It sounds like you have a few issues. External oil leaks as well as oil burning in the engine.
For the external leaks I would start by cleaning the engine off real well. Use some engine cleaner on it with it warm. Don't use a full power pressure washer on it though, that can get water into places you don't want it. Just a regular hose or low pressure rinse. Then dust the engine with flour, baby powder or foot powder. Then start it up. Look for the areas the powder gets damp with oil. Those would be the external leaks. Repairing those is a start. I would just buy the correct gaskets from a place like rock auto. That way you know you have good seals. The silicone will actually glue things together, that usually means they come apart hard the next time.
Then once you are not leaking externally you can check on the oil burning. Unfortunately most companies these days have very high numbers for "acceptable" oil use. GM used to say one quart in 1000 miles was excessive, now that isn't the case, with some engines they say that is "normal". Not for me it isn't.
3.5 quarts is a lot of oil use. Burning even half of that will cause the converter to die an early death. How many miles and which engine do you have?
Sunday, March 24th, 2019 AT 2:44 PM