Oil Leak trouble

[wjbertrand]

I at first thought this was a transmission leak so I put some fluorescent
leak spotting dye into the transmission fluid but none of the leak puddles
glow under a black light. If I pull the dipstick out of the transmission,
and shine the light on it while it's still wet with ATF it lights up nicely
proving there is plenty of dye in there. New ATF of the same brand and
grade from a bottle does not light up. I have to conclude that the leak is
engine oil. It's so grimy under there that I couldn't tell what was
leaking.

Yesterday I re-sealed the engine oil pan in hopes of a relatively easy fix
but the leak that drips between the engine and transmission appears
unaffected. I now think that my leak is due to the rear main seal unless
there is another leak source near the engine/transmission juncture that I
should look at. Every thing above the pan gasket is dry.

How much should I expect to pay for a rear main engine seal repair on 1997 Tercel Black Hawk with an automatic tranny?

[aikiwaza]

just a thought... it may help out and it may not...

If you aren't certain it's the oil check the coolent... I know that they are pretty easy to tell apart usually, but on a muddy car or a dirty undercarrage sometimes it's worth the look... I talk from experience on that one...

Any way good luck and hope it's an easy fixer

[wjbertrand]

Originally Posted by aikiwaza

just a thought... it may help out and it may not...

If you aren't certain it's the oil check the coolent... I know that they are pretty easy to tell apart usually, but on a muddy car or a dirty undercarrage sometimes it's worth the look... I talk from experience on that one...

Any way good luck and hope it's an easy fixer

Thanks for the suggestion, but no, it's definitely some kind of oily stuff. Coolant looks and smells different. Anyway, I put some dye tracer in the engine so that should show for sure where the leak is coming from.