Expert: Roger J.M. Warrington - 2/17/2005

Question
You're profile tells me you deal in classics, but the experts on this particular car are all occupado. I'm hoping you can give me some advice. I have a '98 Chevy Camaro V6. It has 65,000 miles on it and is a very well cared for car. My much liked and trusted mechanic retired, so I brought it to a new mechanic this week for a bum ignition coil (the third I've had to replace because monetary restraints prevented me from replacing all three coils at once). This new mechanic claims that while he was under the hood, he discovered a major oil leak. When I told him there was not a drop of oil on my driveway, he told me that there was a pool of oil atop the engine. If I have an oil leak on top of my engine why is my car not smokin' or stinkin'? This bitch purrs like a kitten and runs like a dream! I'm no car expert, but I'm not an idiot! I have more car knowledge than the average female. I consulted a friend's dad, who is a retired mechanic w/ 30 years experience. He told me that if the leak is in the intake manifold, it's no big deal and should cost me no more than $200 to fix. Turns out that this "leak" is a blown gasket in the intake manifold. This mechanic is claiming that because of the position of the engine in this car, repairs will cost me over $600 in labor alone!! A $600 oil leak?! In my 13 years of car ownership, I've never heard of anything so insane!This dude is trying to take me for a ride, isn't he?
P.S.- It took him 2 full days to replace the ignition coil. It's the first time in more than 10 years that I had to leave my car with a mechanic for more than a day!

Answer
HI
 Jeannie
I hate to tell you this but the price for that could be around 450.00 and up, as there is a LOT of labor , (BUT) if I were you  go find a new mech. to do the work as that is  a high price also if he took 2 days to do the coil I would keep away from him as he might take 2 weeks to do the gasket
so look for someone that knows what they are doing. 2 days for a coil , did he make it. good luck
 roger