polorico

I asked him why it was still leaking he told me that the valley cover gasket,valve gasket,and.oil filter were leaking were causing It but he wanted to comb over the He sent me a picture of My valve cover and it was filthy.
Caked up oil every where. Worse case scenario and im still leaking. What else would be left to replace ?

stealth355tpi

so correct me if I'm wrong, I'm trying to track down a leak on my 98z. I was thinking rear main seal or cover because the bottom of the trans pan has oil on it along with the ypipe but when I look through the hole on the bell housing its dry. but what I do have is oil residue on both sides of the oil pan around the filter and starter so I'm thinking oil pan gasket. any ideas? also what's the best way to replace it without ripping everything out.

TheJDMan

I know I'm new to this forum and it's not my intention to start an argument. But at the same time I have been working on vehicles of all kinds for over 45 years.

There seems to be some confusion here as to the difference between a flywheel and a flexplate. In point of fact, a flywheel is used in manual transmisson applications whereas a flexplate is used in automatic transmission applications.

Webster defines a flywheel as:
"A heavy wheel attached to a rotating shaft to smooth out delivery of power from a motor to a machine. The inertia of the flywheel opposes and moderates fluctuations in the speed of the engine and stores the excess energy for intermittent use. In automobile engines, the flywheel smooths out the pulses of energy provided by the combustion in the cylinders and provides energy for the compression stroke of the pistons."

On the other hand a flexplate is simply a light weight stamped steel disk with an outer ring gear which is used to connect the heavy Torque Converter to the crankshaft. In an automatic application the TC actually does the job of the flywheel.

Both flywheels and flexplates contain a ring gear for the starter but that ring gear is not what defines the differrence between them.

To the OP, if you are having trouble locating the source of your oil leak you can go to any auto parts store and buy a leak detecting florecent dye kit for oil. Most kits include a special black light or glasses. When viewed under the black light the dye will glow and indicate exactly where it leaked out.

polorico

Wow.... I just got an update today that is not pretty to say the least.

He told me that when he started my car this morning that it had a tick. He thinks that possibly one of his mechanics dropped something in the intake.. So now he has to take off the heads to try and find where the tick is coming from. The removal of the heads is free of charge..

this is getting out of control... i am gonna be real unhappy if i get my car back with leaky oil and a nasty tick on my car.

lemons12

iTrader: (71)

I don't mean this to come off negative but it will... When are you going to learn? I have gave you the best advice. Do it yourself.

Does removing the heads include new gaskets and bolts? You can't reuse factory.
And he can go ahead and do the valve covers free of charge while he is at it.. Just price of the valve cover gaskets.
The oil sending unit won't take 3 minutes to replace with new while heads are off either


Basically your mechanic says every single gasket is bad. Bs. Period. I've never seen an ls motor that the motor has never been cleaned that doesn't have stuff caked up on the valve covers.

This is the last time i post here... Keep taking the car to this rip off mechanic. Its taking more time and money letting hIm do all this. You could do the valley cover oil sending unit and valve covers in two hours with simple tools for around 100$ if iirc for the parts. Good luck.

lemons12

iTrader: (71)

And out curiosity.. You already replaced the valley? How else would something fall in the intake?

Ill go ahead and tell you right now.. If its ticking from something falling in there then there is already major damage to a piston. It might not show now but it will.
If they have changed oil and stuff or starting when its cold this tick could simply be a sticky lifter.
If they are pulling the heads anyway id go ahead and replace the lifters while you're there... It would take almost no extra time.

Im just rambling though.

lemons12

iTrader: (71)

My advice to anyone that thinks they have a leak. Spray everything down with a degreaser/cleaner.. Spray everything off with high pressure nozzle.. Steam works amazing.. Melts nasty gunk off.
Then try to track it down... It will save you a lot of time and its nicer to work on things without being covered stuff falling in your eyes etc.
My engine compartments and under the car is cleaned regularly.. It isn't a show car but its clean to work on and see things.

polorico

well now they are thinking the motor has **** the bed....

