My car is 109k miles (97 2.5) and i am leaking oil. I just got an oil change 2 weeks ago and its been leaking oil but i didnt notice it until yesterday. Turns out that I need to replace the O ring in the back of the engine (near the firewall) and the O ring at the oil filter (at least i think that one b/c the oil is excreting out from behind the oil filter). The mechanic said the O ring for the oil filter will be a tough one b/c its in a tight place but the other O ring will be easy b/c you can just take out the car battery, the aluminum shield that separate the car battery from the engine, and this other cover.

Anybody ever changed out their O ring before?? Isn't this common amongst our car at this age?

 

I've replaced the distributor oring on the back side of the 2.5, 5-cyl. engine. It takes about an hour to remove battery, remove distributor, install new oring on distributor drive shaft, reinstall distributor, and reinstall battery. A mirror on an extension rod is handy to inspect the heat shield where the oil drips.

The filter oring will indeed be a real challenge. There are two options, remove the intake manifold and make it easy, or do it w/ intake manifold in place and spend a lot more time. I think the later should be the best option. Shop manual doesn't show clearly but looks like 3, maybe 4 bolts to be removed to recover the oil filter base. You'll probably need wobbly extensions to help access the bolt heads. There may be a hose in the way of accessing one side of the base. I would say it would waste a Saturday for DIY.

If you DiY, post a summary of your experience.

good luck

 

good luck if you diy.
take pictures if possible.