pappy83

Bought my daughter a 2000 Camaro with 80,000 miles car had a complete motor under warranty at 34,000 miles at dealership. We bought the car it dripped oil from up top with help from members here we changed intake out replaced cam sensor, and OPSU and installed lS6 pcv system. Car still drips oil not much was diagnosed with die as oil pan gasket in the rear. Rear main seal checked out fine. Car also has a slight tap at idle when cold and very much quieter warm. When partially warm it will go away with just slight rpm and will increase with rpm when cold. When car is fully warm it is quiet except if you shift from park to reverse or drive you will hear it really faint once or twice then it is gone. I am I crazy should I tell her to just drive it oil pressure is 50 at idle cold will go up to about 75 cold at 3,000rpm and warm it idles at 40 and cruises at 55. Is this piston slap that I notice car runs really well has a frost tune, ls6 intake, cai, and cat back with factory 3.23 it is a nice driving car. But this leaking oil pan and motor noise thing got me wondering if this thing is ever going to just settle down. Will a oil pan gasket fix my issue or should I buy a pan, there are no marks on pan it just leaks at the rear. I have a 1999 gmc 2500hd with 6.0l it will sometimes make the same noise cold and increase with rpm but when warm I never hear it like the Camaro. Sorry for the long post this car is just getting me down today.

JDEP162

Piston slap on cold starts is common in these cars, if it fades away as warms up is normal. Cant say much about ur leak except pan gasket is better than rear main. Id sau do a gasket first pan shud be fine.

pappy83

Is it normal for you to hear it at startup when warm after sitting for a half an hour or so, I took her car out last night and drove it hard when I came home all was quiet but that little tap is there for awhile when warming up. Doing pan gasket next week buddy has a lift in body shop I will use. I will say this car runs hard through 2nd and 3rd. I think my srt8 jeep will kill it off the line though

patSS/00

iTrader: (6)

Suggest re-torqueing the pan to rear cover bolts, see if that fixes the leak before replacing the gasket.

RJDio

I have a '01 trans am, cam only full exhaust, pro tune. Have an oil leak that looks to be from a rear seal or oil pan gasket (hard to tell with oil coating), also have a lifter tick on passenger side (I use Royal Purple 5w30, one time I poured in motor honey and tick reduced a lot, but drained all that out and now just run RP). Anyway my car dynoed at 385rwhp on a Mustang dyno and was smooth as silk through the entire range. That dyno run cancelled my 'concerns' about my engine having any real problems, yea it could be tightened up, freshened up, etc. but I believe it to be in good working ordrer.

and back to leaks, I have 2 friends with Fbody LS1's and they are also leaking oil. I don't know if it is how we hammer this engine at times or just the age of gaskets and seals. I'm inquiring also on a different thread how to handle my leak in TX thread. anyways, good luck, sounds like minor issues on your daughter's car.

pappy83

Thanks for the suggestions, started car yesterday and no noise at all, I get a little **** about engine noises, I will try the bolts, thanks again.

Homeless2bNY

iTrader: (2)

Piston slap when cold is normal like everyone said.

degrease the engine if its covered and
re torque bolts like patSS/00 said.

what i find happens often is the pan is lowered at
one point for a cam and oil pump swap(which explains the high oil PSI reading)
and a small dab if silicone needs to be put on a couple spots
of the pan gasket. and no one ever does that.

if it looks like leak is 2-3in back from front of
pan on both sides, i say thats you problem

the fix is lowering the pan again and adding the silicone.

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

Just about any rubber part that lasts over 10 years is a blessing. Any rubber part that lasts over 15 years is starting to get in to miracle territory.

With the age of these cars, the rubber parts/seals are starting to go, even with low miles.

pappy83

She is under there now with torque wrench, she is a good kid almost 18 now, her small hands make changing OPSU a snap she did all the work herself even cutting block for pcv conversion.

pappy83

Well she found the oil pan problem torqued all the bolts went to do the last one that goes into the cover in the rear on drivers side and it will get tight but not tight enough before it turns again, so someone dropped the pan before and did the old strip the bolt I guess. It is only leaving a quarter size drip mark over night so I guess I will have her live with it for now. Can you fix this problem with motor in car? thanks for all the help guys I appreciate it, was a fox body mustang guy for years, tried to get her one but she hates them, this car is growing on me I like the way the motor pulls in the upper rpm range. Here is a picture of her car, I know body kit but she is 17 and blonde so it fits.

RJDio

That is an awesome daughter you are raising there! My 17 daughter drives an '08 Mustang GT black on black and she is really into the whole muscle car scene - she gets it too, but would take more than a bribe to get her under there wrenching!

pappy83

She works every day during the summer in a body shop, need a window regulator done she can do them fast. No leaks today after she drove it around so maybe those pan bolts even with the messed upped one will hold for awhile.

ghardester

Beautiful car! My Trans Am has sounded like an expensive sewing machine at start up since I bought it at 14,000 miles. Don't worry about the ticking.

pappy83

Just an update daughter torqued all her oil pan bolts down and the one in the back that wouldn't get tight we put locktite on the threads let it dry over night so it was hard ran it back up in there and it got tight. She drove it all around yesterday and I beat on it a little today and no more dripping, pan is now dry so we got lucky it looks like. thanks for all the help