Advice my mechanic gave me

[Mark72]

I brought my 95 Chevy Lumina w/160k to my mechanic with bad motor mounts and a leaking transaxle. The rear valve cover gasket leaks old down the back onto the rubber mount causing it to degrade.
Before ordering parts, he looked the vehicle over, called me back and said, yes, the rear valve cover is a little wet, but those will always leak on these GM’s even if you replace with new ones. He also told me it’s not worth taking apart to replace the lower mount because the oil pump also has a minor leak, but he said that I should not spend my money on this until it is leaking significant amount of oil onto the ground which it is not. The lower mount is bad because of the slight oil leak coming from the rear valve cover gasket, but said that I should wait because replacing them at the time of the oil pump would be the best way to go and save my money for other repairs. His suggestion was to just replace the two top mounts (the two big bars I see in the front between the motor and the frame of the car). He said that should stabilize the engine good enough. I initially brought the car to him because I could hear the engine vibrating due to the bad mounts, but he also told me that it will be louder after he installs the new ones because the new rubber will be stiffer and not as pliable as the old ones. Not sure if this makes sense to me or not. Is there anything in here that doesn’t sound right, or is his advice good? He said I should save my 900.00 for now because it’s an old car and I could spend that money, go out the next day and get into a wreck and it’d be worth nothing.

 

[The_Jeff]

A mechanic who refuses work? Sounds good to me.

Stiffer mounts will move the RPM at which you vibrate due to resonance. If you vibrate at idle it will drive you nuts.

Oil should not be absolute poison to motor mounts, yeah it shortens their life a little. Find something cheap like the "Anchor" brand and get on with it.

I just did a clutch on a 15 year old saturn with 273k miles and am in triage discussions with its owner on everything else that's sort of hanging in there but has a year or two left of life.

 

[willix]

The fact is the amount of little tasks involved to get it to stop leaking add up to pretty much the value of the vehicle.

It's a coin toss decision.

 

[mechanicx]

I don't really agree with what your mechanic said. The valve cover actually rarley leak on this engine and if the are fixed right should not leak again. As far as engine mounts if you find which is bad and replace it that should quiet the noise not make anything louder. A bad engine mount could put strain on wiring etc if the engine is movin g around too much.

Whether the car is worth fixing and spending money on is another question, and maybe that is why the mechanic was making excuses for not doing it.

 

[Mark72]

Well, my mechanic is very honest, and I can tell you that he would of had no problem taking my money if I wanted him to do the work. It's not like he doesn't like making money. I guess I'm not really explaining it as well as he did to me. He just feels that I would be safter to wait until some of the oil leaks are big enough and then worry about spending that money because a lot of other things could come up that 900.00 would go toward such as keeping the vehicle rolling down the road. The isues I have won't prevent it from functioning in so far as getting me from point A to point B

 

[MrCritical]

Originally Posted By: mechanicx
I don't really agree with what your mechanic said. The valve cover actually rarley leak on this engine and if the are fixed right should not leak again. As far as engine mounts if you find which is bad and replace it that should quiet the noise not make anything louder. A bad engine mount could put strain on wiring etc if the engine is movin g around too much.

Whether the car is worth fixing and spending money on is another question, and maybe that is why the mechanic was making excuses for not doing it.


Ditto.

 

[FZ1]

Fyi. Honda dealer charged $500 to replace 2 motor mounts in my Accord V6.

 

[goodtimes]

This is the first time I have heard of auto repair decisions based on having accidents afterwards. Forget life and limb, let's make sure not to waste money in the upcoming accident. Maybe it is a common way to look at it. Maybe I need to keep my car on empty just in case?

 

[dwendt44]

Good quality valve cover gaskets like Fel-Pro shouldn't leak.

 

[Merkava_4]

Originally Posted By: Mark72
I brought my 95 Chevy Lumina w/160k to my mechanic with bad motor mounts and a leaking transaxle. The rear valve cover gasket leaks old down the back onto the rubber mount causing it to degrade.
Before ordering parts, he looked the vehicle over, called me back and said, yes, the rear valve cover is a little wet, but those will always leak on these GM’s even if you replace with new ones. He also told me it’s not worth taking apart to replace the lower mount because the oil pump also has a minor leak, but he said that I should not spend my money on this until it is leaking significant amount of oil onto the ground which it is not.


