2002 Pontiac Bonneville Oil Leak Seized

PONTIAC BONNEVILLE
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PAULMOZIK
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  • 1 POST
I had my oil changed at the oil shop on my 2002 Bonneville 3800 engine with 92000 miles and after 2 weeks all the oil leaked out in the garage over night.I drove it next morning and you know what happened after 4 miles the engine locked.
I was told that my oil pump pressure was to high and blew the seal on the oil filter, and leaked all the oil out of the engine. Is this possible? My theory is that the filter was not tight enough and became loose causing the oil leak. I checked with Pontiac dealer mechanic and he told me that he has not seen this happened in 30 years. Can you please shine some light on this problem.
Mar 5, 2007 at 5:36 AM
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MMPRINCE3000
  • ✓Experienced Mechanic
  • 133 POSTS
I agree with you and the Pontiac tech. The only way to prove it is to check the oil pressure with a mechanical gauge, unfortunatly the engine has siezed.
You will at least need a short block or maybe a long block. It may be possible to save the current engine with new bearings/crank/rods/cam bearings, but proving that they caused it is tough.
Save the oil filter, it may be they put the wrong one on, that would be easier to prove.
Mar 7, 2007 at 3:19 AM

Suggested Repair

The seized engine will likely need a short block or long block, or possibly new bearings, crank, rods, and cam bearings. Save the oil filter to check whether the wrong filter was installed. High oil-pump pressure blowing the filter seal is unlikely and cannot be verified now that the engine has seized.

Conversation Summary

After an oil change on a 2002 Pontiac Bonneville with a 3800 engine, all the oil leaked out overnight and the engine seized after being driven about four miles. The shop blamed excessive oil-pump pressure for blowing the oil-filter seal, while the owner suspected a loose filter. A dealer mechanic and the expert agreed that high pressure is an unlikely explanation. The expert said pressure cannot be checked on the seized engine, recommended saving the filter to see if the wrong one was installed, and said a short block, long block, or major internal repair is needed.

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