[whosurpopi]

The Underneath of this engine is a mess "see earlier post about trying to clean it". I have a nice puddle of oil almost everyday, so today I put it on ramps, wiped it down good, and waited. And waited. It turns out it only leaks when it running. Then it leaks pretty quickly. It appears it coming from the passenger side, right where the engine meets the transmission. There is a plastic cover that it is coming off. I am pretty sure it is coming from the oil pan gasket. And the gasket looks bad all around, but real bad on that side, and on the other side by the oil filter.
I popped off the peep hole on the bell housing and it looks dry and clean in there. Can I assume its the pan gasket, or is there something else in that area that leaks oil? How much should I be paying to have the pan gasket replaced? Thanks guys.

 

[Skier-24]

It appears it coming from the passenger side, right where the engine meets the transmission.

Sounds more like the rear main seal, crankshaft seal. To repair this, the oil pan has to be removed anyway.
I have no idea about a price. I can tell you to check around, call several shops, because prices vary wildly around here.

 

[whosurpopi]

I think that it only leaks while running is probably the rear main, but why is it coming from the side of the pan instead of the bottom of the bell housing?

 

[Skier-24]

I did have an oil pan gasket leak like that one time. But the problem was obvious. The rubber pan gasket had split
and squeezed out. Do you see where the gasket has squeezed out?

 

[whosurpopi]

Yes, I do see the gasket squeezing out. did it leak while running only? After running for a minute, it is like a flow coming out.

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Im going to take some pics tomorrow.

 

[Skier-24]

If you can see gasket squeezed out, there is your leak. Pics would be great.
It was a long time ago, but I would say yes. Normally the oil would be below the level of the gasket
and not actively drip. It would blow under the van and then up onto the back doors making a terrible mess.

 

[whosurpopi]

Well this took a turn for the worst. I removed the crossmember, then saw how crusty the the oil and transmission pans were. I started with the tranny bolts, and they weren't even hand tight.. I tightened all of them, then moved to the oil pan. They weren't ass loose as the tranny but were not tight. I proceeded to tighten oil pan, and the visible leak had slowed almost to a stop while engine running. So I figured I will tighten a little more and snap. The long bolt passenger side next to bell housing snapped up in there. Now I have a nice leak.

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The bolt that broke wasn't even tight yet. It was still moving quite easily when it snapped. I have a call in to the mechanic for a price on new gasket and bolt repair.

 

[godsdiablo]

Oh god that's terrible it snapped. They all should be torqued just right

 

[whosurpopi]

$375 including oil change.

 

[Huddy]

$375 including oil change.

Not bad to solve that nightmare.

 

[godsdiablo]

Not bad at all! Parts and labor ?

 

[whosurpopi]

yep. But there isn't that many parts. one broken bolt, filter oil and gasket. He also quoted me $670 to do the rear main seal if that turns out to be bad. Not including parts. This is the same shop that just charged me $222 to diagnose a/c, evacuate, recharge, and replace the fan clutch. Which I will say is still ice cold.

 

[the cadillac man]

Not a bad deal on that repair glad to see you have found a dealer you like for service

 

[whosurpopi]

I just got hold of the original owner of this truck, and apparently the guy I got if from rolled 100k off the odometer. Looks like I will be going to the police.

 

[godsdiablo]

How do you know for sure? And what does your odometer say?

 

[whosurpopi]

The odometer says 111k which is what the ad for sale said when I bought it. The guy I bought it from said he owned it for two years, but I found something in the truck that showed he didn't own it a month ago. So I mailed the original owner that just called me today, and he said he sold it to the guy I bought it from l few weeks ago, and it had 213k on it.

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im going to start a new thread on this one.

 

[godsdiablo]

How about the car fax did you run one

 

[MrHolland]

Unfortunately Carfax is a voluntary program.

 

[the cadillac man]

Unfortunately Carfax is a voluntary program.

So true

 

[djais1801]

Unfortunately Carfax is a voluntary program.

exactly...I had leased an H3 years back, and never took it to the dealer, goodyear,etc. my friend owns a local garage and rather have him feed his family off
my $$$ than a "stealership". That being said, there were no records in carfax other than original mileage leaving dealer new.