Oil Leak

[Casper1998]

Just purchased a 1998 Aurora and love it but there is a small leak coming from the oil pan area.Looks like it could be just the gasket but not sure. Has anyone else had this problem???

[kstrine]

I've got a 95 that leaks all the time. I jacked the car up and found that mine is leaking from in front and above the pan. A few posts down there is someone that mentions a dealer oil leak fix for 95 & 96s which I was trying to get some information on. I need to add 1qt of oil every month.

[newscarver]

i bought a 96 aurora in november,it leaked a 3 inch spot every day ,i changed the oil and added a bottle of engine sealer, not the expensive ones just the walmart brand...the leak stopped in a week and has not returned. the oil pan remains wet but no more spots in the driveway the same stuff also worked in my 95 taurus it was the best cure in a can i can recommend,it usually takes a weak or two to fully work...

[Indy8]

You guy's are new owners, but this is old news. They all leak. The dipstick is wrong. There is no dealer leak update. There are no gaskets.

[thumpin455]

kstrine, that was me that mentioned the dealer oil leak fix. Indy is right, there was no official oil leak fix by name. I posted that based on what I heard just before buying the car. I do know for a fact that my 95 had to have the engine pulled and resealed to cure the oil leak. This involves resealing the lower crankcase and oil pan and was done by a dealer. Like Indy8 said, this is an old problem and they all leak. Mine only drips about 1 drop per day now. My understanding is the 95 & 96's are more prone to oil leaking than the later models. I also heard GM admitted there was a problem but didn't want to pay for it. Anyway I am glad mine was fixed before I got it. And very important like has already been said, the 1995 DIPSTICK IS WRONG. 7 1/2 qts w/filter shows up reading on the top of the add-line. As long as the oil level just wets the tip of the stick you are good to go. Considering the lower crankcase to block sealing, I can see where overfilling would promote leaking. When I first changed mine, I measured about 9 quarts of old oil removed. The dipstick was not over full either. Also remember these roras are supposed to burn a little oil so keep that in check too.

[Indy8]

Well done "thumpin"!

[jesnft]

My parents bought a 1997 Aurora with 31,000 miles exactly 1 year ago. After replacing the water-pump (a few days after buying the car), it seemed okay for a year. They put 3800 miles on the car and recently, when they changed the oil, the leak began.

The mechanic put in 7.5 quarts and noticed that it was at the ADD LINE and added another half quart or so. Either the leak is from overfilling or they inadvertently started the leak after draining the old oil. Perhaps the used car dealer added some engine leak sealant prior to unloading it on my parents?

This thread mentioned that the Dip Stick was wrong for the 1995 model. Does anybody know it was fixed for 1997's?

If it was fixed, they too are victims of GM's incompetance and will be out $2000 to get it fixed, with the warning from the mechanic that it will probably leak again.

Thanks for all the great info regarding this car...

Suggestions or condolences?

[RobertHammen]

The oil leaks on the car are the rear crankshaft seals. There's a revised seal kit which is supposed to fix this problem (happens to Caddy's too). This is supposed to affect 95-97 models but it happened to my (early model year) 98. Thank god for my extended warranty - car was in the shop for nearly a week, $1800 (warranty company) later it was fixed and hasn't leaked since. I haven't heard of people who had this repair once having to do it again. Shop around a little, an auto engine rebuilder place near my house does these so frequently they've got it down to a science (engine & tranny must be dropped) - $900 or so.

Of course, if you're good about checking/adding oil on a regular basis, you can just keep driving the car without fixing the leak, until it turns into a gusher...

[thumpin455]

Not to hijack this thread but as long as there are roaras there are going to be oil leaks. The best advice I can give anybody who already owns a leaker is to take the time out to jack the car up (use jack stands please)and try to determine just where and how many leaks you may have. Wipe everything down including the frame, drive it for a while, park it for several hours to get it to drip on clean cardboard. Look for the shiny oil spots on the engine and you may be able to isolate it to the rear main seal. Then again you might get lucky and it only be the filter from a botched 5-minute oil change. As I mentioned, my 95 was fixed but still leaks about 1 drop per day. It is not coming from the rear seal, instead I have the good old standard weeping aurora/northstar syndrome. One drop a day is not going to bother this old gearhead anyway. It seems somewhere just above the A/C compressor on the front of the block near at the lower crankcase to block parting line, my motor is misting (weeping) and eventually a droplet forms and drips off the A/C. Maybe porosity at the bolt holes?? The oil filter housing and the cooling lines to the radiator are dry as a bone. I eventually get an oiley haze all over the top of the engine cradle frame. After I totally wipe it down I don't get a drop on the floor for a couple weeks. Instead it just accumulates on top of the frame for a while. I wont run anything thinner than 10/40 synthetic and I try not to rev over 7000 and I think that helps too.

jesnft, my understanding is the dipstick being too short is an early 95 only issue but I can't be sure seeing as I don't have a copy of the TSB addressing this. At alldata.com they list a TSB 476137 dated Nov '94 for "Engine Oil Level Indicator Reads Incorrect". Does anybody have a copy of this. Which indicator, the handheld one or the electronic oil level warning one??

Also F.Y.I. i see TSB #576111 dated May '95 "Engine Oil Leak at the rear main seal and/or....... I would be curious as to the way these TSB's read if anybody out there has access to this one.


longwinded Paul

[jessb45]

The only article I have is 676111 it has the same title so I assume that is it. This program won't just let me cut and paste so here is a summary of the "Correction" section of the article only:
-------------------------------------------------
Step:
1. Dissassemble engine to replace upper and lower crankcase seal.
2. Thoroughly clean the entire upper and lower crankcase seal joint with break cleaner or other equivalent cleaner.
3. Thoroughly air dry the entire upper and lower crankcase seal joint with shop air (< 20 pisg)
4. Apply a thin bean of GM Gasket Maker (P/N 1052942) parallel to the seal running throught the centerline of the bolt holes, but not through the bolt holes...
5. Install left and right upper and lower crankcase seals.
6. Reassemble engine as necessary.

Engine exchanges for this condition should be repaired. Requests for engine exchanges will be denied.
-------------------------------------------------

If you want the whole article, I could email it to you...

[RobertHammen]

I don't know article numbers or anything, but I know there's a revised seal kit (see http://www.babcox.com/editorial/us/us100232.htm for more info).

--Robert

[Indy8]

I have a 97 and the stick is wrong. I also had the rear main re-seal done under warranty. Lasted about two weeks. Bars brand engine oil stop leak usually works but you have to use it with every oil change. Synthetics leak a little more than conventional oils.

[RobertHammen]

Indy are you saying that your engine began leaking at the crankshaft seals two weeks after the warranty repair? If that's the case, the service department must have done it wrong. It's been over a year since mine was repaired and I haven't experienced any leakage (just had it up on a hoist this weekend - doing a little PM - and there was no evidence of any oil leaks).

[Indy8]

I think what happend was that it was leaking at the block halves and when I told them to fix the leaking, I got the "easier to get approval" main seal job instead of what it really needed. So I'm not positive their repair didn't take it just still drips which is all that really matters. They had the car for 8 business days and I should have demanded the block re-seal but I caved and the warranty expired. All irrelevant now because it's blowing combustion gases into the cooling system meaning headgaskets and/or headstuds.