Oil Pan Leak - Engine Oil Cooler Gasket

[Eusibius2]

Good afternoon folks. Nothing serious (I think) but I went in for an oil change on Friday and was told that I have a coolant oil leak. Course he said it so fast I couldn't follow him, even after asking him to tell me again.

So I dropped it off today, and now there's a long laundry list of things that need to be replaced or fixed, totalling $2500 in warrantied repairs. What strikes me as odd, is I've not seen a drop of any fluid on my driveway, no indicator lights on the dash, and it drives just fine.

The complication is... I'm leaving on vacay this Friday, driving to the east coast to pick up some furniture (which will fit snuggly in the back of my Tahoe. Now the dealer is telling me that parts are out of stock (axel boot being the primary issue... But I'm not sure how an axel boot is related to be honest).

Any thoughts on this? I don't know if this legit, or if they're messing with me. I have no reason to think it's the latter though.

2022 Tahoe Z71, 6.2L. 13k miles.

 

[Eusibius2]

Here's a list of the parts "in stock" to be replaced.

 

[OR VietVet]

I am calling BULL SNOT!

 

[Eusibius2]

Which part... All of it?

SMH. Why, just why put customers through this? I can't even go for a 2nd opinion at this point, no time and I don't have the truck (dealer does).

 

[Fless]

Why not have them do the warranty work for which they have the parts, make sure they know you need it by whenever, and take your trip? If they can't fix it in time for your trip, wait for the repairs to be done when you get back.

If I'm misunderstanding that this "warranty" work will cost you money, then to me it's not warranty work. The fact that you quoted a price gives me pause.

 

[Eusibius2]

@Fless Sry, it's not costing me anything. The $2500 is on the work order, but it's 100% covered by warranty.

And what you're saying is my plan, too. It just seems so odd that "all of a sudden" there's a critical issue. Esp having a coolant line leak at only 13k miles. I'd expect maybe 150k instead. I dunno though.

/rant

 

[Fless]

Based on the parts list I don't think it's a "coolant" leak as we normally think of engine coolant. Seems to be the oil cooler line or a connection.

 

[OR VietVet]

Based on the parts list I don't think it's a "coolant" leak as we normally think of engine coolant. Seems to be the oil cooler line or a connection.

What @Fless said. Let them fix what they can now. Keep an eye on oil level while on trip. I think the whole list is "Bull Snot" until they take you to the vehicle in the shop and show you the whole list of problems and explains what is going on. I ran shops. I never ever told a customer there was something wrong on their vehicle without offering to show the problem to them. I still do that to this day when I work on the side.

 

[WalleyeMikeIII]

So, i've not crawled under one of these and looked super hard; but what if this is the scenerio:
Engine Oil Cooler Line is leaking. Requiring replacement of the oil cooler line. Which also requires removal of Oil Pan, Front Drive Shaft, and possibly moving Front Differential out of the way to pull it off?

Thereby needing these parts...

Oil Cooler Line gaskets to reseal the oil cooler lines into the engine.
All the front drive axel nuts, bolts, shaft seals, and rings to put the front axle back in
Oil level indicator seal, and oil pan seal to replace the oil pan

Could see how maybe this is needed...depending on the oil cooler line routing...and where the leak is.

 

[Eusibius2]

Update: I'm still waiting for the truck, but after several calls they confirm @WalleyeMikeIII thoughts. The coolant line needs the front axel and diff to be removed to access the line, after dropping the axel, that's when they noticed the boot is "not allowed to roll out of the dealership" and the axel is on backorder. Sooo fuuu###.

After discussing with the svc Mgr, he arranged for a porter to pickup an axel from a new vehicle on another lot (200 miles north) which is being dropped into my truck. They'll get the backorder axel for the other truck later.

Supposedly I'll get it back tomorrow, I'll keep you posted. Attached is my "busted" axel boot.

 

[Silverado4x4]

Update: I'm still waiting for the truck, but after several calls they confirm @WalleyeMikeIII thoughts. The coolant line needs the front axel and diff to be removed to access the line, after dropping the axel, that's when they noticed the boot is "not allowed to roll out of the dealership" and the axel is on backorder. Sooo fuuu###.

After discussing with the svc Mgr, he arranged for a porter to pickup an axel from a new vehicle on another lot (200 miles north) which is being dropped into my truck. They'll get the backorder axel for the other truck later.

Supposedly I'll get it back tomorrow, I'll keep you posted. Attached is my "busted" axel boot.

WOW consider yourself extremely lucky as dealers don't part out new vehicles to repair one. But good for you that there having it done that way.

 

[Eusibius2]

Yeah. I recognize that aspect. We had quite a few words about the entire situation, so maybe a little extra influence in it.

Hoping it works out ok. I'm not comfortable getting it back late Thursday, to go on a road trip Friday without many test miles in between. Might have to just pray a lot....

Thanks for listening.

 

[StephenPT]

Yeah, that cooler is tucked up in there and impossible to get at with the FWD half-shaft in the way. Would be interesting to see where it's actually leaking from. I assume it's leaking engine oil? Might be at slow enough of a rate that it's just coating your frame and not dripping on the driveway.

 

[Eusibius2]

Last update...

Got it back Thursday night. Seems all good to me. Drives straight and everything works as expected. They got the replacement axel from new inventory in Wisconsin, not from a new vehicle (just to clarify, that was way odd they told me that initially).

I guess just a heads up for someone else that a simple repair could be more complex than it seems.

Now I'm off for my trip. Test drive 100 miles already. Talk to you y'all later.

 

[Fless]

Glad to hear it. Now I hope your truck doesn't "do a double or triple axel" but the axle stays in place.