19Cutlass94 Posted November 15, 2005 Report Posted November 15, 2005 Well I was cleaning my K&N air filter today, so I took out the entire airbox, thinking of ways I can make my own CAI, when I discovered something that didnt exactly leave me too happy. Right below the TB, on the tranny, and around underneath the TB, theres a whole bunch of wet oil. Or what seems to be oil atleast. I have no clue where it was coming from. I looked on the front head, and found that on the sides, theres oil slowly leaking down the sides of the head. I duno about the other one, I didnt really feel like looking at that after what I found. The front of the engine is completely dry. Theres gotta be a leak somewhere, but I dont know where its coming from? besides thehead gaskets, but I dont know where the oil underneath the Tb and on the tranny how it got there. Anyone have any ideas? I just added the 3rd quart of oil today since I last changed oil. Pretty soon I wont have to change the oil because it leaks so much and Im always putting fresh oil in. Quote
Euro Posted November 15, 2005 Report Posted November 15, 2005 thats a pretty extensive oil leak if you're saying you put so much oil in all the time how many miles are on your car? and it ifs coming from the heads...then its probably the head gaskets....although i could be wrong Quote
94CutlassSLCoupe Posted November 15, 2005 Report Posted November 15, 2005 Oil pump drive seal is my bet Quote
19Cutlass94 Posted November 15, 2005 Author Report Posted November 15, 2005 Well I do alot of highway driving and I drive about 45miles a day. I know its not alot for alot of you guys, but to me its alot of driving. My car only has 89,7xxmi on it. Maybe about a good 3 weeks ago, the check oil light came on and turns out I was indeed 2 quarts low. The oil coming out of the heads, I dont think I have to worry about because Im pretty sure those little oil drip lines where there for a while and they rnt even at the bottom of the head yet. But the oil on the tranny is pretty bad. Ill *try to get some pictures up soon. Quote
19Cutlass94 Posted November 15, 2005 Author Report Posted November 15, 2005 Oil pump drive seal is my bet Where exactly is that located? I know somewhere under the Tb right? Quote
94CutlassSLCoupe Posted November 15, 2005 Report Posted November 15, 2005 yeah, its nearly directly under the TB Quote
19Cutlass94 Posted November 15, 2005 Author Report Posted November 15, 2005 Whats involved in changing that? I imagine it cant be too awful hard to do. Quote
Pabz Posted November 15, 2005 Report Posted November 15, 2005 Read the faq dood, No way its the head gasket!! Most likely oil pump drive or you need to check your valve covers. Quote
manitcor Posted November 15, 2005 Report Posted November 15, 2005 my vote is on lower intake gasket, thats the most common on the Gen3, ive havent seen an oil pup drive seal go bad on a Gen3 pushrod yet (im not saying they dont, ive seen alot of 3100s and 3400s with 100k + miles though) Quote
GP1138 Posted November 15, 2005 Report Posted November 15, 2005 Intake gaskets, if you haven't had them done yet. Quote
bartonmd Posted November 15, 2005 Report Posted November 15, 2005 just FYI, as far as I know, there are no oil lines running anywhere near the lower intake gasket... Coolant is the only thing that goes through there... The oil pump drive is right below the TB... general leaking problem with these... Probably not as much oil as you're losing though... valve cover gaskets would be my bet if you're losing more oil than the 0-ring can put out... Mike Quote
Pabz Posted November 15, 2005 Report Posted November 15, 2005 What about between the heads, where the Intake manifold meets the block, it may be leaking there too. If your sure its oil, just do your intake manifold gasket and valve covers! "Preventative maintenance..." Good luck. Quote
slick Posted November 15, 2005 Report Posted November 15, 2005 Is it leaking from the top of the heads or near the bottom of the heads? You can check if its intake gaskets by spraying some carb/tb cleaner at the top of the heads/ bottom of the lower intake. You have to do this while running. If it stutters, intake gaskets are shot. If nothing, most likely oil pump drive shaft seal. Either way, I'd just do the intake gaskets and oil pump ring all at the same time, and call it a day(or 3 if you haven't done it before). Quote
94CutlassSLCoupe Posted November 15, 2005 Report Posted November 15, 2005 just FYI, as far as I know, there are no oil lines running anywhere near the lower intake gasket... Coolant is the only thing that goes through there... The oil pump drive is right below the TB... general leaking problem with these... Probably not as much oil as you're losing though... valve cover gaskets would be my bet if you're losing more oil than the 0-ring can put out... Mike My sister's cutlass had a bad LIM gasket and it was sucking oil out of the lifter valley and into the cylinders... Quote
19Cutlass94 Posted November 16, 2005 Author Report Posted November 16, 2005 Well its deff oil, theres no coolant leaking at all. Im gonan try what Chris said, but Im just gonna clean it up the best I can with some brake cleaner, and see what happens after that. Basically where all the oil is, is right around the top of the tranny, and right below the TB. Around the heads look fine as far as I can tell. The upper intake looks to be in good condition, e.i. no oil around it. Ill have to check the valve cover gaskets, Im also gonna have to check the back of the engine by the firewall before I clean anything. But Im more than likely going to change the oil pump drive seal, just so Im not taking half the engine apart in one weekend. Ill wait for like a week off from school to do that. Quote
supreme_style21 Posted November 16, 2005 Report Posted November 16, 2005 When my LIM went, it blew every ounce of oil out within seconds. The oil level was PERFECT just one start beforehand. Ten minutes later, I cranked 'er up... heard some kind of liquid hitting the ground... the low-oil-level light popped on.. shut er off, looked underneath the car and saw my 4.5 quarts of oil running down the driveway. Quote
JMo60 Posted November 16, 2005 Report Posted November 16, 2005 dont waste your time with the oil pump drive seal, thats more common in the 3.4 dohc. the lower intake manifold on 3100's is as common as needing to put gas in your car. any 3100 with over 75000 miles probably is due for a gasket.. they are almost certain to leak at some point Quote
Ramma2 Posted November 16, 2005 Report Posted November 16, 2005 My car was a little under 100k miles when it started to loose that much oil, and it was the lower intake manifold gasket. And since you're going to be breaking down the engine that far, might as well replace the oil pump drive seal as well and save yourself the headache in the future. Quote
19Cutlass94 Posted November 17, 2005 Author Report Posted November 17, 2005 I mean prolly in the spring Ill be replacing the upper and lower intake gaskets. I mean I duno I guess you guys are prolly right about it being the lower intake gasket. But the oil pump drive seal is only an o-ring so that will be replaced as well. When I put the new gaskets in, will I have to do this at another 90,000mi? or do the new gaskets last longer? BTW, would brake cleaner destroy a gasket? Need to know because I want to clean all the oil and shit off of everything Quote
Pabz Posted November 17, 2005 Report Posted November 17, 2005 I'd leave as is man, Like one of the posts above, it blow one day and you'll now. At the worst time too. My felpro intake gasket set came with both upper and lower and o-ring. Do all the work at once. Check for oil-coolant cross contamination. Good luck. Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.