Cadillac Repair: oil leak northstar engine, oil leaks, eldarado

Question
I have a 1997 caddilac eldarado with the "northstar" engine.  It has developed an oil leak which my local mechanic says is coming form a " mid block engine plate". He says that the plate has an injected oil seal and it will entail engine removal and disasemblage to fix, at an estimated cost of $8,000 dollars.  Can this be accurate? The car is in perfect condition otherwise.

Answer
Hi Gerald, Unfortuneately that mechanic might be right. I thought by 1997 Cadillac would have gotten this fixed but obviously not in your case it would seem. Having done 5 of these repairs myself there is alot of work involved in that the engine and trans get removed from the bottom of the car and then the engine is removed and put on an engine stand to replace the oil manifold plate and special sealer is put on it so hopefully it won't leak anymore. The job might take up to 25 hours to do so allow at least 3 days and take it to a mechanic that knows about the bulletins and procedures necessary to complete this repair propperly. When the oil leaks from that location it is usually easy to spot after cleaning the oil off with brake clean and running the engine on a hoist for about 10-15 minuits. There are a couple other places it could leak like the crankshaft sensors, oil filter adapter or oil cooler lines but usually it is from the oil manifold. Sorry I couldn't have better news. Bill