2000 Cadillac Deville Oil pan gasket repair

JACKINRESTON

MEMBER
2000 CADILLAC DEVILLE

Engine problem
2000 Cadillac Deville V8 Two Wheel Drive Automatic

I have a 2000 DTS that runs wonderfully. I have over 110,000 miles. The car has been a oil user from the start, but over the last year, a definite oil leak has developed.
My repair shop just gave me a estimate to repair the oil leak of over $2,000 and I trust them but here is the problem. They say that the "oil pan gasket" is leaking. While the part is relatively cheap, they have to take the entire engine apart to fix it, taking over 10 hours of labor.
Is there another way to do this? Have other Cadillac owners with the 32V Northstar V8 engine had this problem?

6 Replies

ED ARMES

MECHANIC
129 POSTS

Don't listen to them. Per Haynes manual on 2000 models:
1. Raise vehicle on jack stands. 2. Drain oil and remove filter. 3. Remove the crossover pipe from the front cylinder head manifold. 4. Disconnect the oil level sensor. 5. Remove the bolts secureing the pan to the lower half of engine block. ( Pry gently if pan is stuck and do not damage the mating surfaces. Remove the oil pump strainer. 6. Clean all mateing surfaces and assemble in reverse order tightening the bolts in three steps to 89 inch pounds for pan and strainer. :)

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Saturday, March 1st, 2008 AT 8:29 PM

BUZZSAW

MECHANIC
1,198 POSTS

A dealer would charge 12 to 1500, there vary high on there estament, the trans has to come out and there is 2 oil pans that need resealing, you cant get the cross over pipe off without the trans being out, as for your oil leak you need to have the piston rings cleaned with chemicals, if the oil pan gasket isn't leaking bad leave it alone, do the chemical treating may take a couple times, a caddy dealer will know what im talking about

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Wednesday, March 5th, 2008 AT 8:53 AM

SEARCY

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2 POSTS

I posted here because I assume the information above also applies to my problem, but let me know if there are any relevant differences between our cars.

I attempted to remove the oil pan, but could not get to one of the bolts because of transmission (could not fit socket head squarely on bolt), This bolt is different than the regular oil pan bolts (13mm instead of 10, on corner of pan between tranny and crossover pipe), but looked like it needed to be removed to get the oil pan off. First question is whether I was wrong about this; do I leave that bolt in?

If the trans. Does need to be removed, then my next question is whether I can just allow the oil pan gasket to leak without doing further damage to my car. My thought is that as long as I keep enough oil in it and the oil is just dripping to the ground, I should be fine, but let me know if I'm missing something.

Also, I am assuming the leak is from the oil pan gasket because that's where I see the oil (on the oil pan and directly lateral from the gasket; nothing above). Am I overlooking something else that could be causing this?

Thanks for your help.

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Sunday, February 22nd, 2009 AT 12:30 AM

K_DOM

MEMBER
3 POSTS

Are they talking about oil manifold gasket which is located at bottom of motor? Near the Bearing Caps? That one is notorious for leaking and motor needs to be inverted to replace the gasket. Motor will have to be removed and turned upside down.

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Monday, October 1st, 2012 AT 10:12 PM

CADIEMAN

MECHANIC
3,544 POSTS

Clean the engine and trans. Then put engine dye in the oil. Drive 1000 miles. Look for a shop with a black light to check for the leaks. Do u have a 4.9 liter or the northstar?