My truck only has 94K on it, and all of a sudden it is falling apart. I have put nearly $4500 in it so far this year, now it needs more work!

It's a long story, but I recently had the VC gasket replaced because it was seeping. Now oil is leaking pretty good from the top of the VC? I noticed some spotting on my driveway, got under the truck, and the oil pan is forming drips all the way around the lip of it. I assumed it was the oil pan gasket, which calls for 8.6 hours.

I took it to the tech that I have been using, and he immediately says the bolts on the VC need new gaskets. He then said my rear main is leaking, and that usually means that the crank is scored and it will probably need a new sleeve?

My concern is that every time I have something worked on there, it is only a couple of months later that something related to that fix goes bad. It's always the worst case scenario. I don't know if it's bad luck, bad repairs, or them just trying to get me for another couple of thousand bucks?

I'm at a crossroads, because I love my truck and I fully expected to get a few more years out of it, because I have babied it from the day it rolled off the lot. However, I'm not going to put 5 grand into it every year. That could be a payment on a nice NEW truck, which wouldn't be a Dodge at this point.

What do you guys think? Does this sound right? I'm thinking I should get a second opinion, but it's tough because one of my best friends works at the dealership and they do cut me a break on everything. I'm just not sure I trust the tech, and his work at this point considering I'm spending a couple of grand there every 2 or 3 months.

 

Does it leak enough oil to register on the dipstick? If not, don't worry about it.