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I've read claims the aluminum oil pan on the LS3s would experience porosity. Based on this pic, you can see some oil residue. Is this normal or a leak?
I've read claims the aluminum oil pan on the LS3s would experience porosity. Based on this pic, you can see some oil residue. Is this normal or a leak?
You have a leak. Given its location, either the pan bolts need to be tightened or the oil filter is loose. More likely than not....pan gasket based on the pic. Would have to see in more detail to be sure.
Looks like your oil pan gasket is leaking. Not uncommon. Mine looked just like that. Noticed a few drops on the floor every few weeks. If you can get under the car with a flashlight, you'll likely see more oil at the front of the pan. I tried to tighten the some of pan bolts but they seemed ok and some you can't even reach. It's a big job. With tax I paid almost $1500.
My LS2 had that and I had to replace the the front timing cover seal. Was a tiny leak that would travel back on the pan. I could not stand it so I fixed it myself. The guy that did my balancer should have done the seal at the same time. Never go back to him.
I notified the seller that it's a potential leak and asked if we could take the car to a GM tech and put it on a rack to verify. My mechanic friend also said it's a leak after looking at the photo.He got all bent out of shape and send me the following text message:
It's not leaking. It's the lighting. I am a man of integrity and have absolutely no reason to lie to you. At this point, if you can't trust me we can move on. No sir (I will not put the car on a lift). Your mechanic is wrong (there is no leak). I feel like you think I have something to hide and I am not comfortable with that. It sound like we are not on the same page.
His response sounds like he is an emotional teenager who get all bent out of shape for asking a simple question. Unreal behavior for a 50+ year old man selling a car.
It happens quite a bit, I have had my car for 10 years. I noticed that my oil pan looked like the one pictured on the first oil change I did at 3800 miles. I decided to wipe down the pan and watch and see what happened. In the time since I have never had a drip of oil hit the ground. I have seen oil on a few pan bolts from time to time and I do have a sheen of oil on the pan that I wipe off at oil changes but nothing more than that. I decided that I would have it fixed if I ever needed to replace the harmonic balancer.
I also never had oil on the ground either but pan had a light coating of oil on it and a minor smell from mist hitting exhaust. It's a very common problem. Factory RTV at opposite ends of pan has failed and needs replacement with new gasket. You should not have oil escaping the pan is the bottom line.
I notified the seller that it's a potential leak and asked if we could take the car to a GM tech and put it on a rack to verify. My mechanic friend also said it's a leak after looking at the photo.He got all bent out of shape and send me the following text message:
It's not leaking. It's the lighting. I am a man of integrity and have absolutely no reason to lie to you. At this point, if you can't trust me we can move on. No sir (I will not put the car on a lift). Your mechanic is wrong (there is no leak). I feel like you think I have something to hide and I am not comfortable with that. It sound like we are not on the same page.
His response sounds like he is an emotional teenager who get all bent out of shape for asking a simple question. Unreal behavior for a 50+ year old man selling a car.
It's not the lighting. You can see the discoloration line from the oil on the bottom of the pan where the lighting is consistent. That said, this would not be a deal breaker for me in buying a Corvette. The guy is probably being honest in the sense that he never sees a drop of oil on his garage floor and the level is never low on the dipstick, and because of that, he's in denial that there could actually be a leak. I might even bet that most C5 and C6 Corvette oil pans show similar evidence of a leak without ever dripping on the floor. If this is otherwise the right Corvette for you with mileage, color, options, etc, I wouldn't worry about that oil pan.
It's not the lighting. You can see the discoloration line from the oil on the bottom of the pan where the lighting is consistent. That said, this would not be a deal breaker for me in buying a Corvette. The guy is probably being honest in the sense that he never sees a drop of oil on his garage floor and the level is never low on the dipstick, and because of that, he's in denial that there could actually be a leak. I might even bet that most C5 and C6 Corvette oil pans show similar evidence of a leak without ever dripping on the floor. If this is otherwise the right Corvette for you with mileage, color, options, etc, I wouldn't worry about that oil pan.
The guy selling the car is really weird. Anytime I ask a question about the car, he takes offense to it and gets defensive. He's only owned the car for about 1.5 years. He claims his wife is making him sell the car because he needs money for household projects.
He sent a video of the car and in the video the guy slams the rear hatch shut. These cars have the self-close latch but he literally just slams it really hard. Not something I would be doing with a self close hatch mechanism. I also noticed in the video the hot oil pressure was in the 23 psi range. I know that's not bad hot oil pressure but the engine temps were around 200F so if the engine gets into the 220F range, the oil pressure will drop more. Car has 33k miles.
It appears to be a nice car based on the pics but the guy is weird and gets emotional, he texted me, "I feel like you think I have something to hide and I am not comfortable with that. It sound like we are not on the same page." So this point, I am done communicating with him.
Below is a pic of my 2013 GS oil pan at ~42k miles. You can see there's clearly no leak or seepage like the one you're considering. FWIW, I added the Z06 exhaust to mine so that's why the cats are different.
Based on how this guy seems to be reacting, I think I'd pass.
Below is a pic of my 2013 GS oil pan at ~42k miles. You can see there's clearly no leak or seepage like the one you're considering. FWIW, I added the Z06 exhaust to mine so that's why the cats are different.
Based on how this guy seems to be reacting, I think I'd pass.
Being that you have a dry sump system. Are they less prone to leak at the oil pan since there isn't any standing oil in the pan?
Being that you have a dry sump system. Are they less prone to leak at the oil pan since there isn't any standing oil in the pan?
No no, the oil still runs down the sides of the pan in operation.
The OP looks like typical oil seepage from the pan gasket right above the oil filter, typical and common, it's AGE, not milage, keep in mind it doesn't seep for way past the warranty period.
I've tried tightening several LS pans and it doesn't matter, the metal in the original gasket is already as tight as it can be, it's the rubber part that has dried out and shrunk.
What's the typical labor charge to drop the pan and replace the gasket?
The front cradle needs to be lowered in order to have room to remove/install the pan. Book time will probably be in the 6-8 hour range (half for removal / half for reassembly). If the shops in your area charge $150/hr.......$900 - $1200 for labor. Add parts, shop suppliers, disposal fees for oil, etc...Call it $1500. It's nothing particularly difficult....just time consuming.
Best bet is to just call a local shop and see what they say.
From the sellers perspective... You're a pain in the ***. Pictures and videos and this and that. I'm selling a car (apparently begrudgingly), not trying to bone your daughter. It's a used car, it's priced fairly, buy it or don't, but don't waste my time or try to dissect it for a discount.
I was selling an inexpensive car one time and had someone do that to me. I was young and wanted it gone. After a few rounds of pictures and videos I realized it was no longer worth my time to deal with that person, because even if he bought it, he'd be trying to haggle me more, and I'd have lost money selling it to this guy with the amount of time he was taking. So i fired him as potential buyer and the next guy I asking about it came by, looked at it, and bought it for asking price no issues.
04-27-2024, 05:01 PM
LS3 Oil Reside - Normal or Leak?
