Hello, i think my 94 accord has an oil leak. Sometimes on my driveway i will notice new oil stains on the floor, but whenever i look under the car nothing is dripping. Its either happening over night, or at some random time very slowly.

What should i do? Is it expensive to fix? And how do i remove the oil stains off the driveway?

My accord has 157k miles on it so its pretty old.

 

you should jack the car up and put it on jack stand or drive onto some ramps so you can get under it and look around.

don't know how much it would cost because you don't know what is leaking.

go to an auto parts store and get some driveway/concrete degreaser. You could also use oil-dry first to dry it up and get most of the stuff gone (let sit then rub it into the stain and sweep away) and then finish with a degreaser if needed.

 

i dont really know much about cars, is there a way to get a cheap diagnostic?

 

take it to a couple shops that does free estimates.

 

will they tell me whats leaking or just give me an estimate for repairs?

I had this car for awhile and the first time (2 years ago) that i noticed my car using oil up faster than usual my personal mechanic told me it might cost upwards of 500 dollars to repair the oil leak. Back then he said it was no big deal since my car is old and its fine to drive it and just watch the oil level. But lately the oil stain has increased a bit more than usual.

I think i remember him saying and pointing to a part near the engine and that part looked somewhat oily.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by vietkangta &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">will they tell me whats leaking or just give me an estimate for repairs?</TD></TR></TABLE>

if they were giving me a quote, they better tell me what they are planning to replace or no way would I let them touch my car. So yes, they should, just ask for a detailed quote.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by vietkangta &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I had this car for awhile and the first time (2 years ago) that i noticed my car using oil up faster than usual my personal mechanic told me it might cost upwards of 500 dollars to repair the oil leak. Back then he said it was no big deal since my car is old and its fine to drive it and just watch the oil level. But lately the oil stain has increased a bit more than usual.</TD></TR></TABLE>

IMO, if it's leaking oil then it should have been fixed.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by vietkangta &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I think i remember him saying and pointing to a part near the engine and that part looked somewhat oily.</TD></TR></TABLE>

no offense, but that doesn't help. Now it he hadn't pointed at the engine for the leak then I would have been a bit concerned

 

After looking under the car with my brother (he knows more about car than me). He ran his finger along the bottom of the car near the enginer and he told me it might be leaking transmission fluid.

He said it was either that or my leftover oil is still leaking from the incident i had 2 weeks ago where my oil cap was off and was magicallyon top of the car battery and my windshield fluid cap was also off (i think someone is messing with my car). This caused the oil to shoot up all over the bottom of the front hood. It was a messy job to wipe the oil off the hood and a tiny bit near the engine.


What are the symptoms of transmission fluid leak and how much would that cost to repair?

P.S. we just replaced the car oil with a new filter and oil so the oil bolt is fine and is the pin.

 

heres a quick picture of the general area of what i saw under the car.

I screenshotted this picture from a video.

 

symptoms of low tranny fluid in an auto could be harsh shifts.

Since you aren't sure if it's tranny fluid or oil, I would take some Simple Green (cleaner) scrub brush and towels and clean everything the best you can. Drive around and keep an eye on those areas that were messing with fluid. When it starts leaking again that should help you pin-point what fluid is leaking and where the leak is coming from.

manual tranny fluid and engine oil are going to be hard to tell the difference between besides smell as I think the manual tranny fluid has a different smell but I don't recall exactly. Auto tranny fluid should be a red color.

 

do those commerical transmission fluid stopper work? The ones that advertise to stop leaks?

My accord is an automatic.

 

I honestly don't know as I have never used them. I would find the leak first and then go from there.

If you have a auto tranny, then you should be able to tell the difference between the fluid being either oil or tranny fluid since the fluid will be a red color if it's tranny fluid.

 

it looks like brown, but my brother said it was a reddish brown. We checked the tryanny oil and its at the max line, so i still have plenty of oil.

Im afraid because i need this car to drive to school (college student). and i dont have a lot of money for repairs.

 

I would go ahead and try cleaning the area and re-checking again later and see what you find.

 

hmm i think it might be a transmission leak near the area where the picture shows.

I just tried it again today and the oil does looke similar to transmission oil. I wiped the area before but it looks like a little bit of oil formed near the spot again.


How much does it usually cost on average to get an auto shop to stop the leak?

 

not sure. you would have to take it in and get quotes. Go to more than one shop and compare the quotes.