Large oil leak driving

[dwmmatt23]

I purchased another Tahoe, 2003 LT 4wd 5.3, took and smogged it and no noticeable leaks at all. Next day I drove 200miles to pick up new wheels, on way back I got a check engine light, engine temp and oil pressure fine and not acting up at all. Got home and shut it off and noticed smoke from hood and large oil leak under truck. Code was a knock sensor, reset it and checked oil and was like 3qts low, it was blown all over bottom side of car everywhere making hard to pinpoint. Took to reputable mechanic shop and are saying they see three leaking places and could possibly be valve covers, oil pan, rear main or all 3. Going to let them start from top with valve covers, cheapest and easiest. My question is what if any of them could cause such a lose that fast? They have had on rack running and only see small leaks from around those areas. Any insight or help would be appreciated before I spend $2k+ on an oil leak on Tahoe I didn’t even have two days

 

[wjburken]

I purchased another Tahoe, 2003 LT 4wd 5.3, took and smogged it and no noticeable leaks at all. Next day I drove 200miles to pick up new wheels, on way back I got a check engine light, engine temp and oil pressure fine and not acting up at all. Got home and shut it off and noticed smoke from hood and large oil leak under truck. Code was a knock sensor, reset it and checked oil and was like 3qts low, it was blown all over bottom side of car everywhere making hard to pinpoint. Took to reputable mechanic shop and are saying they see three leaking places and could possibly be valve covers, oil pan, rear main or all 3. Going to let them start from top with valve covers, cheapest and easiest. My question is what if any of them could cause such a lose that fast? They have had on rack running and only see small leaks from around those areas. Any insight or help would be appreciated before I spend $2k+ on an oil leak on Tahoe I didn’t even have two days

Valve covers usually seep oil, not blow it all over.

Rear main would likely not have it all under the bottom of the motor, but air currents can do funny things.

Never heard of a oil pan gasket having a sudden catastrophic failure.

Have they looked at the oil cooler lines? What about the gasket on your oil filter?

 

[Sam Harris]

Valve covers usually seep oil, not blow it all over.

Rear main would likely not have it all under the bottom of the motor, but air currents can do funny things.

Never heard of a oil pan gasket having a sudden catastrophic failure.

Have they looked at the oil cooler lines? What about the gasket on your oil filter?

Yeah first thing that came to mind was the oil cooler plate / lines.

 

[Mudsport96]

Yeah first thing that came to mind was the oil cooler plate / lines.

X 2 my Silverado blew the gasket out at the plate where the lines would be located. Leaked like a screen door.

 

[B-train]

Top it off with new oil. Pressure washer and decrease. Drive it for a few miles and crawl under and check.

Check the pcv system and make sure it can breathe. A plugged motor will force oil out the easiest spot when then engine crankcase gets over pressurized. I also second the oil cooler or oil filter as the easiest ones to check that would dump that kind of oil. Need to clean it first tho tonight a starting point

 

[rockola1971]

Is rear area of engine block wet with oil? Oil on top of tranny? Check oil pressure sending unit for a leak in its body. Common failure.

 

[dwmmatt23]

Valve covers usually seep oil, not blow it all over.

Rear main would likely not have it all under the bottom of the motor, but air currents can do funny things.

Never heard of a oil pan gasket having a sudden catastrophic failure.

Have they looked at the oil cooler lines? What about the gasket on your oil filter?

Not yet, it’s at shop and that’s what they told me they could find. I reiterated to them it came on sudden and lost a lot quick, not just seeping amount. They are going to clean more and look into it further. There is literally oil everywhere underneath it

 

[dwmmatt23]

Is rear area of engine block wet with oil? Oil on top of tranny? Check oil pressure sending unit for a leak in its body. Common failure.

It’s literally everywhere, making it hard for them to find leak

 

[Sam Harris]

It’s literally everywhere, making it hard for them to find leak

I forgot about my oil pressure sender experience with this. I lost oil pressure driving down the road. Oil everywhere. It was a new GM part.. took me 4x to get one that worked solid.

 

[dwmmatt23]

Got a call from mechanic, after hours of cleaning oil off everything, topping off and running on rack he check oil cooler lines and replaced gasket, was able to drive it and put a load on it and came back to find the oil filter being the culprit. Looked like the previous owner mangled it and oil leaking under a heavy load. He’s going to change filter and clean up again and hopefully that fixes it. Ugh, stupid owners

 

[OR VietVet]

How long have you owned it? First thing I ever do when buying a used vehicle is change the oil and filter. Literally, the first thing I do, except for driving it home. Mangled oil filter? Mangled how? Seal tore? Oil filter body twisted and leaking thru the body or at a seam? What details did the shop give? I would not accept the "mangled" reason without details.

 

[rockola1971]

Well there is one ive never seen before..... A mangled oil filter dropping the oil all over the place.

 

[dwmmatt23]

Well there is one ive never seen before..... A mangled oil filter dropping the oil all over the place.

Same

 

[dwmmatt23]

How long have you owned it? First thing I ever do when buying a used vehicle is change the oil and filter. Literally, the first thing I do, except for driving it home. Mangled oil filter? Mangled how? Seal tore? Oil filter body twisted and leaking thru the body or at a seam? What details did the shop give? I would not accept the "mangled" reason without details.

He showed me the filter, i could have easily kicked something up and dented it, but it was dented a few places and the crease at on of the dents caused a crack, that only leaked at highway temps and under pressure. Craziest thing I’ve ever seen. I literally owned it for one day prior to this

 

[dwmmatt23]

However I do still have the knock sensor code on dash after clearing now

 

[MassHoe04]

Out of all things it could have turned out to be... That is a cheap and easy fix!

 

[dwmmatt23]

Out of all things it could have turned out to be... That is a cheap and easy fix!

Right, I was lucky. I still have the knock sensor issue from it I have to tackle now though

 

[wjburken]

Right, I was lucky. I still have the knock sensor issue from it I have to tackle now though

I just don't get why they couldn't see the damaged filter until after they cleaned everything off.

 

[dwmmatt23]

I just don't get why they couldn't see the damaged filter until after they cleaned everything off.

It was alil dented, the crack wasn’t visible, only could see it leak when hot and under load, not idling. It was like a hairline crack, I barely saw it

 

[Fless]

A dented filter would give me pause....