# Oil leak in a bad spot **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Created:** [August 4, 2014, 12:20am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-leak-in-a-bad-spot/86403 "2014-08-04T00:20:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hey\_you\_works](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Hey\_you\_works](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Hey_you_works)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 12:20am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-leak-in-a-bad-spot/86403/1 "2014-08-04T00:20:06Z")
I have a 2001 Mercury Sable 174000 miles with a small rear main engine seal leak. about a quarter’s size of oil hits the ground a night. I have been using a synthetic blend for about 50000 miles. Should I change to high milage oil or one of these sealer products I see? Or let it alone, I am about a 1/2 quart to a a quart low at the 5000 oil change if I don’t add any. ---
**Author:** ![Tester](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/tester/32/15976_2.png) [@Tester](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Tester)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 12:26am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-leak-in-a-bad-spot/86403/2 "2014-08-04T00:26:14Z")
You can try one of the high mileage oils such as Valvoline Max Life. These have seal conditioners that slightly swell the seals to stop oil leaks. The son has a Jeep that had a rear main seal leak. And when he started using the Max Life the leak stopped. Tester ---
**Author:** ![Yosemite](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/yosemite/32/643_2.png) [@Yosemite](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Yosemite)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 4:16am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-leak-in-a-bad-spot/86403/3 "2014-08-04T04:16:56Z")
Replacing the seal would be an expensive proposition at this point. You can buy an awfull lot of oil for the $1000 to pull the tranny and oil pan to replace the seal. I’d opt for @Testers post and use a oil with seal conditioners or a high quality additive that should restore seals. Yosemite ---
**Author:** ![db4690](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/db4690/32/2583_2.png) [@db4690](https://community.cartalk.com/u/db4690)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 4:26am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-leak-in-a-bad-spot/86403/4 "2014-08-04T04:26:45Z")
Any risk when using the high mileage oil? Is there any danger that it well cause havoc with seals that are currently in fine shape? ---
**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 4:27am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-leak-in-a-bad-spot/86403/5 "2014-08-04T04:27:17Z")
If you are certain it is coming from the rear main seal, I’d just ignore it and put a pan on the garage/driveway floor to catch the oil drips where you park your car. With 174K, eventually , more likely sooner, either the clutch or automatic transmission will need a rebuild job, and then it’s a cheap and simple matter to install a new rear main seal. ---
**Author:** ![BustedKnuckles](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bustedknuckles/32/25_2.png) [@BustedKnuckles](https://community.cartalk.com/u/BustedKnuckles)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 5:10am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-leak-in-a-bad-spot/86403/6 "2014-08-04T05:10:02Z")
I’ve used high mileage oil on a car where some of the seals were new a fresh, but others were old and most likely hard and cracked. The seal conditioners did not harm the new seals and slowed down the leaking from the older seals. ---
**Author:** ![insightful](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/insightful/32/2732_2.png) [@insightful](https://community.cartalk.com/u/insightful)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 5:36am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-leak-in-a-bad-spot/86403/7 "2014-08-04T05:36:03Z")
Oil leaks; why God made corrugated boxboard. ---
**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 4:44am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-leak-in-a-bad-spot/86403/8 "2014-08-05T04:44:49Z")
I’ve noticed the parking spaces in the nearby apartment parking lot pretty much all have some oil stains showing. Stuff leaking from cars parked overnight remains a common thing. ---
**Author:** ![Docnick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Docnick](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Docnick)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 7:37pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-leak-in-a-bad-spot/86403/9 "2014-08-05T19:37:23Z")
My wife’s old cookie sheets with kitty litter on them are the perfect oil catchers. Most cars start leaking oil as they age, and small leaks are tolerable. I only ever had to fix an oil leak as it became major; on the rear bearing seal of our 1994 Nissan Sentra. That cost $550 or so.