Hello all, I have a 2000 chevy blazer with what seems to be an oil leak. I have a small puddle of oil underneath my blazer. It is all black and seems like old oil. I always get oil changes at 3,000 miles or 3 months. I looked underneath to see where the oil is comming from. It is comming from what I think is the oil pan. There is a large nut, looks like the oil drain nut. The nut is screwed in towards the front of the car and releases toward the rear. Is this the oil drain plug?? I have to get my blazer inspected in March and would like to get the inspection done as well as this problem fixed. The oil puddle is not big, maybe 6 inches by 6 inches. Just recently saw the puddle and where it is comming from. I can see a drip forming on the nut, from what I think is the oil drain plug. Let me know what you think. The last thing I had done on my car was an oil change, by 10 minute oil change, should have went to my regular mechanic, dumb of me. I had an oil leak before, but that was comming from the front of the car, I had to get oil lines replaces from the oil cooler or something like that. That time it was comming from the oil filter, leaked onto that and on the ground. That was the oil lines that were old and needed replaced, so I did all that. That was the last oil leak problem I had, maybe 2 years ago. Hope you guys can help. Thanks.

 

3 or 4 possibilities

1-indeed the drain plug, could be loose or stripped(common on the soft aluminum pans)

2-Rear main seal

3-oil pan gasket

4-long shot, but the oil pressure sensor is located top of engine under dist. cap and could be leaking down. unlikely, but possible.

hope for number 1

 

How much do you think it woudl cost to repair #1,#2,#3, or #4?? Just a ball park figure. Does it sound like something serious?? I seen on ebay a new oil pan is about $60 or so. gaskets could not be that much, but labor os prolley a lot. Is it much work to drop out the oil pan and replace it or the gasket? Thanks.

 

1-10-20 bucks with whats called a temporary oil drain plug, ive been using one for years.

2-transmission has to come out-i was quoted 4-500

3-tricky on a 4x4 yes no idea on price-at least a couple hours labour

4-not sure what the part is worth but fairly easy repair

 

Oil leaks can be a pain because they rarely drip from where they are actually leaking.

I had a very similar issue with my old 2k Bravada. I originally thought I had a bad rear main seal, but inspection of the flex plate showed that it was dry. If the rear main were leaking, the flex plate would be wet.

The plug itself is the lowest point on the pan so oil normally finds its way there, regardless of where it is leaking and the turbulence under the truck while driving down the road causes oil to travel around.

Another possibility is from the, often problematic oil cooler lines or possibly from the oil adapter that bolts to the bottom of the block.

My problem stemmed from loose pan bolts. It took a few tries, but finally I was able to get them tightened down good and keep them that way. I had to remove them, clean the bolts and the holes with brake cleaner, blow out the holes, apply medium strength Loctite to the bolts, and finally torque them to spec to keep them from loosening up.

There are some pretty cool products available at most autoparts stores for locating the source of oil leaks. One that I have used in the past on vehicles which proved quite perplexing is a fluorescent dye that is added to the oil. It fluoresces with a black light showing you the source, very CSI'esque. I would start with a good cleaning of the underside of the truck to start from a clean slate.

 

Got it. Gonna drop my blazer off at the shop this week. Will let you know what the outcome is. Thanks again.

 

oil leakage is inevitable, if its just a few drips, like mine is, its not a big deal, unless you hate the spots on your driveway, mines dirt.

 

the wifes 2001 LT 4x4 4.3 has a small drip Gm wants 800 CDN to fix
the pan gasket ,from what I can see its quite a bit of labour to drop the pan
I just check her oil quite regular

 

ya mine is leaking oil also (2k blazer) but not much, never had to add any between oil changes, but dam that oil is every where under the engine, after I get it running will look into it more when its warmer.

 

Well, Got a call from my mechanic...He says the oil leak is comming from the Oil drain plug, So I told him to fix that, which is an easy fix, and he recommended putting in High mileage oil, said okay to that. My car passed inspection and emissions. But, He found one other problem, I have a radiator fluid leak. Its the intake manifold that is leaking, the gasket is bad is what he told me. So, I told him okay to fix that. I also told him to check the belt and hoses and see if any of them need replaced and to call me back if they do. I am no mechanical engineer and have no idea how much labor or costs might be involved. But, He told me about $975.00 for all the work. That is the state inspection, emissions, intake manifold gasket, high mileage oil, fix oil drain plug and flush radiator fluid and refill and put in new themostat. Am I getting ripped off?? I mean taking off the intake manifold sounds like a hard job. I am no good with the motor stuff on cars. I do not own a torque wrench so there would be no way I could tackle such a project. He said car will be done late today or early tomorrow. Good thing I got my income tax return. Thats about it for now. Let me know what you think. thanks.