If the leak is engine oil, you are losing a lot, and it'* all of a sudden, I would suspect something like a bad oil sending unit. This would put oil on the ground on the passenger rear side of the engine. Check to make sure your oil filter is tight and not leaking, too. That'* in the same area and really cheap to fix.

When gaskets fail, they tend to fail slowly, not suddenly. Lip seals (used on the ends of the crankshaft) can fail suddenly, even catastrophically, but they usually start slow and build. If the oil is at either end of the engine, these are suspect - and not easy or cheap to change. A rear crank seal will send oil out at the bottom of the joint between the engine and the transaxle. If this is bad, either the trans or the engine has to come out to change it.

Related? If the leak is at the rear crankshaft seal (rear main bearing) it may be. Here is a plausible scenario. Say that rear seal had gotten really brittle, but was still sealing OK. Now your starter is going south and the drive is getting really sloppy and jams the flex plate in such a way that it puts a little extra push on the seal and cracks it. That crack will put out a lot of oil in a hurry, most obvious when the engine is running.

Hope it is the sender - $30 and 10 min. and you're good to go.

I had to take it to Canadian Tire (only place that had room on a long weekend Friday) and they diagnosed a starter, and sender. $460 including tax and labor seem steep?

The starter itself is expensive.. it'* only a 1/2 hour job and a sender..depending on which one is probably not too expensive..might be a tough install...might be easy.

Yes, it does seem steep. You should be able to find the starter for $<200, (an ultima at O'Reilly'* is $145 with a lifetime warranty) and the sender for about $35, so that'* a lotta labor. Replacing the sender is simple < 1/4 hr. Replacing the starter shold take no more than 3/4hr. So by my figgurin' , that'* more than $250/hr for the labor. Nice work if you can get it. Will they be serving wine and cheese while you watch the dancing girls in the customer waiting area?

Now, if they are providing you with gen-yoo-wine GM AC Delco parts, the quote might be closer to fair. But, even then, the dealer will wholesale genuine parts to most shops for about 50% of list price.

I had a local shop rebuild the starter for my '92 SSEi; they charged about $70.

So...I'm going to try to do it myself this afternoon on the driveway...

Truthfully, I have no idea what I'm doing, but am feeling brave.

I don't even know where the sender goes, and I couldn't point out the starter to save my life...any help would be greatly appreciated.

He'* a Canuck!

Yes, I do believe Canadian Tire is a rip off. I have never done a starter or an oil sender myself, but neither is probably that difficult. I can probably get a rebuilt starter from a local rebuilder for about $100. My last alternator was about that much, 5 years ago.

See if you find a local, trusted starter shop.

In the front..pull the big plastic shield underneath.. look up right next to tranny..on top of frame.. there'* the starter..

What sender are you replacing ? Oil pressure? Oil level?

OK, this is from memory, so I might have forgotten some stuff.

Remove the splash shield that'* attached to the front crossmember under the front of the car. Most of the fasteners will be 10mm.
Remove the negative battery cable and push it away so it can't touch the battery.
Remove the plastic cover (*) from the bottom of the bell housing and up around the starter (More 10mm bolts - wiggle and twist to get it out)
Unbolt the electrical connectors on the starter
Remove the two vertical bolts that hold the starter up (15 mm?)
Drop the starter out (May have to twist and turn a bit.)
Make careful note of any shims
Clean the area where the starter contacts the engine/bellhousing
Install the new starter with the same thickness of shims you removed.
Re-do the electrical connections.
If the starter binds, or makes a loud noise, add shims until normal.
Re-install the splash shield(*)

The oil sender (if that'* the one) takes an oil sender socket. Go buy one for $6
Unplug the electrical connector from the leaking sender.
Unscrew the old sender
Srew in the new one and tighten it to ____ft-lb (check techinfo)
Attach electrical connector.

Have a beer or two with the $390 you saved.

sounds stupid i know but, check the oil filter. mine came loose a while back and was leaking like a SOB. never seen one come loose before

Thank you all for the help. I used Bill'* step by step guide (freakishly accurate from memory) and the job was a breeze.