I was looking at buying this 1989 Pontiac Trans Am, 305 TPI, 116,000 miles. I looked underneath the car and found oil all over the bottom of the engine and transmisson. I'm assuming the rear seal is leaking. I was wondering if this common with the 305 engines?

 

could be just about anything..oil sender, valve covers...back of the intake......all of these will make a big mess if left leaking for a while.


I suggest a closer inspection....


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ASE Mechanic/Machinist/Smog Tech

1999 NBM Trans Am
1986 Chevy 3/4 ton pick up
1981 corvette
1995 Kawi ZX6R
and 2 POS commuters...

R.I.P. #3
"He can see air"

 

The front and rear main seals leak oil on mine. I have heard this is very common on 305's. I would love to fix it but am not willing to pull engine just for that. I lose about a quart from leaks and burn over the course of 3,000 miles - no big deal.

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Scott
84 Z28 305

 

Yea i was talking to my friend and he said i'd have to pull the tranny to get that new seal in, what a pain, yea i also looked and the valve cover was leaking on it too, probably just needed a new gasket. Oh well, hes asking to much for the problems that it has.

 

As a rule of tumb I don't buy cars that are leaking oil. That's like a body leaking blood. You know there is a problem. There are too many 3rd gens out there that do not leak to buy one that does. Be patient! Be smart! A fool and his money are so parted!

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86 Camaro Black SS Coupe, T Tops, Flowmaster, Custom Paint, Dunlop Road Kings S/R tires, Wheel Country Directional Chrome Wheels, New Leather seats, new carpet and headliner, complete front end suspension rebuild, new Valve seals, and more mods to come
http://www.angelfire.com/sports/niterider/86camaro.html
Morgan_Andre@hotmail.com

 

I second the above, don't buy a car that leaks anything... if its a good price just for the frame and body and you don't mind rebuilding the engine or know someone that can put in a cheap engine, then by all means buy it... otherwise it's not worth the trouble. The most important thing in buying a used car is if it has a solid frame and a good clean well maintained engine, once you have those two you're gold... just don't buy anything over 150k, assuming that most good engines will run 200k than you should take into account the amount of life you want out of the engine. 200k is pretty much the magic number, because Vehicle manufacturers before 1990 (not sure about today) usually tested an engine for a specific amount of time and if it lasted too long, they would take measures to make it less strong or heavy... that all said, the engine block (whole engine is easier) should be replaced or thoroughly inspected around that mark, it will literally break apart at an unknown time after that.

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1984 Firebird T/A - Daily driver
305 LG4, T5 - Hurst Short Shifter
Edelbrock 600 CFM Performer Carb
Open Element Air Filter
Gutted Cat... missing stuff I'll need next year
IROC 16x8 Wheels
Goodyear P215/60/R16 87S - S stands for suck
(but I'm a cheap *** and I don't go 112... don't think I do...)
Quote from my sister: "It sounds like a boat"