Has anyone had success with engine oil stop leak additives? I have developed a slight leak from my oil pan gasket and don’t want to replace it right now, not to mention it looks like a real pain.

Thanks in advance!!!

From my experience, those stop leaks are a very temporary fix at best. Oil leaks in any car are not good, in a Fiero they make me downright nervous. Changing the pan gasket is a PITA, but not really all that bad. Don't know about the Duke, but on my GT, I needed to pull the starter, tranny dust shield, move part of the exhaust out of the way, and remove a motor mount. I also had A LOT of cleaning to do, as the previous owner had let the leak go. Took about 8 hours, but half of that was cleaning all that old sludge and grease off. I figure if I'm going to fix something, may as well clean it at the same time. Well worth the effort though, the engine is nice and clean and I'm not leaking oil anymore.

------------------
Brad
86 GT 5 speed
Aren't all Fieros project cars?

I've had luck with coolant stop leak additives. And some luck with oil ones. the only time a oil one worked for me was for a rear main oil seal leak. It worked for 2 weeks. yippee. then it leaked worse. booo.

I have had success with a product from Permatex that coats a leaking seal with a plastic/rubbery spray. You get the area very clean (get an old toothbrush and scrub!), and spray multiple coats, going past the area leaking. I haven't used it on areas that see heat like an oil pan, just on gear boxes. Some repairs have lasted longer than I want to admit to.

It is not that expensive. Give us some feedback on your results.

TG

Some stop leak products work by softening the seals, this makes them swell and seal better. This will also eat some gaskets and gasket sealers causing your leak to get worse. If you have a place to work on your car replace the gasket. I have used stop leak in my coupe, it worked for a while but I had to replace the valve cover gasket. The front seal was leaking real bad but after a few 100 miles the stop leak did slow it down. (The coupe is now a parts car after toasting some valves)
The spray is interesting, I would like to hear how it works if you try it.

Over time the oil pan gasket can shrink and the small bolts can become loose from the oil.Try and snug up the bolts (dont over tighten)and use the proper sequence (some sort of zig zag, for tightening the bolts).

Excellent suggestions everyone! I’ll try to snug up bolts first like James Bond 007 mentioned, however the bolts by the engine mount might be a pain. As for the underside being a mess, it’s pretty ugly down there.

TennT, the spray on sealant you mentioned sounds like a good product. It’s just that it is going to be pretty hard getting into the edge of the oil pan. I still like the Idea of a spray on sealant. It might be a good Idea to keep some handy on a long road trip.

I’ve read a previous thread about changing out the oil pan gasket, which was very informative. There just seemed to be some debate about which way to hold up the engine when the engine mount was removed. I think I’ll try the 4X4 block of wood method. It’s just a matter of time and lack of working space.

Anyone else had good/bad luck with engine oil stop/leak additives?

Anyway, thanks for the advice everyone