Hi guys,


After picking up my Z28, I discovered an oil leak. I took it in to a mechanic, they diagnosed it was coming from worn valve cover seals and the Harmonic Balancer seals. 400 bucks later, I pick the car up and the leak is dramatically slowed (only a couple drops per stop) but is still occurring. Over the next month I took it back to them twice and was told they couldn't find a leak and it was residue coming off the engine (There has been dye in the oil since the first time I picked it up). Now, almost 3 months later it's still leaking so I took the car back to them again.

This time they tell me it's a leak from the distributer. That this is likely a cracked distributer and it may need to be replaced at a cost of 270 bucks labor and 750+ dollars for the part! I see them listed for 150-250 for the OEM and ~500 for the performance versions on Autozone/checkers. Is there something I'm missing about this that makes them quote 750, or am I being had?

 

tryin to rob you

 

Well..a cracked optispark is not going to cause a oil leak. The optispark drive seal on the timing cover will.

 

either way charging 750 for an opti is trying to rob someone

 

Amen..and charging to replace the wrong part is almost a crime.

 

True, and if the opti was cracked and being soaked down with oil everyday im pretty positive that you would be experincing ignition problems by now, its a very sensitive piece that fails rather easily... you should tell them they are full of S***t and tell them to fix the leak

 

Personally I would tell them to pound sand completely.... They obviously have no clue or at least are taking you for a ride!!

#1: They've had the car multiple times and NOT Fixed the problem
#2: Now they are just marking up prices for expensive parts and including that in the solutions to milk you

Go to another mechanic, and never look back!!!

 

sounds like its your distributor drive seal thats leaking, not the distributor itself..

the seal shouldnt cost anymore than a few bucks,the labor would probably be a couple hundred..

you probably need to get that seal replaced as it will probably leak onto your optispark distributor causing it to fail eventually.. that will cost the price of a new optispark distributor and labor, which is what the mechanic has currently quoted you..

 

I definitely plan to fix the problem whatever it is. It's just that I've grown very skeptical after they've constantly told me there is no oil leak, it's coming from the same vicinity as the leak they previously fixed, and now they're quoting me a seemingly outrageous price for the part.

I'm going to take it into the shop used by a local vette club and have them look it over instead.

Thanks guys.

 

The shop is not trying to rip you off on the part at all. GM LIST for the opti is $717.72 and most shops charge list price for parts. Sure, you can get it cheaper from other sources, but the shop charging list price is normal business. However, the leak coming from the opti is another story. It's probably the opti or water pump seal.

 

That may be what GM lists the part as, but the chances of that shop actually buying it from them for that is probably slim, they would most likely buy the cheapest one they could find and charge him 750 for it

 

You can't reliably say what what they would or would not do. But, what shops do is pay wholesale price from the dealer and sell it as retail to their customer. That is how they make money on the parts. It's always been that way and not a big scam or unknown practice.

 

It is common on LT1's for the rear of the valve covers to leak oil. It is also pretty common (depending on the year) to have the oil cooler come loose and leak there...

The opti could be cracked but if it was you would most likely have drivability issues. Since you aren't reporting performance issues I would assume the Opti is still okay, however the seal behind it may not be...


harmonic balancer seals? was it the crank seal in the front? What sort of dye did they put in the oil? While the shop could be doing legit work and quoting correct prices....It sounds like either a loss of communication between the mechanic and service report or they are not telling you the whole truth....


Since you are on this forum is it correct to assume you are going to try your hand at troubleshooting the problem yourself? With the wealth of information and many knowledgeable people on this site you could potentially save a lot of money.

EDIT: looking at your previous posts you do wrench on your ride.... I wonder why you do not try to fix the problem yourself, instead of throwing money at a mechanic?

 

I have no performance issues, it's running great. Just a few drips of oil everytime I park it.

The first time I took it in, they told me to repair the leak they changed the harmonic balancer and put new valve cover seals. I asked if they put in a new balancer or just redid the seals around it and they told me the seals. Their pricing was on par with quotes from other dealers.

I didn't know there were different kinds of dye for the oil, so I don't know there. I was told when I picked it up there was dye in it so they can spot any continuing leaks. I assumed it was normal UV dye.

As for working on it myself... I don't really do repairs on it myself. Yet. The replacement radiator was the most complicated thing I've done and I had a mechanic actually walking me through most of it. Currently I'm taking a basic auto mechanics class at the local Comm College, and practicing on my old Mazda, that's not much of a loss even if I set it on fire. I'm more nervous about working on the Camaro.

 

If you are not having performance issues I wouldnt worry about it, untill the opti goes bad then have them fix it all, or maybe by that time you will feel comfratable with doing the opti yourself