eanhl2004

I had a small oil leak...couple of drops a day maybe?

Really rainy one day and drove through some puddles and when I tried to turn the power steering went out so bad that I had to brake, it came back on and I backed up and completed my turn! (from then on I left it in the garage on rainy days)
I had the water pump replaced last year... noticed the radiator mount cover wasn't in place and tried to figure it out... appeared as though it wasn't seated correctly... I raced from a stop light and heard a thud (sounded like my tranny mount again-just replaced last year) then I get home and maybe a day or two later notice a strong smell of Radiator fluid... I had pulled the car outside and cleaned it and I found a fairly large puddle of radiator fluid/water...

Took the car in and they said the radiator was cracked ( I was pretty sure it was coming from the 3/8" tubing (inlet) into the radiator being bent...

The shop (my stepdad's friends shop) replaced the radiator/ fixed the broken mounting cover...flushed the radiator...(90,000 miles...not sure when it was last done..new radiator figured better to flush it) and they cleaned the motor as they said oil was all over... they couldn't tell where from for sure...so they want me to watch the drips and bring it back in 3 weeks depending on the leak severity...

what effects would a slipping belt have on engine running smooth?

I also had a rear pinion seal replaced...it never leaked on the ground? I figured it was oil and dirt from the front...

anyways I had some 'hesitation' and/or 'roughness' before I took the car in this week...I had a very squeeky belt? made more noise for the first few minutes the car was started. and I think when turning it got worse..now the car runs great... it's very SMOOTH on acceleration, so much so that I didn't realize how bad the car was before until I got it back... I was wondering what kind of effects a rear pinion seal has on the camaro's performance... and would a slow/small radiator leak cause belt slippage... am I wrong in thinking that oil was getting on the belt and causing slippage when it was actually radiator fluid? They said the belt is in great shape, they checked it and no signs of oil or wear... they water tested it and the power steering and it was fine...

Lastly the oil hasn't dripped since I got it back friday.. they said it didn't drip at all in the 3 days they had it (waiting for the radiator).... but they said it probably needs all new seals... not sure I want to put new seals on this engine with 90,000 miles on it, and the car is a keeper...

They said it looks like somebody tried to jack it up under the core support? or (corsa port) Not sure LOL< don't have a clue??? I figured it just wasn't installed fully down into the 'grooves'
any advice/comments/knowledge

Thanks!

Injuneer

Where EXACTLY is the oil dripping from? Appears since you related it to the serpentine belt slippage, it's the front of the engine. There are seals on the timing cover for the Opti distributor and the water pump drive shaft, and a seal for the crankshaft. Any/all of those could be leaking. Then there's a gasket for the timing cover. Not sure why you would NOT want to replace the seals and eliminate the oil leaks because "the car is a keeper". If you plan to keep it, the seals have to be replaced before the leaks do serious damage. Get oil into the distributor, and you're looking at up to $400 for parts alone. Replacing the seals would not be a very difficult task, although is gets a bit labor intensive to remove the water pump, distributor and crank damper hub.

As far as someone jacking under the radiator core, that sounds plausible. That would damage your radiator, causing it to leak, and might push it upwards enough to displace/break the top plastic cover.

A slipping serpentine belt would only cause the engine to run rough if it was slipping so badly the alternator wasn't turning. That would cause low system voltage, and the fuel system and ignition would suffer. Other than that, the belt is only turning the power steering pump and the A/C compressor, so it wouldn't make the engine run rough. On the other hand, oil leaking into the Opti, or "radiator fluid" (more correctly - "coolant") leaking on the Opti and ignition wires could easilly make it run rough.

Although the belt may be in good condition, they need to check the belt tensioner, to make sure it is holding the serpentine belt tight enough to eliminate slipping. There is an indicator line of the tensioner housing that will show if the tensioner is applying the correct tension.

