Hi,

Need an opinion - how long can I go without having the dealer looking into this? There's some oil residue on the heat shield on the left side of the engine - seems to be accumulating very very slowly. I need to go two to three more weeks before I can take it in. (I would take it in tomorrow if I could...so that's not an option=) hehe.) Should it be ok? No hard driving? No thousand-mile road trips? Thanks for any suggestions.

Oh yes - and can i fix it myself or is it better to have the dealer do it? Is it just tightening some bolts or do I need some parts (gaskets, etc.)??

Thanks!

-steve
98.5 1.8tqm

You should fix it now because the oil can start a nasty fire in the engine bay. My friend's 81 Camaro had the same problem. It is a very nice car except for the small fire and the great about of electrical damage it caused. I don't know if you can fix it yourself, but take it to the dealer ASAP. I just don't like oil or gas for that matter leaking on a hot surface.
David Hess
98.5 2.8QSTip

Unless it were leaking excessively, you could probably wait the week or two for the trip to the dealer.(If you haven't yet noticed any unusual oil loss, I wouldn't be overly concerned.)

After I noticed mine was leaking, I had it fixed at the next maintenance service. Unfortunately, this is a fairly common problem that requires replacement of the defective gasket.

HTH, Jim

BTW, I wasn't told to baby the car, despite the fact that I drive mountain roads "spiritedly" on my daily commute.

... get it fixed ASAP and have them inspect the clutch for damage. I had a leak dripping onto my clutch causing the plates to slip, burning it out at 2500 miles.

normally oil on the clutch lining will just burn, making the clutch grabby. Never seen one slip for oil. It is also very hard for the oil to drip into the clutch, the clutch is inset into the flywheel, and the flywheel is under the bell housing. So if a mechanic told you this I would take it with a grain of salt. As to this leak it is very normal on this engine, and a small leak is more cosmetic than anything else. Mine leaked, and tighting the cover bolts corrected it. It does take a special tool however, an 8mm Allen key if I remember correctly. I haven't seen any specs on the torque, perhaps one of the folks with the workshop manual can jump in here, but 12 ft-lbs seems to work well on that size.