1997 Pontiac Grand Prix oil leak

Tiny
MASOMSMAMA
  • MEMBER
  • 1997 PONTIAC GRAND PRIX
  • 4 CYL
  • FWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 140,000 MILES
My car has a bad oil leak. Changing oil filters has not helped. Looks as though oil is coming from back of engine. Suggestions?
Sunday, April 19th, 2009 AT 1:24 PM

3 Replies

Tiny
MMPRINCE4000
  • MECHANIC
  • 8,549 POSTS
Check valve cover and front main seal. If oil is near transmission housing, then could be rear main seal.

You can put a dye into oil and run a few days (clean engine first) then use black light to view source of leak.
Was this
answer
helpful?
Yes
No
-1
Monday, April 20th, 2009 AT 8:04 AM
Tiny
MICHAEL SCHMIDT2
  • MEMBER
  • 1 POST
It's the oil pressure sending unit located behind the oil filter! Cheap easy fix!
Was this
answer
helpful?
Yes
No
Monday, February 10th, 2020 AT 9:06 PM
Tiny
JOETECHPRO
  • MECHANIC
  • 705 POSTS
Hey MASOMSMAMA@YAHOO. COM,

Really the only way to find the actual cause of the leak is to visually inspect.

As MMPRINCE4000 said you can use a dye to more easily pinpoint the cause. If the leak area is already too large and it is impossible to find an obvious source cleaning off and running the engine without dye it is generally fairly easy to then find the source of the leak if it is leaking badly.

To begin with what you need to do is using a light and a mirror inspect the motor for the highest source of the leak.

Oil leaks will generally flow towards the back of the engine and down so you are looking for the furthest forward and highest point that is leaking.

If you can post pictures of what you find we can help you identify the most probable cause.

Regards, Joe
Was this
answer
helpful?
Yes
No
Monday, February 10th, 2020 AT 9:19 PM

Please login or register to post a reply.

Sponsored links