99 Grand Am 3.4 SE leaking oil excessively...why?

[veganblue 0]

I have a 99 Grand Am SE with 186K miles on it. It has had its share of problems within the past 6 months.

To call it an oil "leak" would be an understatement. The oil is literally dropping right out of the bottom. I have to carry a quart of oil in my car and top it off a bit to get the "low oil" light to come off. The car will drive about 20 miles before the "low oil" light comes on again. I have to refill the oil every time i park and restart the car.

A little history: For the 6 years or so, I'm pretty sure I had a head gasket or lower intake valve leak. These engines are known for this. But I was able to easily manage this. This would cause the coolant to slowly leak, and every month I would top off the reservoir. The oil would leak/burn too, but not much - I'd use just a quart in between oil changes. Then within the past couple years, it became progressively worse. The coolant began to leak faster, perhaps weekly, and the car would tend to overheat in the summer - so I had to run the heat in the summer to keep the thermostat level. In the winter, with the heat already running, the engine runs too cool and thermostat never reaches 200 degrees. At one point this winter, my oil was so thick and yellow sludge from not warming up enough.

I am probably going to buy a new car at this point, I think it's done. Just wondering what the problem is or if I could plug up the hole somehow at home.

[hunterodell42 0]

Just to be clear do u physically see the leak?

[veganblue 0]

On 26 January, 2017 at 4:00 PM, hunterodell42 said:

Just to be clear do u physically see the leak?

Yes, I'm a bit late on this, but it was coming from the oil pressure sensor switch. I replaced the switch with a $10 part at Auto Zone, and it fixed the leak. Everything was fine for about a month, until the oil pressure sensor warning light came on again. But I checked, and there was no leak. Oil was more than full. Drove home, engine blew. Car is gone.