The ol' girl is starting to have troubles.

Mechanic told me the timing chain cover and oil pan gasket are both leaking - around $1,000 to fix. He also said that this Mitsubishi engine is notorious for leaking oil and there might be other seals that are leaking but he would have to steam clean the engine after the repair to be sure. She also needs new tires.

She's been a great car (106,000 miles) is it worth it to put in the $1500 or so to get her fixed or is it time to move on to a new one. Would she be worth anything as a trade-in?

Thanks!
John

 

Weird, my Mitsubishi engine has no leaks and is at 143,000 miles. A buddy had his go up to 225,000 miles before the transmission went out on him for the second time; thats the weak link (Automatics).

Kudos to him for knowing its a Mitsubishi, but hopefully he didnt use the term timing 'chain'(its a belt, big difference), and the timing belt cover merely covers the belt, it doesnt hold any fluids back. There are many seals behind there which could be leaking, but it would have to be a crazy leak to seep out of the timing belt cover, and if thats the case you have bigger problems. Oil pan gasket is a simple fix. Just have to unbolt the exhaust flange from the from header, and remove the front motor mount support bar from under neath, remove the many small bolts holding the pan on, drop it, clean it, and reseal.

 

Thanks for the info. I took it to 2 different mechanics and they both said the big oil leak was from the timing belt cover. I guess the leak is from behind it and they just cannot tell so I, as you said, have bigger problems. At this point it is going through about a quart of oil every 2 to 3 weeks. I'm leaning more towards a new car now - anyone want to buy a used 2001 RT?