Im stuck between a rock and a hard place.... Let me update tonight when i find out more about the situation ....

lemons12

iTrader: (71)

If motor is bad... Whether it be from low oil.. Ie spun bearing etc... Or something dropped into a cylinder ie you would see indentations on the piston.. That is 100% on the shop and they would be paying me the price of a new crate motor or go to court. Either would be fine with me.

Let me give you some advice.. Not that you've listened to much of what i have said anyway.. Let then know the car is not to be touched until you are there while they perform the work and you take pictures of anything and everything out of place. Period.
You don't do that and Im betting you get screwed even worse on all this.

Once this is done learn to do things on your own.

Aganger58

if the "mechanic" dropped something into the intake then i would say that the tick is there fault and should have to fix whatever at no charge to you.

Cole Train

iTrader: (30)

LOL wow this escalated quickly... If they dropped something in the engine(if they had the intake manifold off they could have dropped something down the intake valves) then they owe you a new engine. All of this doesn't just happen at random. You went in for a rear main seal leak, they changed it. Then it was a bunch of other ****. Now they say the motor is junk. Anyone wanna bet they either dropped something in the engine or used an impact on the flexplate bolts? If they dropped something in the engine, have them pull the heads, while your there. Tell them to drop the coolant and put a shop vac to the hose coming from the pump/block. Suck all the coolant out(so it doesn't fill the cylinders when you pull the heads) also drain the oil and when they pull the head look inside each cylinder with a good flashlight, immediately after they pull it. You're gonna have to take time off school or you will get f*cked. You're gonna have to take the time as they are clearly not trust worthy. Look for damage to the pistons(if something was dropped inside you'll see damage be it dents or scratches) Also look at the heads and see if there is any damage to the valves or the area on the heads in the chamber by the valves. If there is damage(or any debris in it still) they owe you a new engine.

If they will only replace with a used tell them you either want a new rebuilt one or a super low miles one with a warranty. As for my mentioning of an impact on the bolts of the flexplate, it can cause bearing damage internally if they do that from the hammering that impacts do to hammer bolts tight. You have a nightmare on your hands. I don't let anyone touch my stuff unless i don't want to do it or it's something i don't know how to do, which is a small amount of things

lemons12

iTrader: (71)

Simply put.. You handle this with the i don't have te to mess with it attitude... You're not going to have to worry about fixing a leak because you will have to buy a new motor.

RockinWs6

Minga! I had a similar experience but it started with trans work........till they were done they ruined the engine.........of course I got stuck for it all............

polorico

Whats up guys.... I want to say thank you real quick to lemon.. You have taught me a lesson ....

second off.. I walked in this afternoon and my car was a mess. Everything was taken apart from the motor , to the tranny , to the front 2 wheels shocks and struts.This guy has no signed work release for this transaction on my vehicle.. He dropped the motor and started tearing it down to find whats wrong with it on his own. No receipt or paper work saying that i gave him permission to do that...

Second off I understand that a motor can go bad.. What i dont understand is how it ran fine even with a oil leak , and exhaust gasket leak . My first sign of disbelief not finding the oil leak on the first go around. Now it went from replacing a few "minor" things which is another 425 bucks to the motor is ticking bad from the bottom of the engine.

So so far thats 750 bucks chasing down a "oil" leak , and now saying my motor has hit the fan... Its not adding up. I am going to wait and see what the verdict is...


also I am going to assume the worst and say the motor is shot.. What is the next logical move ?

Cole Train

iTrader: (30)

Look at the engine, look at the pistons and heads. Look for damage. I can almost bet if he or his guys made a mistake they are gonna try and stick you with the cost of it. I'd be more surprised that he'd fix it all on his own dime than i would if an alien crawled out of my ******* and stapled my nuts to the floor. Next he'll be telling you he put in an LS1 and he puts in a 5.3 with your LS1 intake manifold

polorico

How would you guys go about having him put the motor back together and putting it back in the car ? So i can tow it to the dealership. I think he is going to tell me that i owe him 700 bucks to put the car back together broken .. He had no written consent from me to tear the car down.. he called me and said i am tearing the heads down to try and find out what is making the car tick.

