my car has been leaking some motor oil for a while so i took it to the mechanic yesterday and he told me that not only is the top oil pan leaking but also that the return line to the power steering pump was leaking and the front valve cover as well. for the the oil leak on the oil pan he wants $490 but hes going to replce the oil pressure sensor and also the front valve cover gasket and to replace the ps return line hes asking $110. my question is, how hard is it to change the return line and how expensive is it? is that a good deal to fix all that?

 

Im going to be honest with you I think anything you take to a mechanic to do is over priced but thats life... The front valve cover is not that hard to get off and on, so that should be easy to change the gasket. The oil pan all I can see him doing with that is maybe putting a new gasket on or something like that and that requires him to take the pan off which means he has to drain the oil, so he will be charging you an oil change which gives you crappy oil. The oil pressure sensor I have never changed and dont plan on it unless I throw a code so I wouldnt waste my time with that. The power steering return line I do not recall exactly where it is located but I am sure it is not too bad and after a bit of planning and messing around with im sure you will be fine with it.

Plus you gain the experience of working on a car and learning new things you will not learn from getting it done by a mechanic. And also you know you did and its done right and no one else touched your car and could have messed around with it. I have done all my work on my car besides getting my subframe connectors welded on, and I wouldnt want it any other way I have learnt so much from working on my car.

Just my .02 cents.

 

I have experience with the PS return line(s), difficulty of replacement depends on where the leak has occurred in that system, locate the exact point of the leak and i may be able to post some pictures

upper oil pan leak: i duno, if its just as simple as dropping the pan than thats easy, but i am not sure about this ok...oil pressure sensor takes five minutes, but it is recommended to drain the oil first or do it during an oil change other wise things get messy with oil . never did it myself, but thats what i heard

valve cover, who cares, let it leak if you are broke, if you have money then pay whatever he is asking, but its not a major issue where your engine will be damaged...i would not be qable to pull and put back the cover myself although i have taken stuff off from the engine like the TB and IACV valve...so its not a begginer item you know

good luck

 

way overpriced for something easy.never done sensor,but have done switch on my aunts 98 altima.oil pan will need draining, then gasket, then seal and you good.valve cover same thing.i dont think you should spend that $$$$ on him man.but if you really dont have anyone else and doubt yourself.............

 

your oil pressure switch is a $10 part, and unless he knows your car really well (as it isn't uncommon for it to fail around the 200k mark), i doubt he is doing it for your sake.

other than a jack and some jack stands all you really need is a deep socket for unscrewing and rescrewing the switch.

Upper oil pan leak isn't something i've had to fix before (its not the pan, its the thing the pan connects to) so i'm not sure how long it would take, i don't think it would be too difficult though. standard toolset should be all thats required.

valve cover is easy, take you about 20 min all up. everything is infront of you so you don't really have to "look it up" to do it either. (its easier than removing the UIM, i still find the UIM difficult and i've replaced a waterpump, tensioner assembly and timing chain before. as well as rebuilding my starter motor with new brushes.) Just remove the coils and unbolt the cover. .. said from a begginer thats never done it before.

Power steering pump is a ***** to do anything on. if its just the line, just get the replacement. as well as the copper o-rings (don't forget this, once you take them off they can't be used again, i did and mine is leaking now.) i think a novice is able to do this without too much difficulty (especially if its just a line or an o-ring) if you do a little research and know what needs to be replaced and how its held on.

 

Everyone's calling the oil pan a 'quick thing', but it seems most have read over the which oil pan it is; the upper. It's not terribly hard, but definitely a bit more involved than the lower, which can be off in 10 minutes. Crossmember has to drop, whichever accessories that are bolted to the aluminum pan have to come loose, have to take out some bellhousing bolts (which can be fun), etc.

In any case, asking about shop prices as a 'good deal' isn't really going to help you with anything; shops charge what they charge, and may give different hour rates for the same job. Prices are likely going to be different (even vastly so) from shop to shop.

 

its not the bottom oil pan. if it were that i could do it myself by replacing the gasket. its the one that attaches to the bottom end of the engine. theres the lower oil pan, upper oil pan and then the engine. the point where the leak is coming from is between the upper oil pan and the engine block.

 

Thats right and by the looks of it the OP is the same kinda "beginner" i am as he has to ask others if that $$$ amount is worth it... he has no idea how hard it is to do it and thus does not know the value of the work involved...

I stand by my comments and yes the valve cover removal is not a beginner item, and there for is not a job for the OP

You obviously are not in the same boat as you have replaced boatloads of stuff on your vehicle and yeah for you it may be easy but not for everyone else so please dont mock my words sonn...

 

relax bro, why are you getting all butt hurt for? im just trying to find out if its a good deal or not. since im not a mechanic and have no idea how much something like this would cost. what i do know is that repairing that leak is a lot of work, since they have to remove quite a few parts in order for them to get to the leak. im not an expert by any means, but i do alot of the work on my car myself. its just that this time i realy dont know how much is involved and i cant be without my car for more than a few days. so someone please just let me know if its a good price or not.

 

The PS return line is a smaller 3/8" hose connected to the PS reservior.

The pressure line is the other 1" line connected to the PS reservior. Replacing the return line is as simple as replacing a air filter, get the premolded version from the stealership, drain reservior and replace hose and refil reservior.

 

yeah i got good pics of this ^ if you need them btw

 

sure, anything that will help is good with me.

 

is the mechanic replacing the oil pressure sending unit? or something else. If it is the oil pressure sending unit i think it requires a special socket to remove and install it. But it is as simple as removing a drain bolt. Oil pan isnt hard but is messy and isnt really a beginner task.

 

But you have never done it though, so you don't know how hard it is to do. Personally i think the TB is harder to take off than the FRONT valve cover. Simply because you have to remember where all the hoses go from the filter to the IM.

Honestly, an oil change is probably more difficult than removing the front valve cover.

Thats what i like to hear! I honestly don't see this taking any longer than a day really.

 

The ps return line is easy to do. However the only place you can get it from is the dealership. I had to pay $65 for the part. It is simple as draining the reservoir, disconnecting the old line from the ps pump and reservoir and replace it with the new one.