girr tory

Does anyone have a comment on this phenomenon? My roomie's 98 legacy had a seal leak in passenger side front axle at trans. I changed (at a shop#1) the trans oil which was very cruddy, with synthetic 75-90 wt. transmission oil. That shop#1 and another, (shop#2) that diagnosed the same seal leak, both confirm there is no leak now. This two months after the oil change. Also,,,, Four months ago the same shop#1 swapped the 2.2 engine with a JDM long block. I watched it closely and found a head gasket leak at passenger side bottom front area. A small one but a leak. And a leak at driver side tappet cover. Shop #2 picked these up too, at the same time as the above seal . When they did the swap they used 5-30 synthetic oil. The first little while we just drove it in the city. The exhaust would catch the leaks and you could smell burning oil at times. The last six weeks there have been highway trips, and ski trips - extended 60 - 70 mph runs up 4% - 6% grades in 4th gear. The car has been worked and is working well. The thing is .. the smell is way less, there is no oil loss, yes a little leak but maybe less? I never was able to determine a rate of leakage. The coolant is not cloudy. Shop#1 put a dye in the oil and say there is no trace in the coolant. Is there any record of gaskets, seals, o rings and such swelling from the current crop of synthetic oils? Maybe some kind of mechanical seating from thermal stress from a hard workout? Where is the research on this? Discuss,,,,