Camaroboi

Ok Here's my problem... I come back from fishing and my 1986 5.0 TPI camaro will not start. I thought is could have been a battery issue along with a tune up. I buy a good strong battery (red top optima) and some bosch +4 spark plugs, along with some egr mass air sensor and a starter just in case. I put everything on except the starter case it seemed fine and I didn't want to put it on having to remove the exhaust. The car ran alright, had a low ilde and wanted to die at a stop. I tuned the throttle and that corrected it. A couple weeks I went to the store and she didn't want to start without some gas. I started her up and she didn't want to keep running. The last time it was ugly I heard a pop and the engine banked only on the driver side. So I killed the engine and coasted to a parking spot. I noticed it had a residue on the header. Swapped out a new starter and now my second starter in the casings have cracked in half and now ther is a noticable oil leak along with drops of antifreeze always forming under the oil pan. I'm stumped at this and wonder if I f**ked up in the last start up. There is no antifrees in the oil though but could I have locked the engine up.

redneckjoe

if your breaking the starter nose cone, it sounds like maybe you didnt shim the starter properly? another issue around these years is the starter bolts themselves. g.m. went to a knurled type bolt for the starters. if they bottom out, they will usually crack the outside mounting bolt hole of the block. unfortunate, but it happens. see if thats where your losing fluids at, usually they dont create a fluid loss,...you just end up eating starters and ring gears. most reputable machine shops can repair the block, if thats the problem.