3800 oil leak

I have an oil leak in an olds Intrigue, coming from the bottom but not sure where, I think it's coming from either the oil pan gasket, or possibly one of the main seals. Because of the cradle under the motor it is difficult to determine the source, and also the oil pan bolts aren't even accessible to see if they are still tight. Since repairing either one is a hassle, removing the cradle etc, I was thinking of trying a can of that "oil stop-leak". I will consider myself lucky if that actually stops it or slows it down, but it's the easiest thing to try first.

  1. Any idea what the likely source of the leak is (are these engines prone to failures in the vicinity of where mine is leaking)?
  2. I always thought all stop-leak does is swell the seals slightly and curb leakage that way. Or can it also address gasket leaks? I don't know if the pan gasket on this is cork or neoprene (1998 model year).

  1. Any down-side to using his stuff, potential problems from using it?

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blowout preventer
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I had a 3300 which is basically the same as the 3800. It leaked from the oil pan gasket. Tightening the bolts helped for a while. You should be able to get to most of them although it won't be easy. Snug them periodically. I would not try stop leak. It expands the gaskets alright, but when the stop leak chems wear out in a few weeks, then the leak is MUCH worse. I forgot what the gaskets are made out of.

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Paul in Houston TX

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