It’s a scary day for me, fellow firebird enthusiasts. My 1997 firebird with its stock 3800 series 2 L36 hit 160,000 mi last week and I’ve been having a problem with losing oil. Went to a shop to have a dye test done and the shop thinks my head gasket on the passenger side is leaking oil. I love this car, I’d hate to see it go but when they told me I’m looking at anywhere from 1,000 to 3,500 dollars in repairs I had a mini stroke. I started immediately looking online for gaskets and parts trying to find out exactly what I’d need to do it myself, I have a new upper intake that’s been waiting for it’s time to shine and buying the new gaskets doesn’t seem like more than 50 dollars, but what else should I be looking into? New heads, getting the old heads machines, new pistons, new rods, bolts, etc. I’ve never tackled a job like this but I’ve got enough braincells to make it happen with a little help. I’m also considering buying a new used engine for it if that’s the more economic option.
Leaking Head Gasket on 1997 v6
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You said the shop who did the dye test "thinks" the engine is leaking oil at the head gasket. How did they arrive at that conclusion? Dye tests are typically pretty conclusive in their results. As a former service advisor and technician, I'd hate to "think" there's a head gasket problem, sell the job, and be wrong.
A side note: sometimes a shop will give an estimate to a customer, such as $3,500 in this case, as a way of saying they don't want to do the job.
A side note: sometimes a shop will give an estimate to a customer, such as $3,500 in this case, as a way of saying they don't want to do the job.
Honestly I’m highly skeptical of the diagnosis for a few reasons, there’s no coolant oil mixture in my radiator or oil pan, and the oil leak is external to the engine a little over halfway on the engine of the passenger side. I am half tempted to say it’s a valve cover gasket failure. I don’t notice any loss in engine performance, no smoke of any color from the exhaust, the only thing tipping them off is a slow oil leak and we can’t really pinpoint where from as the dye oil didn’t shine under a blacklight where the oil leak was. It’s a very slow very partial drip, maybe a drop of oil every few hours. The mechanic seemed to be half sure about it being a head gasket, but it could very well be something else.
Did the shop de-grease the engine before performing the dye test? That's both elementary and critical.
A drip "every few hours" as you describe it would most likely be classified as a class III leak. That's pretty significant. I find it unlikely that the head gasket would be leaking oil at that pace without any other head gasket failure-related symptoms manifesting, but that is possible.
A drip "every few hours" as you describe it would most likely be classified as a class III leak. That's pretty significant. I find it unlikely that the head gasket would be leaking oil at that pace without any other head gasket failure-related symptoms manifesting, but that is possible.
Probably not honestly
I'd ask them that. You might also be able to tell yourself. The engine would be much cleaner than it was before they did the dye test, and de-greasers commonly leave a wet looking sheen behind.
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