Ok guys my 96 lt1 is leaking oil. I noticed it after a 30 mial drive, my rear bumper was covered in oil. And when I let it idle you can see it dripping behind the motor. I lost 1 qt of oil in the 30 mial drive. What do you guys think it is?My guess is rear seal.

 

Check the rear of your intake? oil filter?

 

I plan to trace the leak down and fix it this weak end. If it is the rear seal do I have to drop the oil pan also?

 

if its the rear main seal you need to drop the tranny no need to pull off the oil pan. i took mine to the shop to get my new clutch and flywheel installed and i gave the a new rear main seal and they did it all without taking my oil pan off

 

Before you do any thing check your oil sender!

 

Agree'd check everything you can out before you rule it as the rear main seal. Check ur filter, intake, pan LIP seal, oil pressure sending unit, and if it alllllll checks out and you find out it IS your seal, unless you have a ton of patients and the right tools, you'll need a shop to do it. Yes you will need to remove your transmission to get to the seal. The 2nd gen sbc blocks are all 1pc seals, and the flywheel/flexplate mount (or counterweight) is pressed on and removable. Once this is off, if you are careful have patients and a steady hand, you can remove the old seal and just very gently get the new one pressed into correct placement. Good luck with this, i wish you well lol

 

It's usually never the rear main and almost always the intake. Start feeling around with your hand on the back of the block to see if oil is leaking out the back of the intake.

 

Sounds like a mess. I would totally degrease and then spray wash the undercarriage. After it is all nice and clean dump a couple of oz of flourescent dye in the oil, run it for a few mins, then view with a uv light. The dye with the uv pen light is available at any auto parts store. This can save you alot of work replacing gaskets you do not need too.

JD