I have an 1988 Toyota Camry. It is leaking oil from the left front. I have been told that it is the oil seal. The seal was replaced twice and began to leak again. Have been told that it is probably due to too much pressure being generated by the engine. This seems far-fetched. I am suspecting that the mechanics have not done something properly. Does their explanation sound plausible? What other possibilities could it be? Can something be done about it?
Thanks
You could always just keep adding oil when needed. Jugs of oil are a hell of a lot cheaper than a seal replacement.
Yes you could have a lot of blow-by causing the pressure. Get a compression test and that should give you an idea.
Have your mechanic check it out and tell you what it will cost, then you can make an informed decision. The problem is that it often requires a fair amount of labor to replace a cheap seal or gasket, you just have to decide if it’s worth the cost. You may get lucky and find out it’s something easy/cheap to fix.
One of my cars is currently in the shop having a couple of seals replaced that are causing a harmless (but ugly) oil leak, about $700 of labor to replace a few dollars worth of parts. I put up with it for a while, but I finally got tired of seeing oil spots.