$5000 oil leaks? 1992 100S

[Debu Purohit <purohit@haas.berkeley.edu>]

I have a 1992 100S with about 59K miles.  Over the last
few months, I've noticed a few oil drops on the street around where
I park.  I mentioned that to my mechanic when I went for an 
oil change.  This guy changed the oil and noted that there
must be a leak because it was wet back there.  But after 
changing the oil and running it for half an hour, they
couldn't see any leaks.

A week later I thought I'd try the dealer and took my car over.  They
hoisted it
and 20 mintes later told me I had five leaks - valley pan,  intake manifold, 
valve cover gaskets, oil pump gasket-head gasket,
oil pan gasket-flywheel seal.  Estimated cost to repair was $5,000!

How come all these leaks were so obvious to the dealer but not
to my mechanic?  Any thoughts on all this?

Thanks very much.



_______________________________
                                                              
Debu Purohit                                         
Haas School of Business                        
University of California                         
Berkeley, CA 94720-1900                       

off (510) 642-4789
fax (510) 643-1420
http://haas.berkeley.edu/~market/