DriverJon

Hi all...

The wife's '04 9-3 has come back from the mechanic with a large list and even larger price tag for fixing things on the car. She had the failure of the steering column lock that required it to be towed in, a whole lot of extra diagnoses came after.

I'm tasked with deciding how many are needed, can wait, I can do for her, etc. rather than just saying OK to the $6300 bill!!

So, first off, "valve cover gasket leak due to overpressure from bad PCV valve". This sounds reasonable, but a $300 valve cover replacement is supposedly needed for the "PCV update". This sound right? I did some reading a few years back, on the head/valve gasket leaking that can cause low level leaks, but don't recall PCV and a new valve cover issues.

Also, the timing cover gasket needs it too, for same reason. ($300 more labor) Once these are leaking do they always have to be replaced? Or can you expect them to stop leaking when the crankcase backpressure is fixed?

Next is "Engine oil leaking from vacuum pump" I understand this to be the brake booster, I don't understand engine oil being anywhere near it. Something different than most other car's booster?

Right motor mount torn, almost $400 for that. Also, "lower torque mounts oil soaked" almost $900 for those. These are motor mounts? Subframe bushings? Easy, hard?

We, in SoCA, are blowing off the headlight washer fix for >$400.

So, that's the big stuff. There's a supposedly cracked radiator and coolant tank, though we haven't noticed much leaking of that...

Would like to hear the likelyhood, ease of DIY repair, and how quickly these might go south if left for a while. Our plan is to get the steering column fixed to get her car running, then think about the big ones.