Oil Leak Near Oil Pan and Transmission

[Wingsfan19]

I took my 2003 base Vibe to the dealer for a brake check, and they told me I had a leak coming from the oil pan. I took it home and checked, and sure enough it was leaking there and I could see some gasket sealant coming out. So, I drained the oil and took off the filter, took off the oil pan (the 2 bolts next to the transmission are a bear to remove), scraped away all of the old sealant, washed out the oil pan. I noticed there was a plastic part on the garage floor which i found out was the flywheel inspection cover. I put RTV sealant on the pan, reinstalled the pan, reinstalled the flywheel inspection cover, waited an hour and finished tightening the bolts, and added oil the next day. Here's the problem: The original leak was fixed, and everything looked fine, took it for a test drive, and still no problems. However, after a second test drive, I noticed a leak in the area where the engine meets the transmission. I removed the oil pan again and repeated everything, still the same problem. I ordered a new oil pan, and used Permatex Right Stuff (seals in minutes) which really did work as advertised, but there is still a slow oil leak (from a spray of sorts, it looks like) in the same area. The pan doesn't look deformed, and I didn't notice any problem areas on the bottom of the engine where the pan attaches to it. It's possible I didn't get a good enough seal at the narrow end of the oil pan, but it seems somehow related to the flywheel inspection cover. Does anyone have any ideas?

[star_deceiver]

Are you sure it's the oil pan and not the crankshaft oil seal? Stick your finger in the flywheel inspection cover and root around... is there oil in there? Have you noticed any clutch slippage?

[Wingsfan19]

I am quite sure the original leak was from the oil pan, but not sure about the new leak. I have considered the rear main oil seal as the culprit, but that option is too expensive and complicated. Please come up with a cheaper and simpler solution:-)I guess even though I don't really trust them, I'll use an oil stop leak additive and hope for the best, because replacing the oil seal is not an option because the car isn't worth it (almost 130k miles, on it's second engine, needs struts, and has fender damage caused by my daughter so it would have to be fixed out of pocket).Anybody had any luck with oil stop leak additives?BTW, thanks for your reply.

[Wingsfan19]

Also, it's an automatic, and while I'm not the primary driver, I haven't noticed any transmission problems, but we replaced the transmission filter. No leaks appear to be coming from the transmission oil pan.The leak does appear to be near the flywheel, and the on to the engine front crossmember.

[Blueridge9]

So how did it go with your oil leak?