Oil leaking in 1989 Nissan Sentra

Question

Ok I bought this car like 3 days ago for 800 bucks. Realized it's leaking oil, how much would that cost to fix? Everything else works/sounds fine... oh except this question I had yesterday which was never answered...if you know what that light means would also be a big help :)

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ai9B8asVRpgMvdLWhdmv6Kzsy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20080811105101AAYncNp

Answer 1

it really depends on where the leak is and how much the gasket is or hose. it might be something simple like a valve cover leak. take about 30 minutes to do and the gasket would be 20 bucks or so. or it could be a front main seal. could be a head gasket. that could run you 60 for a metal head gasket and over 500 for labor.

you didnt give enought time to answer your other question. it could be your oil pressure light coming on because of your oil leak.

to find the leak: clean engine bay with a carb cleaner and do not get the battery terminals, coil packs and plugs wet. put a dye kit for you oil in it to see where the oil is coming out at. the dye kit will have some glasses and a light that you use to look for the dye coming out in the engine somewhere.

Answer 2

It just depends on where the leak is coming from. My old '90 Sentra had the front seal go. The estimates to fix it were crazy so I bought the seal from the dealer for something like $8.00 and put it in myself. It took about 3 hours and I never had a problem again. I just went to the library and made a copy of the directions in the service manual. It was totally easy to do, there was just a lot of little stuff that had to be unbolted to get to the seal.

Good luck.

Answer 3

it helps to know where da oil is leaking from. it would cost more to fix den da actual value of da car. so ur better off selling it on craiglist or ebay.

http://www.trustmymechanic.com/valve_cov...  

Answer 4

How bad is it leaking. On a 89 Sentra for $800 it may be cheaper just to add oil every day/week/month...whatever.

Impossible to answer your question without knowing where it is leaking. Could be a $20 oil pressure sender or $600 to replace the rear crank seal. Get the engine bay clean. Have it detailed or do it yourself. It will make the leak very easy to find...and easier/nicer to work on in the future.