New head gasket (or oil pump seal???) gone bad??
 

Mechanic had 1994 Toyota Camry LE sedan a few weeks ago for an oil leak after a trip down to Florida from Maryland - he said he removed and resealed the oil pump. A week later (after a one hour drive), we noticed that something is still leaking oil.

Same mechanic had the car for another week - not a happy guy who wouldn't get specific (and my wife wouldn't ask) about what was wrong this time, but he swore something about having to take the head back off.

Second round at the mechanic's was on the house (as in free), as he screwed something up the first time...

The car is still leaking just a few drops of oil in the same place - I hate to push the mechanic into a breakdown. Is this something I can live with, or should I bring it back to him???

Many thanks.

The engine can leak oil from various locations. The leakage areas are well know and typically very minor.

A leaking oil pump is NOT a minor leak as the oil leaks out under pressure which can be at a good rate. Repairing the oil pump is time consuming (labor costs = $$) requiring removing a lot of parts from the passengers side of the engine. The pump repair itself is straight forward and assuming a reasonable competent mechanic the pump should no longer be leaking.

As to the your statement about the mechanic stating he "again needed to remove the head." What is meant by the head? If cylinder head this is very time consuming and expensive job and has nothing do to with the oil pump repair. Might confirm what the mechanic actually fixed and re-fixed the second time in the shop.

One issue is the parts removed to replace the pump now allow access to the engine crank and cam seals which can leak oil. Most mechanics would check these seals and if leaking replace them as the extra labor cost is small once the side of the engine is taken apart.

Where was the oil that brought you to take the car back to the mechanic the first and second time? From under the passengers side of the engine? What was the rate of leakage, again a bad oil pump seal can leak a LOT of oil.

Suggest you park the car on top of cardboard to catch the oil. Use this to narrow down the location of the leak such as passengers side, back of engine near firewall, front of engine near radiator, etc.

Also look at the engine, front and sides including on top of the trans where engine oil can collect. If able remove the passengers tire and look up under the inner wheel panel at the engine. There is a black plastic cover over the timing belt. If oil is leaking out from under the cover the cam or crank seal is leaking.

It happens leaks occur from items using trans fluid. Trans fluid is used in the trans, differential and power steering. To tell the difference remove the dipsticks from the engine and trans and take samples and compare to the oil on the cardboard.

Find out what type of fluid is leaking and where.

As to living with the leak. Depends on what type of oil and where. Trans fluid would be a concern as you may not be topping off this fluid which could become exhausted.

Engine oil is less critical, the pump was the No 1 major leak area.

Still a few drops every day. I would be fixing this just to keep oil off the driveway.

If your strapped for cash, find out where the oil is leaking from. Then make the decision to fix or not.

Thanks very much for such a detailed reply - when we brought the car back to the mechanic the first time (after he said he resealed the oil pump), there was a 3-4 inch puddle of what was definitely engine oil under the car on the passenger's side after a 1 hour drive. The few drips we're getting now are still engine oil and seem to be coming from the same place.

Getting oil on the driveway isn't really an issue (it's just gravel).

You might remove the passenger tire and look up under the passenger side of the engine for leaks.

Suggest asking the mechanic just what was replaced. If the cam and crank seals were replaced.

Thanks - I was thinking the same thing (re: asking the mechanic what he worked on.). If you don't mind, I'll post what he told me.

Please let us know
 

Thanks, all, for the good advice - went to the mechanic in question who said that what was leaking was power steering fluid, not engine oil. He'd never mentioned anything about a leak before (when he resealed the oil pump), which kinda makes me wonder, but oh well... He said that he didn't want to "nickel and dime us to death", said to go ahead and drive the car (we're taking a three hour drive tomorrow), and to let him know if we have problems. Another mechanic confirmed that it was a power steering fluid leak, not oil. I've bought a container of power steering fluid to take along on the trip just in case...

Thanks for posting back.

Would make sense. Keep the PS fluid handy as needed.

FYI, the PS system takes the same fluid as the trans which these days is called "ATF" fluid.