1997 Olds Aurora oil leak

[VADER]

Hi, my moms car is losing around 3 qts every couple of weeks, I havent looked at it myself, but just wanted some opinions on fixing this. I think she was quoted around $2K to fix it, so its either rear main seal, or head gasket, not sure, she doesnt know either. Car is 1K miles from me,so Im guessing, Im not sure if its worth it or not to have fixed, or even what it is?

Any opinions?

 

[Pablo]

what engine is in there? the 3800 series II?

If so, I just went through tearing mine down to the short block in my 98 olds intrigue. Changed the oil pan gasket too. You have to figure out where the oil is coming from. It could be something as simple as a valve cover gasket. The oil pans on 3800s are notorious for leaking though. They need rtv on the gasket surface (gm put out a tech bulletin on this).

Changing the oil pan gasket was brutal. I can tell you all about it if you like.

Find out if it is leaking externally or if the engine itself is eating the oil. If the engine is eating the oil its either rings or a leaking intake manifold gasket or bolt. On my 3800, the bottom of the lower intake had oil in it from leaking up the bolts because they had no sealant.

 

[1987BuickGN]

If Im not mistaken, its a 4.0 and a major PITA to work on. Im almost sure it has a 2 piece oil pan on it, and the bottom portion isnt that difficult to get off, it the top portion that kicked my azz. I wasnt a fan of working on those cars when they came in, but they seem nice enough when everythings working correctly. Been a long time since Ive messed with one, and I only had to do a water pump and oil pan reseal. Neither were fun. Maybe it was due to my lack of experience with them though. Good luck!

 

[gnracer1]

i have the same car it has 4.0 what a pain in the ass to work on. the oil pan isnt that bad to do . but every thing else this a pain

 

[VADER]

From what ive looked at, yep, the car seems to be a pain to work on judging by the repair prices, prob all labor costs. I just dont know if putting $2K for something like that is worth it. 3 quarts every weeks = $3 every 2 weeks. $26 x 3 = $78 year, it would take more than 20 years to breakeven if its a oil leak. Maybe something can be added to the oil. That would suck for the environment though, a lot of oil hitting the ground.
She said it smells like it burns oil from outside the car, but doesnt leave a mess, or have any visible from the top of the motor. The underside is prob filthy, I have to find out about the color of the exhaust.
I just dont know if its worth it.

 

[gnracer1]

they are good cars like i sayed a pain

 

[turbofish38]

Thats the 4.0 litre version of the 4.6l Caddy Northstar. Notorious leakers. Do a search and read some of the horror stories. The motor has to come out to fix it correctly. All of the current replacement parts incorperate the updates. I'll see if I can round up some TSBs for you. My shop figures a minium of 10 hours to change the pan and the gaskets. I'd say 20 hours if you're doing it yourself.

 

[VADER]

Thanks, I wont do it myself, no way. If this is the only problem, then maybe I'll have her get it fixed. I wish I could look at it.

 

[Hacksaw]

turbofish38 is right. I've heard that series of engines called "Leakstar" due to this frequent problem.

Then GM wonders why imports are so popular.