I recently picked up a 2002 Blazer 4x4 with the 4.3L V6 enbine from my dad who no longer needed it. It only has 56K miles on it, and I know it's been treated like a baby and garaged it's whole life. When I got it there were no signs of any fluid leaks, and nothing dripped on the driveway.


When I picked it up from my dad, it was due for an oil change, so I went to the local GMC dealer for LOF, and I got the transfer case fluid changed too, since it has never been done. According to my receipt, they put in GM 5W-30 oil.


Within a week, I start seeing puddles of oil on the driveway. I look under and see it dripping off the drain plug. So I take it back to the GMC dealer to have it checked out, hoping it's just a loose drain plug or something simple like that. They tell me my oil pan gasket is leaking. $13 for the part, but almost $1000 for labor, as apparently the front differential is in the way to drop the oil pan. Needless to say, I declined.


They, of course, took zero responsibility that the leak started only after they changed the oil. They simply said it's 12 years old and pan gaskets eventually leak and that nothing about changing the oil would have caused it. I might have bought that if it wasn't for the fact that I know for certain that it didn't leak a drop before I brought it in, and now I'm getting decent sized puddles, and it all happened almost immediately after the oil change. But I know that's a pointless battle to fight with a dealer - but they certainly won't get another dime of my money again.


Needless to say, given what's all involved to change the pan gasket, I'm looking for alternative solutions, such as oil stop-leak additives, etc. Searching the web, I see both good and bad stories - for some people, it works great and they go for another 100K+ miles without another oil leak, while others say it doesn't help at all. Some say it doesn't hurt your engine at all, while others say it's the worst thing you can do to your engine.


Any suggestions?


Thanks


- Jay