The pinion seal would have no affect at all on how it runs.

eanhl2004

They cleaned the motor so that the oil leak would be more obvious to them, rather than simply going and resealing the complete motor at an expense of a couple thousand. I had a Oil Filter not installed correctly from Valvoline Instant Oil Change, same place that 'touched' my air filter after I told them SPECIFICALLY NOT TO!!! so that leaked oil all over the back of the motor I believe, can't recall specifically where it's at? And the car had an oil leak out of the oil level sensor when I bought it... so even though the car is 'super clean' as they say.. it appears oil is leaking all over which is why they wanted to clean it and see, especially since they hadn't seen a drop in 2-3 days they had it. I'm good with this methodology. The problem I have with resealing the motor is the car runs great for what it is. I don't know with the way it's running the past few years if it's worth spending the cash to reseal a possible trouble motor I've only put 30,000 miles on it out of the 90,000. If I was a mechanic I would probably straight up pull the motor and completely rebuild it or maybe go with a 383! I guess my point of 'keeper' and 'worth it' is if you spend the money to remove the motor, just resealing it seems like a lot of labor for what could be short term solution to an eventual problem. The air filter was off for who knows how long...couple hundred or maybe a few thousand miles? It's ran out of gas twice, the fuel gauges are crap from 1/2 to 1/4 they should say 1/4 and 1/8 instead or just Get Your XXX to a gas station immediately.. I literally watched the gas gauge go from 1/4 to empty all while trying to get to the gas station...

I have had some belt noises and currently although the belt noise was significantly reduced from the shop this week I still hear some kind of rhythmic noise? the shop said they checked the tensioner...all seemed good... when I look down at the front end it appears as though the ?tensioner? silver wheel right in front/below the alternator has s light wobble to it... not sure if the radiator could have hit it and damaged it as that side was the side not mounted correctly or dislodged from the core support issue?

The oil still isn't dropping anywhere? I thought when I was under it last year that it was a seal on the 'intake' maybe right under the valve covers? But that was just a kind of guess... nothing obvious going on besides the drops on the floor.

The water pump was replaced last year and I've failed at doing my inspections of the coolant levels, the guy said the coolant was low? I do recall that I've smelled a hint of radiator fluid over the years, mostly when I really push the car hard and then immediately stop and get out of the car... I looked on the ground for any leaks and found nothing (stupidly I should have been keeping an eye on the coolant level at least once a year) I'm thinking this radiator might have been leaking a very little bit for a very long time and the engine was 'burning' it off... never seen any signs of radiator fluid in the oil!

I'm thinking also that because I've been stuck driving the tahoe for the past week that I just adjusted to it's very slow performance... the belt probably is gripping much better now as well... but I think a lot of that smooth acceleration is probably just the camaro having power and the tahoe having nothing... lol

Anyways I guess the opti could be part of it if the oil is leaking slowing from the front... I will probably try and get a video up of the belt issue and an image of the 'bent' core support? other than that I guess what I am getting at here is what would you recommend if it turns out that I need some major seals replaced? Should I just pay for a complete rebuild, maybe more, replace the motor entirely with the same but new motor and some small upgrades, or go for a 383? I am not trying to get a beast... If I upgrade at all it wouldn't be much. I plan on keeping this car forever though and I prefer spending the money right... not replacing the seals this year, the intake next year, etc... I know that labor is high and would prefer to get the most out of any labor costs I am going to end up paying? either that or maybe I need to just get certified and become a mechanic...how many years would that take? (I'm a fast learner)

eanhl2004

I made a video of the car, there seems to be a slight wobble in two areas... and as you can hear it does make some noises, it's not nearly as bad currently as it was before the radiator leak was fixed with a new radiator. They said the cross-member looks like someone attempted to jack the car up from the front end? It seems that the belt noise gets a 'little' worse by the day?

Not sure where that corner piece that was repaired was found?

[autostream]http://autostream.com/camaroz28/?page_type=firebirdplayerthumbnail&framepage=1348& transactionid=1309866038-9820938107&posted_by=eanhl2004_www.camaroz28.com&y outube_video_id=YVYbYYzUVbQ[/autostream]

Still no oil drips!

eanhl2004

Got under car today, swapped out bumper lights... found k&n air filter off AGAIN, thinking I may go back to stock filter...

Engine was cleaned last week no drops of oil on the ground but I did find oil drips on the wire casing right below the spark plug for 'cylinder #1'?