Leaking Oil Pan / Rear Main Seal

[Supercharged Vipermad]

Hi Ron, it sounds like either the rear main seal or the rear main seal cover is leaking...Johnny...

 

[Rich Detert]

It could be the oil pan gasket too, mine was leaking earlier this year. They replaced it (extended warranty) and I haven't had any oil leaks since. They fixed a coolant crossover leak at the same time. As a rule my car doesn't drip anything. I've put about 4K miles on it since May with no leaks.

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So I would have to disagree with them when they say it's the nature of the beast. If they don't take care of you I would say find a better dealer, they don't all treat you the same.

 

[Mike Adams]

May be the will change the oil pan gasket it is easy to do maybe a 15-20 minute job. If it still leaks the should be able to tell where it comes from

 

[Jerry Scott[CO]]

There was a problem with 96 and 97 oil pans, that leaked through some defective porous casting at the bottom of the pan. The best way to test for this is to take the pan off, fill it with kerosene, and place it on a paper towel. Watch for leaks after a few hours. These were originally replaced on warranty but you may now be out of warranty. The Viper should not leak anywhere.

 

[Supercharged Vipermad]

My local tech has replaced at least 3 of these oil pans for seepage through the pan. This is pretty bad when you consider how few cars are in this area.

 

[Ron]

Brought my '96 GTS into Dodge for various issues including an oil pan covered in oil. No drips, just a coating of oil predominately the rear half. The fix was "cleaning the oil off the pan". Not exactly addressing the root cause in my opinion. The dealer said that Dodge states "some seapage is normal".

Does anyone know if:

1) Dodge ever said such a thing?

2) The definition of "some".

It seems that, at least at my local dealership, working on Vipers are to be avoided because "they're all warranty work and it takes me away from higher paying non-warranty jobs".

Thanks...