Hey fellas, Adriano here. I just recently had my 2003 Monte SS, 3.8L diagnosed with an oil pan gasket leak. There's only 104,000 miles on my Monte. I checked it out and yep, sure enough, there is slow seepage. Having the repair lined up with a trusted shop.

On the other hand, a guy at the detail shop also noted a rear main seal leak. Hmm.. I don't know what to make of what he said.

Also, when my engine is warmed up and after leaving a stop light, I have a little slip or tug when accelerating.

I know it's not the tranny because I just had my guy do a complete tranny service with the gaskets etc. And he says everything is good to go with my tranny.

Will the intake manifold gaskets or head gaskets cause this minor tug or acceleration slippage? PCV valve?? Valve cover gaskets???

Any info would help me from overly stressing out. Thx!

 

Adriano.... A rear main seal leak would be a very bad leak. Its the seal for the crankshaft. If its a light leak its most likely the oil pan. With that high mileage on the car I would def say oil pan. With regards to ur tugging it could be a seized caliper preventing the wheel from free spinning. Lift the car, put it in neutral and spin both front wheels freely see if they are not stuck. Also, make sure there are no check engine light or ABS light, Trac light on. By tugging, do you mean, dragging? or no power under acceleration.

Let me know to help you better diagnose your issue.

 

just a quick comment and word of advise...don't put that stop leak crap into your engine!!!!...clean up the underside of the engine and put some oil dye in it...wait about 200 miles and raise the vehicle back up and using a black light, track wherever the dye is running from, that's where your leak is...that's what we do at our shop...just don't put the stop leak into your engine...

 

Response to l0gitech87:
Hey bud thx for the reply. Answer to your question is that there are no engine or service vehicle lights on whatsoever so therefore no troublecodes at this time.
As for the tug, I might have described it wrongly, it's more of a hesitation when accelerating past 10-15 MPH. And only does that when the car is warmed up and ready. It feels like too much air before combustion... That's the best I can describe it. Maybe the leaking intake manifold gaskets are allowing extra O2 in....? What do ya think?

 

Response to dj: Thx for the reminder, but NEVER.. never would I even go there. I've heard bad sh-t about them products..haha.

 

Adriano.. More oxygen is a good thing bud. Internally though, any external air leak from the intake will cause idle to drop and cause poor driveability. To check for a vacuum leak take a good listen under the hood for any hissing noises under idle if in fact a drop in idle speed is exhibited, typically spraying the intake, or air inlet pipe to the throttle body will cause a stalling effect on the engine. I think based on the symptoms you've given me I would rule out a possible fuel pump or fuel delivery issue considering the CEL isnt illuminated and a fuel pressure related code will not appear. Performing a fuel pressure test under idle and under load will rule out either a plugged filter (depending whether or not the filter has ever been changed before) or a bad fuel pump. Sometimes a code might appear in history or might be stored in memory of the ECM without an illumination of the CEL, so if you havent had the vehicle scanned for codes lately I'd recommend scanning it first before diving into a fuel pump or fuel related repair. One of many things that could cause a hesitation or loss of power, a bad MAF sensor, a plugged Catalytic Converter, a stuck or sticking EGR valve, a really bad misfire where one or more injector/coil pack isnt functioning correctly. And please for the love of God, if a tune-up hasnt been done in more than 100,000km please do one along with a throttle body cleaning, air filter swap, and fuel filter replacement. That outta keep the engine running in tip top shape. Happy hunting my friend.

L0gitech