I finally saved up a little money and took my Camaro (2000 SS v8 5.7L, 6 Speed ) into an auto shop here in town that was recommended by a colleague of mine.

I took it in for 2 issues; a squeal when taking off in 1st gear and an oil leak. At first they told me the issue was the clutch and oil pressure sensor (The OPS has been twitching for 6-9 months so I believe that).

They quoted me $1100 to replace the clutch, flywheel and slave cylinder/throw out bearing and $450 to replace the oil pressure sensor (which included replacing the intake gasket and another gasket I can't remember).

I called around and every shop here in town is quoting me $1000-$1200 to do the clutch job so it seems they are pretty much right on there.

I guess after a second look they are now saying the oil is leaking from the oil pan gasket, valve cover gasket, and the rear crank seal not the OPS. They are estimating $900 to replace those 3 gaskets (Is the rear crank seal the same as the rear main seal?).

I've asked them 3 times now if they have put any dye into the oil system to pinpoint the leaks and they say no that it has all been visual. I'm having to add about 1 quart of oil every month or so to keep it at the full line (Mobil 1 10w30 High Mileage) so the oil leak doesn't seem that bad to me.

I'm not quite sure what to do with the information they have given me. Are these common gaskets to fail on these cars? The car only has 87k miles on it but it is a 13-14yr old car.

 

Yes the rear crank and rear main are the same thing.

It fairly coomon for even good mechanic to get messed up on a engine with multible leaks. We all hope it leak from one place on a lower miles engine like yours. Even the dyes are not fool proof. It can take a long time for the dye to makes its way to where the leak is. If you drive to speed up the process the wind can wip the dye all over the place and you are back where you started.

If you do the repairs you should think about replacing the oil pump. The oil pump seems to be the only weak spot for the LS1 and they get a little iffy after 100k. Hopfully one of the expert LS1 guys will chime in.

 

Well they've had the car since May 31st and when I talked to them today they still hadn't started on the clutch replacement (I authorized the clutch June 6th; I haven't authorized any other work as of yet). I guess they are just slow. Seems like if they had put some dye in it and let it idle an hour here or there over a couple of days they might be able to give me a more accurate leak point(s). I'm just worried that they aren't 100% sure where the leak is coming from so they just want me to replace everything it could be to fix it.

Thanks for the heads up on the oil pump. It kinda seems like if I have to go that route and replace ALL of those gaskets I might as well do the oil pump and timing chain while I'm at it. Probably some other stuff I'm missing too.

 

Maybe post in the LS1 area. I know we have a couple LS1 experts floating around.