Mitsubishi Repair: Oil Leak, valve cover gasket, crankshaft seal


Question
I have a 1998 Mitsubishi Eclipse RS 2.0 L, Automatice. I Have a pretty big oil leak, Things I have already done are Replaced Oil sending unit, Put a crankshaft seal in (rear main seal) which took me about 12 - 15 hours I thought for sure that was going to fix it, One I cleaned all of the oil from under the car and drove about a 100 miles I noticed it did not fix the problem, I was disapointed. Now I m at a stand still it appears to be leaking above the oil sending unit or below the intake manifold, is it possible for it to leak between the motor and the head (head gasket) or is there something else it could be any suggestions you have would be greatly appreciated,

Answer
Shaun,
It is possible the leak is occuring due to a warped head gasket, worn valve cover gasket, worn dipstick tube o-ring or dipstick itself, or even the front crank seal.  It's also possible that the gasket between the front case and the block is leaking.  These leaks are tough to trace down and many mechanics are hesistant at tracking them down because it is very time consuming.  Most auto parts stores sell leak dyes.  You can clean up the oil real good from under the car, put the leak dye in the crank case and drive the car for a day or so.  Then, get under the car with a black light (UV light) and see if you can pinpoint where the leak is coming from.  It would help to remove the timing belt covers, but that in and of itself is time consuming.  But odds are, a large leak will come from a bad front crank seal.
Good luck!