Yesterday, was my birthday and I got the itch to get back in a 4th gen car. I traded my 93 Z28 about 6 years ago and have regretted it since! lol Anyhow, I found what I thought to be a hell of a deal on a 1993 Trans Am with 130K for 2,000. Car runs strong tranny shifts good, has some cosmetic things that could look better but its seems to be pretty solid. Went to have the oil changed today and the guy was saying there was a leak, possible main seal, coming from behind the serpentine belt and running down the oil pan. Any advice would help ie price, how much labor involved or maybe something else to check. There is a approx 10-15 drops worth of oil on the pavement this am after sitting for 24 hours.

 

clean the front of the engine down with a degreaser. Then run it and look for where the oil is coming from. The front seal is not to hard. Its just time consuming. First, locate the leak. It maybe something simpler.

 

Ok will try that, there was a oil on the outside of the oil filter when I got the oil changed today, not sure if it was just a loose filter, that would be a relief, Can you just spray that degreaser anywhere on the motor or are some area's too avoid when doing so?? Thanks for the reply

 

Cover the main sensors. You could also add a small amount of oil dye (they sell this at most auto stores) which will show where the leak is coming from (the dye is typically red).

 

Try not to wet the opti!!

 

Well after getting the car up in the air today, I found at least the general area where it seems to be coming from any addtional info would be great. WE took of the silver shield that covers the bottom of the torque converter and flywheel to find that pan had some fresh oil in it. It seems to be coming from around the unit that is above where the oil filter screws into and around the oil pan it self. The people I bought the car from just had a new oil sending unit put in prior to my purchase. I also heard rear main seal as part of a problem on these cars too.......

 

Lots of old used cars leak from the rear main. However, on LT1's this is often a misdiagnosed problemtypically the leak is from the intake manifold, near the EGR, and the oil drips down. Clean up the engine. Add oil up to spec. Then pinpoint. As long as you aren't losing quarts of oil, you will be fine.

 

Was that supposed to be one word? He is correct. The intake has a tendacy to leak.

 

Yup. Intake. Mine is too.

 

Would that cause some oil to be found up by the throttle body? Any Idea what kind of labor and parts for fixing that cost?