Oh and i looked on my local Craigslist and found this. He posted it 2 days ago.

"If you have spun a bearing, excessive blow by, or just high mileage in your LS1 equipped car, or have any 4.8/5.3/6.0/6.2/7.0 iron or aluminum block, give us a call, we specialize in rebuilding Ls based engines.

Weve got the answer to your problem!

Rebuillt LS based Shortblock which includes:
New Rings
New Bearings (Rod, Main, and Cam)
Refurbished or replaced Rods/Pistons
Polished Ls1 Crank
Honed block
Price is with a good exchange (your old rebuildable shortblock)

We can also do forged short-blocks and strokers.



We can also rebuild your shortblock, or swap all the parts from your damaged motor onto your newly purchased shortblock.

We do offer Warranty's with install, contact for details.

We also remove and install if you need the whole job done, one stop, bring your car in and pick it up with a new engine!

Price 750, only includes Shortblock rebuild, not labor to remove you engine, or tear down of your engine, this price you must bring in completely turndown engine to bare Shortblock.
Also do long blocks, call for details."


the post was updated 2 days ago.... My car has been in the shop now going on 3 days.. Im calling BS and thinking this a money making scam.

my question is what would you guys do in this situation ? the oil leak has still not been fixed and now the motor is ''shot'' would yall even pay for the oil leak ,or the motor being put back in the car ? my biggest fear is that he messes the car up even more and takes some parts for him self and leaves the vehicle in pieces.

Cole Train

iTrader: (30)

How many miles on this again? i think you're onto something. It might very well be a scam. He either caused the issue or it was never doing it. Did you hear it "ticking" yourself or was it just something he said to you? If you never heard it it's a ******' scam. I would get the car out of their possession first off and then bring it to the state attorney general or call a lawyer. You're getting hosed. I had my C5 Vette that got a heads/cam/bolt-on job, done by myself, at around 85k miles and sold it with 115k miles and i played with it plenty and i never had a leak or ever developed any random knock. I also don't let dealers walk on me either. When i was in L.A. working i developed a miss and low RPM idle in my truck. I had a pretty good idea that it was the front o2's going bad just by the way it was running and the smell of the exhaust when it acted up. I brought it to a dealership and they said i had an o2 code and misfire code. The proceeded to tell me it needed a compression check and leak down test and possibly pull the heads. i paid them for their "diagnosis" and proceeded to tell them to **** off and that they were running a scam. The whole time i was getting hounded by sales guys. Finally i told the sales guy that if they pestered me again i was walking out the door. I obviously did anyway but i was sick of how thick they were putting it on. Then the service manager telling me all this other **** they wanted to test. I took the truck, grabbed 2 new o2's(i was gonna pay them to put them in) and the tool for it and did it in the hotel parking lot. Truck has run perfect ever since. These places love having people that don't have the time or the know how to know when they are being scammed.

polorico

cole train

almost 121k....

I never heard the tick at all . I bought the car with 117k on the clock... Why would the car tick all of a sudden the day I am suppose to pick it up from getting a "oil'' leak repaired.

I am going to call him tomorrow and tell him i want to get my car.

the problem is going to be If he trys to charge me to put the motor back in.

also the oil is still not fixed.. would you guys just pay the mechanic for that to go your own way ? this has got out of control.... When i find out more tomorrow i will post an update... If the motor is indeed blown.. then I will rebuild it bigger , badder , and stronger... Still have an exhaust leak in the intake manifold and an oil leak and i need to replace my two shocks and struts

Cole Train

iTrader: (30)

My car has 125k miles and runs like it's brand new. Has heads/cam/boltons and runs like it's brand new, no leaks or anything. Tell him you want your car back because you never authorized him tearing into it this far and that you want it back together and youre taking it somewhere else. If he tries charging you or bucking you on it tell him youre calling a lawyer and also contacting the state attorneys office because you never signed for the work he did/is doing... I wouldn't put up with that **** at all

polorico

Would you pay for the oil leak. ? It never got fixed either.