Any auto mechanics on board?

[chperplt]

I have a 95 Pontiac Firebird that is leaking oil from the manifold gasket. I don't want to fork over the $500 in labor to replace a .02 cent part.

Will I do damage to the engine or any other component by letting the thing leak oil for a while? Obviously, I'll keep the engine oil at proper levels.

Thanks

 

[avbug]

Losing a little oil? No, it's not going to hurt anything. If it's leaking over the exhaust manifold and it's a substantial leak, then the resulting fire might hurt something. But the oil leak won't.

Since neither your intake nor exhaust manifolds use oil, you know the oil is coming from somewhere else. This being the case, you will need to determine what's really leaking before trying to determine if it's going to be a problem. Check your oil for contamination, as well as our coolant to determine if you have a cylinder head gasket leak. This can be more serious, and you may note smoke in your exhaust, a loss of coolant, brown or whitish sludge on your dipstick, or oil in your coolant. You may notice a tendency to pressurize or boil your coolant, as well.

First determine what's leaking, and then determine weather it's a problem. But in the meantime, you can add some STP or other viscosity agent to help ruduce leakage, and go to a higher weight of oil such as 40W, if you're not using it yet.

Which manifold is leaking?

 

[chperplt]

Thanks for the info

I brought the car down to have something else done to it, and the guy said the manifold gasket was leaking, and to also change the valve gasket at the same time as it was the same labor cost.

The dipstick looks good, no loss of coolant or oil in the coolant.

The only noticable leak is the oil spots on the floor of the garage.

I'll take it to another shop and see what their diagnostic is.

 

[Dan CFI/CFII]

I'll agree that you've got to figure out what is leaking to decide if it is or isn't an issue.

Of my family's 13 vehicles (note, most of them are vintage, restored trucks), I can only think of two which are completely dry under the hood. But the other ones tend to be small leaks (more of a seep than a full leak). Sometimes we decide to fix something as soon as we find a leak (like a head gasket), but there's one engine that has never been opened (even though it leaks a lot of oil)--and it's a '62.

Taking it to another shop is a good idea, unless you really trust the shop you have been using (it sort of sounds like you don't). I realize you are a newcomer to town, but if you have a neighbor or other friend who knows about cars, why not ask them.

Dan

 

[skylane58]

It is probably coming from were the intake manifold and the engine block meet. The gasket is just a 3 inch piece of cork that dried up and cracked. Its tecnical term is the vally pan gasket. Its not going to hurt anything, just make an incredible mess. It WILL get worse fairly quickly, so it is advised you get it fixed. You could invest in a Chiltons repair manual and do the job yourself in a day, its really not that hard.

 

[Wiggums]

Is it the 3.1 or 3.4 V6? These engines are notorious for leaking either oil or oil coolant from the intake manifold gasket. You want to keep real careful watch on the engine oil. As the gasket fails further it can allow engine coolant to leak into the engine oil. If this is unchecked it WILL cause the engine to self-destruct.

I'd be checking the oil everyday, first sign of coolant in the oil I would not even start it, get it towed to the shop.

 

[chperplt]

It's a 3.1 V6....

Thanks for the info. I'll bring it to another shop tomorrow and see what they say. The car is paid for and I don't want to put a new engine in it!

 

[414Flyer]

I had an 87 pathfinder that leaked a lot of oil when it was hot..I bought it in Fargo in the winter, so it really didnt leak as much oil It was a lot more noticable when I drove it to Texas for the summer.

It as an overhead cam 3.0L V6, and to get to that gasket to change it would have been a huge job, taking all the belts off, all that fun stuff. I figured it was a lot cheaper to put cheap oil in there, than to either get a mechanic to tear apart a large part of the engine, or to spend days doing it myself and maybe not quite knowing what I was doing.

As long as you keep the oil level where it should be, you should be okay. Also using thicker oil will help too.

Although if you dont have an overhead cam engine, changing the gasket might not be hard at all.

 

[KATL8R26L]

trade

Trade it if you can sounds like shes on her last leg.

Last car i traded out of was leaking anti freez all over the and had a few small dents in it.

One car i traded just fell a part once it made it the dealers lot ,just like it died , tires went flat, belt broke, water pump went out just when they sdaid how much they would give me,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,


best of luck,,,,,,,,,,,, HAPPYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY NEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW YEARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

 

[chperplt]

Trade it if you can sounds like shes on her last leg.

No trade in for her. She's a beautiful convertable. Has a lot of miles, but other than the oil leak, she runs great and looks even better!

 

[Timebuilder]

Sounds like you have some good advice. If your pontiac had a transverse engine, it would be a different problem.

Since your engine is not transverse, you have a very conventional setup, and most likely the leak is at the back of the intake manifold, where it meets the block.

The 3.1, when used transverse in the DIS configuration, would typically leak from the "dummy" housing the holds the oil pump shaft against the cam, in place of a distributor. Be thankful that GM never tried to make a front wheel drive Firebird.

If you need more particulars, pm me. The manual for the 95 firebird at Pep Boys is more than suficient for your use.

Since the leak (a manifold leak at the rear, we are assuming) just drips down your bell housing, it probably won't get unto the exhaust manifold. If it's a small leak, you might be able to live with it. You can do what Avbug suggested, and thicken the oil up a bit, but don't put in any kind of "stop leak" concoction. That stuff will gum up everything.