12/15/2004

shortly before the SHO came up to 200,000 miles, it started going through a little more oil than normal. the car has always burned some oil... thats just what these cars do, especially at nearly 200,000. it was leaking some someplace, but I couldnt figure out where. after it started making noticable stains on the driveway, I was under there working on the started one day and decided to look at the oil pan gasket. it appeared to be coming from 2 spots on that gasket, which is actually 2 rubber seals and 2 lines of black RTV. the 2 leaks looked like they were coming from where the RTV goes, which is easy to see blowing out from weakness after so much time. I got the new gasket kit and installed it. this was a pain in the ass. I had to remove the starter, which itself tends to require the loosening of the oil cooler in the front of the car, I had to remove the exhaust going to the engine where the 2 CATs are, which required the removal of the O2 sensors, I had to remove the low oil sensor, and then finally the oil pan itself. I cleaned it all up, put on the gasket and reversed the removal process untill it was all back together.... I put on a new filter, and filled it up with fresh oil, and went for a drive. the leak was definately better, but not gone. needless to say, I was somewhat annoyed, but fully expectant of this. I let it be for a week or so, and now the leak was worse sometimes than others. I couldnt find where it was coming from, but I knew it was above the pan, and over the tranny. every time I looked for the source though, I was unable to find it. I was figuring it might be one of the hoses used for the cooling but didnt see any in the area that were wet. finally one day I left the car running outside a store while I was inside, which I usually do for short stops. (love the keyless entry system) and when I came out, the slick under the car was unreal. easilly a half a bottle of oil in a puddle under the car. so I got home and left it running, figuring that more was leaking now while it was running and making pressure than while it was parked. I got my million candle power handheld flashlight, and started looking. there it was... pouring out like a faucet, I saw the source of the stream. it was this little oil pressure switch that threads in to the engine block. the part where it had plastic crimped in the middle, obviouslly where the isolated switch is, it was just deteriorated from age, and leaking like crazy. I got a new one for $6, a standard stock part at advance auto... but this $6 part, no doubt one of the cheapest fixes on this car yet.. would prove to be one of the biggest pains in the ass to do. short of dropping the tranny to get it from the bottom, theres just no room. I removed a few bracket type parts from the general area and attempted to get at it from the top. I could get an opened end wrench on it and turn it easilly enough, but there was just no room to turn it enough to be able to reposition the wrench for another turn. you could grab it with pliers because all the pairs that could fit it didnt have room to move once the handles were opened up that wide.. and a normal ratchet wrench and socket would be able to fit the angle needed. so angry, I put my crap down for the night and figured Id have to bring it to the body shop I help out at in the morning in hopes thered be some more flexible tools there. we pull it in to the shop, and all sorts of tools started falling down in this black pit under the part. fortionately we had a strong magnet on a rod to get them back. we ended up disconnecting a water line, and moving the speedometer cable for a little extra room. very little. finally I found a combination of tools that worked. a very shallow, but big enough socket to fit the part which came down to a smaller wrench size. one that smaller end, I was able to put a closed end ratched wrench with a swivel head on it and turn the part loose. I got about 1 or 2 clicks of the ratchet each time. thats not very much. it took about 10 minutes to loosen the part this way. loose enough to spin the rest out by hand, or really, by the 2 fingertips you could fit down in there. I put some liquid teflon on the new part, and reversed the process. starting the thread on the new part was a little bit of a challenge too. I put both my hand donw to the location 1 at a time to see which one would get the best angle to hold this thing with 2 fingers and spin it in without dropping it. once I decided which one was best, I went for it. It took about 2 minutes of fumbleing around before the thread caught. and I never dropped it, so that was a victory in itself. I put everything back together and filled up the oil again. filled up the antifreeze from the line we had disconnected, and started it up. I let it run for about 30 minutes, and then headed home. made a few stops on the way and left it running the whole time. not a drop of oil to be seen. its sho nice to be able to drive again without leaving stains everywhere I go. when the problem started, I was putting in a quart a week. by the time this was figured out, I was having to put in a quart every day and a half. thats a lot of oil.