My 1996 Neon has 96,797 miles on it now and I noticed a oil leak. It is on the back side of the motor on the drivers side. I had someone tell me it was a blown head gasket. I dont beleive this, it hasnt lost any power, it doesnt have antifreeze in the oil, and it isnt smokeing. It still runs like new, I drove it to work for 2 weeks and averaged 39.46 miles per gallon, so I am not buying the blown head gasket thing. What are the odds of the oil pressure sensor or the cam sensor seal going bad? I am thinking it is one of these. The car runs to good to have a blown head gasket. Any other possiblities that I could check into?

 

Very well could be the pressure sending unit or cam seal. Could also be the oil pump or head gasket. Maybe a valve cover gasket. Best thing to do is clean it all off, add some engine oil dye to it and check it again. Usually cam seals wont show much oil on the outside of the timing cover.

 

So it could be the head gasket, even though I have no other signs that usualy go with a blown head gasket other than a oil leak?

 

Yes it could be a head gasket starting to go bad, but how bad is the oil leaking and have you had a compression test and a leak down test performed yet? You may be able to go a long time with a minor oil leak.

The compression and/or leak down test will let you know if there are any issues upcoming, and if not and the leak is very minor, let it ride.

As for the oil pressure sensor, it is located on the back side of the engine near the transaxle, about 2 inches below the head, so it could be that. It is hard to see it unless you have a lift (or lots of jack stands) to really get it up high enough to look around it for oil leaks.

The cam sensor is easier to see if it is leaking. Just look for oil around the head on that side and/or dripped down onto the transaxle.

 

External head gasket leaks will not cause it to run different. For example my turbo car has an external coolant leak on the headgasket. I still drive it, just add coolant. But once there is a leak its easy for it to spread, and make its way to a cylinder. Cam sensor seals can leak some, but that would be the drivers side of the motor.

 

That is the sidfe that is leaking, it is the drivers side on the backside(exhaust side) of the engine. I cant really tell where it is coming from, it is leaking down getting on the differential and the rack and penion. I originaly though it was the rack and penion but once I got under the car I saw it was coming from the motor and it was just getting all over everything under there. It isnt real bad, I have had the car for a couple of months and drive it almost everyday (my work car) and it has only used about a half a quart of oil in that time. I just dont like spots in my driveway and would like to fix it. The local Dodge dealer told me if it is a head gasket, they would replace it and the water pump and timing belt for a $1000. How much of a pain is it to do yourself? $1000 seems a bit high to me. I guess I will replace the oil sensor first and see if it makes any difference. Thanks for the input guys!

 

For the price of the sensor. Start there. $1000 seems about right for dealer price. Its easy to do your self, I did on when I was 16.

 

Well I replaced the oil sending unit, it was bad, it was full of oil when I unpluged it. My oil leak has deffinitely slowed down but I still have a small leak somewhere. I guess I will try the cam sensor seal next. Hopefully that will be the end of it, if not I am just going to drive the h*ll out of it, the leak isnt that bad. Not a $1000 worth of bad anyway.

 

have had a small oil leak on and off for years...
i've gone through a few oil pressure switches in the past...
current one seems to be fine (for now).

 

It is supposed to be full of oil. The oil pushes on the strain guage inside the unit and the more it pushes, the higher the pressure and the greater the output voltage. If it drops below the threshold, the output voltage drops too low and viola! Low Oil pressure light comes on! Or, it works the exact opposite and the higher the strain, the greater resistance, so the voltage drops letting you know it is OK, and when the strain gets too low thanks to low oil, the resistance goes down letting the voltage rise turning on the lamp. Either way, low levels of oil in the sensor = light on in the car.

However, even when full of oil as they are supposed to be, they do have a tendency to leak when they get old, so if it slowed down your oil leak situation, then replacing it was the way to go.