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OK, I am feeling sorry for myself and whinning

I have an oil leak. I took it in to a garage and they said it is too tough to tell where it is coming from, it could come from any gasket related connection point on the engine.so they start from the top. they would charge me $200.00 to change the valve cover gaskets, and about $500.00 to replace the LIM gasket. They would still not be sure they found the leak until it STOPPED leaking. I am frustrated

I am going to clean the engine and watch to see myself.

Would a leaking valve cover really produce three to six drops of oil under the car? For some reason I don't think that is the cause...I would think any valve cover leak would burn off before it got to the ground...

The leak seems to be in a line across the car, Not the front of the engine.. I am thinking oil pan gasket....What do you think? is that common? There are nearly 20 boldts holding that thing up. It must take two people to get it off. I am only one....

Why aren't there any members in my area?? I have beer and food...

You could always move down to CT or MA. Plenty of members around here.

Where are the actual drips coming off? Driver side/Passenger Side?

First thing you want to do is steer clear of that garage. If they don't suggest cleaning the motor and returning a few days later to gain a better understanding of the leak...I'm leary.

Take your hand and run your fingers along the bottom of the back valve cover. Do your fingers come back wet or only dirty? A leak that bad would leave your fingers wet.

Then clean that motor down and go for a drive. Look for where the wetness seems to originate. I'm going to toss out a guess of driverside by the transmission. It'* possible this is an oil pan..however more likely its the rear cover of the motor with loose bolts.

As for the oil pan..it only takes one person to remove it. Those 20 bolts are to help the gasket seal etc.

I'd be very wary of any shops whose method of repair is to throw parts at it, and see the result.

Clean the engine as Bill suggests, and look for leaks; or take some flour or baby powder and poof it onto suspected areas to see where the oil removes it; or get some dye that is viewable under a black light.

Oil pans can easily become leaky if you're not careful with the floor jack. Fortunately they are a breeze to change gaskets on, be prepared to shell out about $35 for a gasket! The pan is some kind of a composite and you can bang the dents out of them....voice of experience! If you're lucky, it will be the pan but there are a lot of placed to lose oil.

I changed my oil last week, and just for the heck of it i put a torque wrench on the oil pan bolts, and found three that were loose, so you could start out by just checking the tightness on them. (128 inch pounds i think)

Also, the valve cover gaskets are really easy to replace.

Being that the motor will be in the car, the procedure for changing the pan gasket includes removing the oil pick up tube because the gasket for the S2 from 96-99 and may apply to 95 L36'* is the windage tray. There is not enough clearnance in the vehicle to put the gasket on w/o removing the pickup tube. Out of the vehicle, there is room.

GM does suggest a gasket sealer to be applied on both sides of the gasket. This coupled with attempting to put the oil pick up tube and gasket back in makes it more fun. I found that getting the gasket and pick up tube back on, cleaning the gasket then applying the sealer with a finger is much easier than fumbling with the pickup and a gasket that has sealant on it. The trick to this is to let the engine drip oil for about an hour or more.

There is also the low oil sensor that gets in the way when puling down the pan.

Gosh..how could I have forgotten that nuisance. Yes, you must loosen the sensor at the least.