Come in for some info please: Looked at a 06 GTO tonight.

Hey all:

I went to look at a 06 GTO today at a car lot.

Salesman meet me half way and mentioned to me it had a borla catback. So that was the first think I looked at and they have huge 4" tips and they where offset one side to the other. Then I poped the hood and first thing I see is some nice bright red coils and wires. Sure enough MSD coils and wires, then a K&N CAI and I looked down a little further and see some new or newer L/T pace setter headers. I was starting to get a little happy thinking it had some noce mods done to it.

I started the car to see if I could hear a cam. Could not hear one at all. So I decided to take a look under the GTO and see why the Catback was off so bad from one side to the other. As soon as I knee down I see a puddle of oil in one tip, I look at the other tip and same thing. I check it with my finger on each tip and sure enough oil. watching it idle for a few minutes you could see the puddle get bigger in the tail pipes.

So what do you guys think, A blown head gasket, valve seals or what. They where getting ready to close So I went ahead and left. Just wanted to get some input. Also for some reason they welded the headers to the mid-pipes.

I am not sure about head gasket leak, but the headers welded to the mid-pipes can be a good thing. Some performance shops have done this to keep leaks from happening in the future.

I'd check the coolant. See if it is milky from having oil contaminate it. That would be one good indicator of head gasket leak. I don't know if oil at the exhaust tips indicates a head issue, but I'm sure a more knowledged forum member will chime in on that.

My opinion on buying a car like this? If you really want it and have some cash set aside to fix everything, talk these guys down about 6-7 grand letting them know how much it's going to cost you to fix and get the engine rebuilt.

If you don't want extensive repairs, I'd go shopping for a stock/nearly stock 06 elsewhere.

Check the oil fill cap for milky residue, that might tell you if you have a blown head gasket. That "oil" at the tail pipes might just be condensation with some tailpipe soot mixed in. For that much oil to be collecting at the tips, your exhaust would be smoking pretty good.
You can smell oil or coolant in the exhaust, fairly easy to tell.

If you are hesitant, trust your instincts and move on...unless it's IBM, then buy it.

Quote: Originally Posted by 87LC2... Check the oil fill cap for milky residue, that might tell you if you have a blown head gasket. That "oil" at the tail pipes might just be condensation with some tailpipe soot mixed in. For that much oil to be collecting at the tips, your exhaust would be smoking pretty good. You can smell oil or coolant in the exhaust, fairly easy to tell. If you are hesitant, trust your instincts and move on...unless it's IBM, then buy it.

This.

Besides, isn't it rare to have both head gaskets go at the same time? Of course, if it has an X or H pipe I gues it could affect both sides.

Gerry

As has been mentioned, it is probably condenstion mixed with exhaust soot during a cold start. If it really was oil it should have been visably smoking. Let it warm up and let her rip.

Take a friend along so they can follow you when you do your test drive. They can watch the exhaust for signs of smoking. You might also check the pcv system to see if it has been rearrainged.

The exhaust may have just been poorly installed, or may have shifted.

A test drive would be a good thing, gives you something to compare against even if this one does not work out.

If you like the car and are serious about it, take it to a reputable mechanic and have them perform a compression test on all the cylinders. That should tell the real story. To have oil coming out the tail pipe, you'd need to have oil pouring into the combustion chamber through worn/broken rings or a bad valve seal/guide. The spark plug(s) would probably have to be completely fouled too.

buy it. its not leaking quarts of oil out the exhaust lol that sounds impossible and would be smoking insane. its condensation for sure as stated.

definately condensation and soot

you should be fine, it would be doing a smoke show if it was oil.
Like stated above, condensation with the soot from the exhaust mixed in.

Im going to agree with everyone else. It is most likely condensation mixed with soot. The Borla should have an X pipe right after the midpipes so if it is a gasket both sides could be affected.

As for the headers being welded pacesetters dont have the best connections so it was probably welded to avoid or get rid of exhaust leaks.

Its kind of odd to have MSD coils on a header/exhaust only car but you never know. They arent cheap. Just make sure that the plug wires are snapped on all the way.

Take it for a drive and hope you like what you see.

Got mine back from getting the tranny done and had a loose exhaust bolt at the muffler, oily SOMETHING comin out. Made a big puddle in my driveway. Condensation. They start the car and let it idle all the time and it probably doesn't get driven enough to ACTUALLY heat up the exhaust enough to burn off the moisture that occours when you shut it off and it cools. I would HAVE to says condensation. Plus if there is ethanol in your gas it will smell funny too and may make MORE condensation. Just drive it and see if it smokes. But if there was oil at the tips it would already smoke like mad.