What should i do about oil leak

[RET423]

If you are leaking a half gallon of oil every 2 weeks then the entire undercarriage would be totally saturated and leaving multiple puddles underneath the vehicle spanning from the rear main seal all the way back.

If you are not seeing a catastrophic mess I think most of your oil consumption is being burned in the combustion chambers, a second clue is how the consumption changes based on "how you drive it"; pushing it harder will cause greater oil consumption if you are burning the oil but wouldn't have much effect if the oil is just leaking out.

 

[Geotrash]

$800 seems cheap. Having done one of these before, even with a lift and all the equipment I wouldn't do a 4WD rear main for that. I'd value my work more than that.

Will they take care to not break electrical connectors?
Will they replace both the rear cover and rear main?
Will they clean the belt threads to get accurate torque when installing?

I had mine done at a transmission shop when I had a new torque converter installed. Those guys pull transmissions every day, so it’s a piece of cake for them. He might consider having a transmission shop do it. I think I spent $600 on labor for the whole job.

 

[donjetman]

07 Tahoe 4wd and rear main seal is leaking and oil pan. Depending on my driving habits I'm adding two quarts every two weeks.
My dilemma is I can get it repaired at dealer for 2100$ which I think is expensive. Is it? Carx quoted me 1700$ depending on how hard the oil pan is to get to after removing Trans. If not that hard it would be cheaper.
I'm leaning towards carx due to the cheaper price but who would you guys trust with the repairs?

I did my Rear Main Seal 3 yrs ago. It's still dry as a bone Here's the thread w/pics: https://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/threads/rear-main-seal-job-pan-etc-07-yukon-denali-6-2.108334/

 

[Mooseman93]

So I just checked again and I don't have the oil cooler lines. The blockoff plate does look to be leaking tho. The oil pan looks bad again and I see oil around rear main. I'm gonna order the blockoff plate and new valve cover. I'll see how it goes after that.
I'm still trying to find another mechanic with a good price. It's not looking good and I may wind up going with a guy who will do the repair for 1400. sigh. Well I'm off to bed. Got work at 4 in the am.

Since you're in Cincinnati, maybe try Tater's Kenridge Auto Repair on Kenwood Rd in Blue Ash. He's a straight shooter and he's done work on my Yukon and my buddy's Suburban that we didn't feel like doing ourselves, with good results.

 

[alpha_omega]

My guess is there are multiple oil leaks going on and I am confident that the OP can do this work and save a f*ck-ton of money in the process.

My 2004 Yukon is just shy off 200k miles and I just fixed a few leaks. I replaced the valve cover gaskets, the oil pressure sending unit (because it comes with a new gasket), the oil cooler block off plate gasket, and the oil pan gasket, which had been seeping for quite a while. I also bought a rear main seal cover and installation tool but ended up not doing the rear main.

I did the valve covers and oil pressure sending unit one day and did the oil pan and block off cover plate gaskets another day. I tried to get the oil pressure sender without removing the intake but no dice. I pulled the intake and checked the valley cover and the crank or cam sensor next to the oil sender and both looked good to me. The oil sender was pretty wet.

The oil pan gasket was not bad at all with 4WD. Non 4WD is a walk in the park. The hardest part is snaking the pan back up in place with the new gasket, if you didn't rivet the new one on like I didn't. While I had the pan off I replaced the oil pump pick up tube seal just because. After all of this, if my rear main is leaking, it is very little and not worth the effort to pull the trans at this time. I did this work a few months ago and the engine is very clean. I saw a couple of trails but it could be from cleaning the engine. I used 2 cans of brake cleaner on it and then hit it with a can of engine degreaser and power washed it. There are no more drips in my driveway. Save yourself some money and fix this stuff yourself.

x2. This is the same thing I was thinking and was about to reply with. My 02 has almost 400,000 miles on it. I’ve replaced the fuel pump once. I replaced the abs/wheel speed sensors once. Knock sensors and did the RTV dam/build up around them. While I was in there I also cleaned the valley pan, replaced the intake manifold gaskets and the valve cover gaskets. Make sure your valve cover is CLEAN, as is your gasket and it’s mating surface on the block. Do NOT oil the gasket.
If you do not own a Haynes or a Chilton’s manual for your vehicle…buy one or both along with a 3/8 digital torque wrench. They will be the best investment you can make for any vehicle.
Im guessing your “Rear Main Seal Leak” is not the RMS and instead is the valve cover or intake. Replacing both of those and super cleaning the engine (brake clean, degreaser, brake clean and then a hot soapy water bath like the Goat mentioned above).

