1996 Pontiac Grand Am Bad oil leak. Cannot locate. Hel

FRANKD762

MEMBER
1996 PONTIAC GRAND AM

Engine Mechanical problem
1996 Pontiac Grand Am 6 cyl Front Wheel Drive Automatic

My son was driving and his check oil light came on. He continued to drive home when the oil pressure light cam on, and the car shut down. When I got to it there was no oil visible on the stick. We filled it and started it, it knocked at first then subsided. I was following him home and noticed smoke from the car. When I looked under the hood there was oil everywhere. I checked the filter and sending unit from underneath when he started it. Ther was a steady stream of oil coming from either above or behind the starter. Did he crack the block or is there a sensor or something in that location that would be leaking? THANX

1 Reply

MASTERTECHTIM

MECHANIC
4,750 POSTS

First of all thank you for your donation. What you are describing to me is a blown oil pump drive o ring. This is a big rubber o ring that goes around the oil pump drive and when they split it pours out engine oil. The part cost a few dollars but it takes a little while to get to. If you remove the air intake rubber and look directly under the throttle body you will see the oil pooled up right there. The throttle body will have to be removed to access the oil pump drive remove the 15 mm bolt that holds the clamp down(it looks like a old school distributor clamp that holds a distributor) pull the oil pump drive straight up and out, remove the old o ring and insall a new one then reinstall it.(It is gear driven like a distributor but it can go in any direction) this should take care of the oil leak.