I live in Germany an every two years a car has to be checked officially if still acceptable to drive publicly. This is rather though. No oil drops only oily mist, no obvious rust holes threatening structual integrity or pedestrians etc.. Beside a hole in the rear left wheel arch that has been overlooked by all parties having had a scrutinizing look, another problem is oil leaking. Of course, all remnants are removed before official inspection. Nevertheless, the garage recommended addressing the causes. Since replacement of the rear main seal - one usual culprit - requires a lot of effort and might be short lived with respect to reappearance I postponed this task as well as a oil leakage at the front of the engine ... sort of. My temoprary (or rather infinite) bubba-style fixes: I put a fitting plug in a hole in the central subframe addressing the latter issue, i.e. oil is collected in the plug and at least not dropping on the floor. Regarding the rear main seal I put some heat resitant foam between the oilpan and the torque converter cover. I haven't tried it running longer trips, because if this has got some drawbacks I have not considered. Thus, I'd like to get your opinion.
