I went out in the garage today and found spots of oil on my garage floor. I haven't really drove it since i bought it. (maybe 800 mi) They aren't anything big really but i wanna get it figured out and fixed. Is there a common leak with 5.3? My leak looks like it is running onto the oil pan from somewhere but haven't got it up in the air yet.

edit: from what i could see the valve covers are good ( not 100% on the back one it was getting kind of dark out) got it up on a jack in my drive way and the leak seems to be coming from somewhere around the front of the oil pan. I couldn't pinpoint it but that is were the most of the leaked fluid was setting

thanks

 

Depending on purchase date- you should still have powertrain warranty left right? If so, I'd take it to a dealer and let them deal with it. No sense going all crazy trying to track it down yourself- if it is engine oil, then it must be internal to the engine.

I had an oil leak on my 07 GXP. Mine was coming from the rear main seal initially (dripping from the pan and inspection cover)- dealer replaced oil pan gasket (stupid), still leaked- replaced rear cover and rear main seal- problem got worse (didn't seal properly between the cover and pan); then they replaced the oil pan gasket along with the rear cover gasket and rear main seal all at once, and sealed it properly and now she's leak free! Didn't cost me a dime under the 100k powertrain warranty- and I got to rock an Impala and 2 different Malibus to rack up my DD mileage on for a couple weeks as we went back and forth with the problem.

 

xxtheshockerxx: I have the 5.3L and it also had a leak. Took it into the dealer under warranty and they replaced the oil pan gasket. As it was explained to me during assembly at the factory the oil pan gasket shifts sometimes and does not make a perfect seal when the pan is bolted onto the block. On mine it appeared to be leaking from a blind threaded hole in the block and I knew that was impossible. This is a common problem on 5.3's but not all of them. Once the gasket was replaced properly no more leak. The leak on my car was coming from the left rear of the block. The front on the right if you are looking at the front of the car.

 

thanks for the help guys...i still have warranty so i might just take it in and have them mess with it cus i can't seem to track it down. but i am thinking it is somewhere down lower on the engine so it may be the pan gasket

if it is the pan gasket do they have to pull the motor up a little bit to replace it?

 

Let us know how this goes for you. The rest of the LS4 guys need the update! lol

 

you have a leak of some sort?

im giving it a few days..i cleaned all the leaked fluid off the bottom of my car and i just gotta go out and see if i can get a better idea of where its coming from now that i have a clean slate.

i dont like taking my car in to get it fixed if i dont have a good idea of what it is

 

IMO, I wouldn't waste any real time trying to troubleshoot anything- that's what the warranty is for. When the warranty expires, you'll have plenty of things to fix on your own anyways, especially if you keep it a long time. Plus, they likely won't listen to your 'diagnosis' anyways even if you do find where it's coming from- they'll have their own tech go over it to diagnose it. Even when I told them I thought it was rear main seal- they still swore it was the oil pan gasket and it had to keep leaking after the replacement for them to finally 'find' the problem I told them existed from the beginning.

Plus, since you'll have a loaner car, you won't have to worry about how to get around and such.

 

yea i realize it is probably a waste but i guess that is just the way i am. i like to try to have an idea of what the problem is before i take it in..idk y but i have always been like that.....and i'm not to worried about getting around i barely drove it all winter trying to keep it clean


thanks for the help

 

No, I don't have a leak that I know of.

 

i finally got my car on a hoist today....i apologize in advance for the very very poor quality of pictures. I forgot my phone at home today so i couldnt take pics while on the hoist so these are pics from in my garage.

what is the black piece? oil level sensor or something? and is it possible for a leak to be coming from there? I am pretty sure it is either that black piece or drain plug so i dont think it is anything major.

pic of the oil pan...that is the drain plug in front

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