Hi all,

My 97 3.8 leaks oil, coolant "disappears", and the clutch slips. Regarding the oil leak, I'm almost certain the rear main seal or seal housing is leaking, which is also causing the situation with clutch chatter and a slippery clutch, although the clutch may be worn anyways. I also suspect my valve covers and oil pan gasket are leaking oil, and I may also have an intake manifold gasket leak (oil in coolant). Back in October, I replaced the water pump because coolant was coming out of the weep hole, but that did not solve the situation with "disappearing" coolant.

I also suspect I may have head gasket leaks (only explanation I can come up with for "disappearing" coolant). When the car sits, there are only oil stains underneath, which leads me to believe coolant leak may be internal. I see no evidence of coolant in the oil (I understand not all head gasket leaks will cause this condition). I have friend who has a shop and I'm planning on taking the car to him to figure out whether I have a head gasket problem or not.

I'm planning on doing the work myself and I'm just trying to figure out if it would be easier to remove the engine and do the work on a stand, or remove the transmission and do the work on my back. I have access to an engine hoist, but have not yet found out about a stand. I have not located a transmission jack either. I've decided if I have to pull the heads, it will be much easier to pull the engine and do the work on a stand. Additionally, I know a lot of people pull the engine from underneath, I would not want to do it that way.

Here are my questions:
1) If the heads do not have to be removed, would it still be easier to pull the engine, or should I just leave the engine in the car and pull the trans?
2) I plan on removing the front cover to change that gasket as well. While I have the front cover off, is it a good idea to replace the oil pump also, or should I just leave it alone?

By the way, I have multiple vehicles, and I work at home, so if this job takes 2 weekends to complete that would be OK.

Thank you in advance!
-ZZ

EDIT: I also forgot to mention there are what appears to be oil stains around the PCV valve. Could this be ONLY due to a faulty PCV valve, or could this be a symptom of something larger?

 

I would say if your going to remove the engine there are a lot of these engines out there from $500,to 1000.00 with low miles ,should be able to find one with 50k miles cheap from one of many cars regal buick to 05 with 3800 engines a remanned 3800 for $1900.00 ,an go that way ? how many miles on it

 

I don't intend to replace the engine. This engine runs great, and only has 82K on it. In the 7 years I've had the car I've never seen the temp get much higher than 210, so I doubt I have damage to the block or heads. I'm just trying to come up with the most trouble free plan to repair the leaks and replace the clutch and components.

Thank you!
-ZZ

 

there is no easy way to replace the gaskets on your engine but if your takeing it out do them all ,if not then do just what needs to be done couse that is low miles ,just make sure your friend finds the leaks,if its on top then don't pull it for an intake or heads ,it will be a lot of work though ,thats why shops get 1200.00 to 1500.00 for heads an intake jobs

 

I'm ready for it to be a lot of work. The car already sits a lot (hence the low miles). I'm almost certain the oil pan gasket is leaking. I know the engine has to be lifted a few inches to change it. That is the biggest reason why I'm considering pulling the engine. From what you're telling me, it seems as if it would be easier to leave the engine in the car to replace the gaskets and just pull the trans for clutch/rear main.

 

i would suspect the lower intake. could be sucking it up to the intake and running it through the exhaust. you getting steam out the exhaust? or leaking only when running after warmup so its after you leave that it leaks. have you done a pressure test on the cooling system to see if you can find it? if your doing the clutch then its and extra 20 or so minutes to change rear seal. may want to do your soft plugs there to just for piece of mind.

 

what I was saying is if your going to pull the engine do all the gaskets an seals ,sounds like you need to with pan leak ,I wonder why a pan leak with 82.000 miles ? you drive it hard ,if you do I would take it easy after an get a lot more miles ,if your not hard on it then ,its just what it is ,listen to craby he knows a lot more then me ,I have 99 3800 love it 95k an no leaks ,keeping my fingers crossed an driving it easy like gram ,an good for you can do it too

 

also oil pressure switch/sending unit is known to leak oil. that would, i believe, be to the backside of the intake for your year. you could also do a compression test on all the cylinders to see if any are leaking.

 

Wow sounds like you have a lot going on. Normally to do intake and heads it is not worth it to drop the motor. Also the clutch and oil pan could be done without dropping the motor. BUT when you combined all that it will be faster to drop the motor and do the work.

Intake gasket is a common issue, Head gasket is less common but still possible. You are not getting oil in the coolant you are seeing old dex cool coolant. If you did have oil in the coolant that would mean a cracked block.

As long as the motor is quiet and does not have coolant in the oil it should be fine to resealing. You should pull the oil cap off while its running just be sure the engine does not have excessive blow by. Normally this would only be an issue on a engine that has overheated or ran way to lean. If you are still not sure of the condition of the motor you want to do a hand held oil pressure test and a leak down test on the engine. I am sure you can search Youtube for how too videos and most parts store will let you borrow the required tools.

These motor drop out of the bottom, I am sure you can find a step by step somewhere. I thought there was one posted. If you can't find one PM me a email address and I can send a PDF.

Assume your clutch is done. Oil soaks into the clutch material, even if it was three weeks old it should be replace once it get oil in it.

Make sure you grab the GM manual form the manual section. Many of the bolts like the fly wheel bolts are TTY and can only be used once. Also you will need a torque angle gage if you don't have one for torqueing a lot of bolts.

Might want to think about headers if you have the budget. Normally they are a huge pain to install but once the motor is out they are cake, Also look that the centerforce dual friction clutch. I put a 100,000 miles on mine and it is still smooth as the day it was new. Check my project 96 in my sig.

 

Thanks for all the input and help. I'm probably still more than a month away from doing this job though. As far as removing the engine, I'm too uncomfortable removing it from below, so it looks like I'll just pull the trans instead.

@craby: I agree that the coolant leak is most likely related to the intake manifold, but have not yet pressure tested the system. I do see steam coming out of the exhaust but have not noted how much or whether its only when the engine is warm, etc (I don't drive the car that often).

@95 camaro 406: I don't drive the car hard that often, but I do occasionally get on it. The previous owner didn't drive the car much either, but I suspect that he ran the car had at times. I also suspect that he may have only changed the oil a few times in the 10 years he had the car.

@Gorn: That sounds right about the coolant. I haven't dealt much with dex-cool, so I'm not familiar with its properties. I plan on flushing it all and just running regular coolant when I'm done. As far as checking for blow by, what am I looking for when removing the oil cap? Its probably not an issue, again I've never seen it hotter than 210 in 7 years I've had it, but I'd rather be sure.

Regarding TTY bolts, I'm already aware flywheel bolts would need to be replaced, as well as head bolts if I end up pulling the head. I can't seem to find an answer about the harmonic balancer bolt. It doesn't appear that any of the other bolts have to be replaced (even though some call for torque angle).