Oily, grimey oil pan.
 

I've been searching for a car with a 3800 engine for a while now, and this appears to be the best resource for info on it. I have looked at a '01 Bonneville, '01 Impala LS, and various other cars. My question is: I have noticed a fair amount of these cars have a oily if not grimey film on the oil pan under the car...Is this indicative of a oil leak previous or current? If so, is this something to steer clear of when I see this on one of these engines?

Not 100% sure about the oil pan gasket design on all of the 3800 K and 3800 II SC Vin 1 engines... But I have seen a gasket in a few that seemed to be a one piece plastic windage tray with an incorperated oil pan gasket....

I have had my oil pan gasket replaced 7 years ago for that film of oil on the oil pan... It has stayed dry the whole time... My 91 is due for an oil pan gasket, as it has that film on it and it has the original pan gasket... The 91's design is diffrent tho, it just has a gasket... The tray is built in...lol

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I haven't had to do a oil change yet on mine, but on several other GM V6's, the Oil Filer is in a spot where it dumps oil down the side of the block and onto the oil pan upon removal.. Could this be it?

on my 2000 SE, the oil filter is at the bottom fron of the engine... very little oil gets on the pan (if it does its on the left front side if you are looking at it from the front of the vehicle)

I have seen that on many 3100,3400 V6's and my friends Quad 4....

The 3800's have an oil filter adapter, the oil filter is on the firewall side of the Balancer... Not too bad of a mess... :wink:

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So, would this keep any of you from buying a car? I've always shyed away from this, but I'm not a mechanic.

I wouldn't. Unless it is runny, and it obviously leaks, or has a visible leak, then it should be alright. Could just be shit from the road, or whatever. Ya never know.

When I pulled my original pan, it was clean as can be, except where the hole in the pan was :oops:.


-justin

I think what you might be seeing is the typical or so I've heard 3800 rear main seal seepage. On the higher mileage motors they tend to seep from the rear main seal. It's nothing to worry about, doesn't use any oil and doesn't drip on the ground. Just a little moist pan that won't rust.

Well, it sounds like it's not too big of a deal then. This should broaden my choices a bit then. Guess I should go by more how the car drives than a little grime. lol