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Oh Noes! $2,000 Repair bill for my oil leak!

Freebeer187

Freebeer187

New member
It looks like my oil leak is worse than I thought! This is what they said after they (GM dealership) looked at the car:

1. Lower intake gasket is leaking

2. Rear Valve cover gasket is leaking

3. Rear main seal is leaking

DAMN! I don't even know what that stuff is! They said around 2K to repair it. I dont have that kind of money!

They adised me to do an oil change (which I need to do) and add some dye to it. Also before the oil change clean under the car and other areas.

How bad does this sound? What can I do!?!?
 


I thought you were gtting ripped off for a second....untill i saw the rear main seal.
 
to be honest though. IF you lived closer i would do it for 1000 with parts and labor
 


Freebeer187 said:
Thanks for the info. About how long do you think the labor would take? 15 hours?
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By flag time (the measurement that the shop uses) or in actual time?



Actual probably about 6 hrs with one person hustlin there butt off. And having all the nessary tools available.



The shops use flag time to figure labor times.That is also how the employee gets paid. Basicly the book time either states that it takes way longer than actual time or way shorter. usually never right on the money. Also it depends on the employees experience level on how long it actually takes him. Not sure what the book time actualy is on that but labor is also probably around 100 bucks an hour. So it's gunna add up quick anyway.
 
dude, thats a weekend job if you get a few friends and a few cases of beer. who said the rear main seal was leaking? how many miles are on your car?
 
Mine is leaking Bio248!

Weekend job! Thats actually good to hear. Do you have to remove the engine for this whole process?
 
Basically yes. Have to seperate it from the tranny and there is a cover on the rear of the motor that has tocome off. That's where the seal is. With having to go that far, might as well get a good gasket kit and get them all done while it's out and don't have to worry about it once it goes back in.
 
Doesnt sound like a weekend job to me... First I think im going to clean it at the local manual car wash. If im correct, its no a good idea to spray the top part of the engine bay with a power washer that has soap called "engine cleaner". I think I may be safe to clean the bottom of it though.

After that do an oil change and pop some dye in there. If all goes well I should find out where it is.

Quick question about the dye. Does it change the color of the WHOLE oil? So the oil will have a green tint to it? Or does the dye not combine with the oil and stay in tact?
 


I'm not sure who told you to put dye in the oil but i have NEVER heard of that. Think about it, When dye is used it is to tell you where a leak is happening and is usually used on clear liquids or gasses.Perfect example would be freon in the a/c system. Or on something that when it leaks it is hard to see. Don't you think you can see where the oil is comming from when it leaks out?
 
It's not a good idea to pressure wash your engine bay at all. You could probably do the underside without too much risk, but the top end components don't take to high pressure water too well.
 
Freebeer187 said:
It looks like my oil leak is worse than I thought! This is what they said after they (GM dealership) looked at the car:

1. Lower intake gasket is leaking

(Doesn't leak much oil)

2. Rear Valve cover gasket is leaking

(Hmm of course it would have to be the rear one and not the front one that is covered under the recall)

3. Rear main seal is leaking

(could definatly leak a lot of oil)

DAMN! I don't even know what that stuff is! They said around 2K to repair it. I dont have that kind of money!

They adised me to do an oil change (which I need to do) and add some dye to it. Also before the oil change clean under the car and other areas.

How bad does this sound? What can I do!?!?

("They adised me to do an oil change (which I need to do) and add some dye to it."

So pretty much what I get from this sentence is...they don't know where it is leaking from.)
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:th_BSflag-big:

I agree with getting another opinion. If you want to try to find where it is leaking from I would also advise against using the pressure washer under the hood; instead use either brake cleaner or carb cleaner and that will wash any oil away, making it easier to find new oil.

Good Luck :th_thumbsup-wink:
 
Freebeer187 said:
Quick question about the dye. Does it change the color of the WHOLE oil? So the oil will have a green tint to it? Or does the dye not combine with the oil and stay in tact?
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The only dye i know of requires a special light and goggles to determine where your leak is coming from. Its not like your going to drop the dye in your engine and its going to turn it neon green to the naked eye. And if there is such a thing i have never heard of it.
 
Blown97 said:
:th_BSflag-big:

I agree with getting another opinion. If you want to try to find where it is leaking from I would also advise against using the pressure washer under the hood; instead use either brake cleaner or carb cleaner and that will wash any oil away, making it easier to find new oil.

Good Luck :th_thumbsup-wink:
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HA Damn its nice having a badass forum to post problems like this.

That makes sense. They dont know where its leaking from. F'in dealerships. Scum.
 


Welcome to the world of the 3.8 litre engine. I love the engine but went through the same thing. Had to do all the seals which cost $1600. The last one was a GM recall so didn't hurt.
 
paying that much is crazy. thats when I wold take some vacation time and go to town on the car. never had the rear main leak......ever.
 
I dont think rear main leaks are that common on the 3.8....an if it isn't gushing, I could live with a rear main leak.....

Also where the oil goes through the LIM, it shouldn't be able to leak out(well it can, but not a lot), coolant yes, but no pressurized oil flows through the LIM gasket, so it may just be the valvecover and it is running all the way down
 
02BlueGT said:
I dont think rear main leaks are that common on the 3.8....an if it isn't gushing, I could live with a rear main leak.....

Also where the oil goes through the LIM, it shouldn't be able to leak out(well it can, but not a lot), coolant yes, but no pressurized oil flows through the LIM gasket, so it may just be the valvecover and it is running all the way down
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I agree that on all the 3800s that I have had, I never had a rear main oil leak. Just not common at all on these engines. Can it happen? Yes, just not common.

More common is the oil pan gasket.

But first, I would get a few guys, take a weekend, and change the valve cover gaskets and the LIM gaskets. And be sure to clean everything up real well. If that doesn't solve your problem, I would change the oil pan gasket. But I highly doubt the rear main is leaking.

Get a second opinion. But there is no way I would pay even close to that for changing a couple gaskets.

If you were close to me, I would help you do this for some pizza and beer. I like working on cars, so I help out friends who can't do repairs themselves to save them some cash.
 
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