Lacking space and time I decided to have my neighbor, who is an ASE Toyota dealership mechanic do some work on my 1998 I30. He rebuilt both CV axles, changed the wheel bearings, valve cover gaskets and replaced miscellaneous vacuum and coolant hoses that were hard or cracked while the manifolds were off. He says I have a small leak in my power steering pump seals and it looks like my upper oil pan has a small leak(which I already knew). These repairs can be addressed later. All this cost me $900.00. It took him 10 days, doing the work on the side while he did his regular job. Does this sound like a fair price? I think I did OK. I had a crunching sound every time I would turn. I thought it was my strut bearings, but it turned out to be my wheel bearings making the noise.

 

If the $900 included parts, it was a real good deal.

If the upper oil pan oil leak seems to be above the oil pressure sending unit, it is probably the o-ring that seals the galley going to the pressure switch. If the leak is back by the flywheel, the rear main seal is probably the cause.

The power steering pump doesn't leak that often, but it could. What is very common is for the high pressure power steering hose to leak and coat everything with oil. Regardless of the exact leak, this is an important leak to get fixed because the Dexron ATF that the power steering uses drips on and rots out the rubber bushings for the lower control arm.

 

Thanks for the reply. I value your opinion. The $900 included all parts. Robert, my mechanic, is very busy and I am glad he fit me in ahead of others. If he wasn't good, he would not be in demand all the time. He has a constant stream of cars at his house and he keeps his neighbors happy by fixing their cars. He wants to look at the car again later to evaluate what is leaking, since he cleaned it up and fixed the valve cover leaks. The oil is coming down the passenger side of the engine over the oil filter and crank position sensor. The power steering leak is right under the PS pump and it is more of a seeping than a leak. I would chase the UOP leak myself except I lost the place due to a sale, where I was working on my cars. When I change my oil next time and I am under the car, I will try to take a good look at where the leak might be coming from.

 

i believe another oil leak area on the passenger side is from the o-rings located behind the timing chain cover. the pressure switch itself is a common leakage source for many. The cam position sensor o-ring up top on the timing cover also sometimes leaks.

 

Thanks for you reply. I replaced the cam sensor o-ring about a year ago and it is not leaking. I can look into the other suggestion.

 

If your excellent-sounding mechanic says “UOP leak”, I would stop right there and assume thats _exactly_ what it is.

If the UOP has never been off/re-done, then it is by now leaking for sure 20+ years later. Yes it could also be leaking from Oil Pressure Sender but the UOP is the primary cause.

 

The UOP has never been off. Since it is sealed by gasket sealer and not a gasket, I would suspect that is the culprit.