What would be leaking from here? (GM 3800)

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Was changing my oil today and noticed this area is wet. To me it looks like the transmission (like a seal leak) but the transmission fluid level was fine. I do notice a burning smell (I thought it was oil) in the engine compartment sometimes but I assumed it was from me spilling oil.

Sorry about the photo... it's from my phone, all I had with me.

The rusty squarish thing is the oil (tank?) and I think the thing that says "M6" is the transmission pan. The car is a 2001 Buick Regal LS.

Any ideas?
03-21-09-122434.jpg
 
Can you wick some up on a clean tissue and get an idea of color? Is it running down from somewhere? I can't tell from the picture. It looks like the very start of an ATF pan gasket leak. The color of the fluid will tell you better though. An ATF leak will take some time to lower the fluid level, especially if it just started and its a small leak.
 
It seemed more like it was running "out", if that makes any sense. Like out from an area of the transmission pan that is not readily visible. I will have to put it up on the ramps again tomorrow and check out the color (don't know why I didn't do that the first time...)

I'm assuming transmission fluid would smell like regular oil if it was burning?
 
Color and smell of the actual fluid is what you're after. Hard to tell the difference of smell once it's burning, although someone with a good nose might be able to tell. I can tell the difference in smell before it burns.


Have a look at where the dipstick/fill tube enters the transmission, it could be coming from there. HTH
 
It does help, thanks! I will post back tomorrow after I get a chance to do some investigation.
 
Possibly... I looked previously for valve cover leakage and didn't see any, but that doesn't mean it hasn't started.

It will all depend on what the fluid that is there, is.
 
It looks to me like the transmission housing may be damp (in the background) - but the area around the pan gasket it clean and dry - so it seems to be coming from above. Based on the route it seems to be taking, my guess is the rear valve cover. That would explain why you could smell oil burning on occasion too - as it would have to run past or near the exhaust to get to where you see it now.

At least on the Regal it shouldn't be too hard to see back there. I would grab a small mirror (about 5" in diameter) to try to see back there from the top. That would probably be the easiest way - as the transmission will probably block your view from below even if you get under there.

Good luck - and keep us posted!
John
 
It really looks to be a rear valve cover just starting to weep. It will get worse and the smell of burning oil will get stronger too. I would get it fixed soon. It can get so bad that the lower engine and/or trans mount can get covered in this oil from this leak causing these mounts to become bad. Fixing valve cover leak now will save more $$ now then later.
wink.gif
 
I say tighten your valve covers and get a can of Gunk engine degreaser and clean the engine at one of those DIY spray car washes and then see if it returns.
 
I would do that if it wasn't such a pain to get to the rear valve cover. There is a lot of stuff in the way back there.
 
OK, just got back from checking this out. The fluid is oil, and I'm pretty sure it's from when I topped off without a funnel and spilled a couple months ago. Somehow I managed to forget that I had done that.

FWIW, both of the valve covers were dry.
 
Hate to tell you this but the 3800 is pretty famous for a faulty intake manifold gasket. (Google 3800 manifold gasket) I have a '98 Grand Prix with the 3800 that leaks oil all down to the bottom of the engine and I'm pretty well sure it is coming out around the intake gasket as I can trace the oil up to where it puddles on top of the engine at a couple of places. Some of these gaskets have also leaked coolant into the oil resulting in seized engines if not caught in time. I'm blessed that I've seen no sign of water in my oil...yet!!

The fix is to replace the gasket with an improved metal reinforced gasket that doesn't deform. I plan to do this myself in the next couple of months.

Hope this helps,

Kenny <>{
 
No worries, I knew that already (although I wish I had known about it before I bought the car).

My leak is definitely some kind of gasket leak, verified by the friendly Buick mechanic when I had the recall done to prevent a fire from this exact problem.

(mechanic: "You gotta oil leak over here!")

At this point I'm "monitoring" it. I don't have the room to do this kind of fix myself, and I don't know if I want to pay my mechanic to do it. The car has a lot of other issues, none of which are cheap to fix, so the car is pretty day-to-day, at least for me.
 
Yea, I received a recall notice on my GP a few weeks ago. What a joke!! A new sparkplug wire guide of some sort to channel the oil away from the exhaust instead of fixing the cause?!?!

Sorry you are having so many issues with your Buick. Overall I've been pretty pleased with the GP but the electrical parts GM used back in '98 are terrible. (Ignition switch twice repaired, 3 of the 4 power windows no longer operate and the 4th one is sometimes intermittent)

Anyway, have a great day,

Kenny<>{
 
Try Auto-RX. It made the ever-so-slightly weeping valve cover seals on my Buick LeSabre dry right up.

And made the transmission smoother to boot.
 
A joke is right! I don't even think there's a guide, it looks like just 3 plastic wire looms to hold the spark plug wires. I don't see how it would keep oil off the manifold... and in fact, mine is still burning oil there after the recall fix. Oh well.

I'm not too down about the Buick... it's serving it's purpose, which was to eliminate a car payment while I pay off my credit card debt and save for a new car. BTW, my driver's side rear window doesn't work either... :)

sciphi, I have a bottle sitting here waiting for the next oil change (2000 miles from now).
 
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