I'm trying to figure out how the oil pump can have a leak and still pump oil.

 

[sentra]

Originally Posted By: goodtimes
This is the first time I have heard of auto repair decisions based on having accidents afterwards. Forget life and limb, let's make sure not to waste money in the upcoming accident. Maybe it is a common way to look at it. Maybe I need to keep my car on empty just in case?


My thoughts, too. Some very strange and questionable reasoning at work.

 

[Scienceman]

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4

I'm trying to figure out how the oil pump can have a leak and still pump oil.

We are thinking on the same line....

 

[951Indy]

You're mechanic is trying to be polite. Its a high mileage 1995 Lumina. If you got your first kiss in it, or it has some sentimental value, I'd fix it. If you sink $1000 or more into leaks and vibration control, I'm betting something of operational importance will pop up very soon, and possibly very expensive.

The oil pump can leak externally and still maintain perfect pressure.

 

[Mark72]

Originally Posted By: 951Indy
You're mechanic is trying to be polite. Its a high mileage 1995 Lumina. If you got your first kiss in it, or it has some sentimental value, I'd fix it. If you sink $1000 or more into leaks and vibration control, I'm betting something of operational importance will pop up very soon, and possibly very expensive.

The oil pump can leak externally and still maintain perfect pressure.


Actually, I was concived, and born in that car.

 

[Mark72]

just kidding

 

[beaker60]

I'm at a loss,,,if the oil pump is inside the oil pan,,,and it's designed to move oil,,,how would you know,,if the oil pump is leaking I understand your mechanics line of thought,,because I have done the same thing for some of my customers.They have said,,look,,I don't have a lot of money,,so what do you think I should do,,,and my response has been,,,well,,what do you want to fix,,but How did he know the oil pump was leaking,,,without removing the pan,,,or was he refering to the Distributor plug seal that was leaking,,,,not trying to be a smarta*^,,,just kinda confused.
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
Originally Posted By: Mark72
I brought my 95 Chevy Lumina w/160k to my mechanic with bad motor mounts and a leaking transaxle. The rear valve cover gasket leaks old down the back onto the rubber mount causing it to degrade.
Before ordering parts, he looked the vehicle over, called me back and said, yes, the rear valve cover is a little wet, but those will always leak on these GM’s even if you replace with new ones. He also told me it’s not worth taking apart to replace the lower mount because the oil pump also has a minor leak, but he said that I should not spend my money on this until it is leaking significant amount of oil onto the ground which it is not.


I'm trying to figure out how the oil pump can have a leak and still pump oil.

 

[Mark72]

Originally Posted By: beaker60
I'm at a loss,,,if the oil pump is inside the oil pan,,,and it's designed to move oil,,,how would you know,,if the oil pump is leaking I understand your mechanics line of thought,,because I have done the same thing for some of my customers.They have said,,look,,I don't have a lot of money,,so what do you think I should do,,,and my response has been,,,well,,what do you want to fix,,but How did he know the oil pump was leaking,,,without removing the pan,,,or was he refering to the Distributor plug seal that was leaking,,,,not trying to be a smarta*^,,,just kinda confused.
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
Originally Posted By: Mark72
I brought my 95 Chevy Lumina w/160k to my mechanic with bad motor mounts and a leaking transaxle. The rear valve cover gasket leaks old down the back onto the rubber mount causing it to degrade.
Before ordering parts, he looked the vehicle over, called me back and said, yes, the rear valve cover is a little wet, but those will always leak on these GM’s even if you replace with new ones. He also told me it’s not worth taking apart to replace the lower mount because the oil pump also has a minor leak, but he said that I should not spend my money on this until it is leaking significant amount of oil onto the ground which it is not.


I'm trying to figure out how the oil pump can have a leak and still pump oil.

Ummmmmm..yeah... I was grosly mistaken by what my mechanic told me. I'm sorry. What he told me is that thoe oil pump drive shaft gasket has a slight leak. That he told me is nothing to worry about unless it's dumping oil onto the ground. I do have a question about that though. Would High Mileage oils have any positive effect on an oil pump drive shaft seal?