Severe oil leaks, can I continue driving?

[jorijori]

Hi guys,

I just have the car for about a month and she leaks pretty bad, my question is should I continue driving it or get it rectified ASAP, looks like the engine must come down.

Possible leak source:
- crankshaft seal
- timing chain covers
- cylinder heads

What do you guys think? TIA

[jorijori]

[bazar01]

My 1993 used to leak a little worst than that. I drove it for 3 months with a catch pan under the engine while parked in my garage until I found the time to fix it. It was off the road for about a month replacing o-rings on the power steering camshaft drive housing, crush washers on some oil line fittings, repositioning hose clamps on the oil tank rubber hoses, o-rings on the oil pressure sender, new breather hose, valve adjustment and new valve cover gaskets. Now my engine is so clean and dry. Do a search and you will find lots of oil leak fixes on this site.

Clean all traces of oil leaks as much as you can, then drive it around the block and the origins will be more obvious.

[bri450sl]

I think you should be able to drive it until you get it fixed. Although it does look like an excessive amount on the ground if that was 1 night. Just keep an eye on the oil level and keep something under it while parked. It may smell a little and smoke at startup. It looks like it just needs the usual "tune up" for oil leaks. You didn't mention the mileage, but it's very common for these air cooled cars to leak. Mine had all gaskets replaced at 55,000 and I know it won't be the last time.

[wesleyc]

I had oil seeping from a couple of spots after replacing lower valve cover gaskets. I don't know what oil you use. But I went from 0-40 Mobil synthetic ( previous car owners oil ) to 15-50 Mobil synthetic about 4 months ago and have had not a leak on the garage floor since and its been parked there for 2 weeks now.