a gasket leaking?

[jeffcoslacker]

Originally Posted by laless53

Hey thanks guys!...well I took my car to STS and they guy there said it was the rear seal and it would have to go back to the dealer..I guess you can't always go by what someone says, even if they work at these places...I am going to have a friend look at it..could it be anything else? a gasket leaking?

Like I said, could be the o-ring on that block-off plate where the distributor bore is. When you get a leak on the back (driver's side ) of the motor, it's hard to see where it starts from. If it leaks up high, it'll run down and mess the back of the engine up from underneath, looks like it's coming from the main. Use a small mirror and a flashlight to look around the stuff in the way on top before you condemn it for being a main seal. You might get lucky and it will be something minor.

[laless53]

thank you so much for the suggestions.

[laless53]

Just to let you know, the stalling has stopped. You were right about letting it run. I let it run for 20 minutes and now it's fine! thanks again. I am having the car checked out by my girlfriends boyfriend, so he can give me an honest evaluation before I take it someplace to get fixed, (unless he can fix it).

[back2life]

what if the leak is on the passengers side end? what could it possibly be?