Also as others mentioned, you don’t do the RMS without doing a couple other tasks while your in there (timing chain, cover, possibly a new TC, new seals, oil/filter change…etc). Since you’re not sure if the RMS is at fault, start with the oil consumption issue, the bad plugs, new intake and valve cover gaskets. It’s a days worth of work if you add an oil change to it, but is all work that can be done at home.

Has your tranny been serviced regularly? I would be more concerned about it with that mileage than I would be the engine. Not saying I wouldn’t do the aforementioned maintenance, but rather do those things and put the money you would have spent on the RMS and oil pan for some new tranny fluid and a filter.

 

[Rocket Man]

x2. This is the same thing I was thinking and was about to reply with. My 02 has almost 400,000 miles on it. I’ve replaced the fuel pump once. I replaced the abs/wheel speed sensors once. Knock sensors and did the RTV dam/build up around them. While I was in there I also cleaned the valley pan, replaced the intake manifold gaskets and the valve cover gaskets. Make sure your valve cover is CLEAN, as is your gasket and it’s mating surface on the block. Do NOT oil the gasket.
If you do not own a Haynes or a Chilton’s manual for your vehicle…buy one or both along with a 3/8 digital torque wrench. They will be the best investment you can make for any vehicle.
Im guessing your “Rear Main Seal Leak” is not the RMS and instead is the valve cover or intake. Replacing both of those and super cleaning the engine (brake clean, degreaser, brake clean and then a hot soapy water bath like the Goat mentioned above).

Also as others mentioned, you don’t do the RMS without doing a couple other tasks while your in there (timing chain, cover, possibly a new TC, new seals, oil/filter change…etc). Since you’re not sure if the RMS is at fault, start with the oil consumption issue, the bad plugs, new intake and valve cover gaskets. It’s a days worth of work if you add an oil change to it, but is all work that can be done at home.

Has your tranny been serviced regularly? I would be more concerned about it with that mileage than I would be the engine. Not saying I wouldn’t do the aforementioned maintenance, but rather do those things and put the money you would have spent on the RMS and oil pan for some new tranny fluid and a filter.

Excellent advice right here. The barbell is another item I would replace while the tranny is off.

 

[89Suburban]

It's more like between 1 and 2 quarts of oil. It depends on how hard I drive her. If I don't drive her much I may put in a quart every 2 to 3 weeks.
I'm using 5w30 oil.

I have not added a catch can but I did order one last week after reading through a few threads.
I read about the updated valve cover a few days ago but I have not done that yet. I'll order one and add that to the growing list of things to repair. It looks like an easy job that I can complete when I replace my plugs, wires and coils since I've never changed them.

07 Tahoe LTZ 4wd, I'm at 232,000 miles. I haven't had to many problems out of her until now and now everything is breaking. At this mileage I guess I am due for it.

Don’t let it get to you. You have many more miles to go. Absolutely get that catch can installed ASAP. That will help you determine how much oil loss is actually blow by and actually leaking.

Valley pan leak is VERY hard to see from above.

 

[petethepug]

The oil leak may cost you a bearing if it runs too low. Is the oil pressure sensor still working? Verify it reads out in your center dash by cycling through the buttons.

If no Indi techs call you back on the job try a diesel shop. They’re not afraid of rear main seal jobs. The rear main, pan gasket and oil pick up tube are best, labor wise, done together. That oil pressure sensor is a bear to reach but easy to reach when the trans is out for the rear main.

If you’re budget allows do the trans service/ fluid too.

 

[ahunn]

How are you able to see the rear main?

Technically I didn't see it but I pryed off the (I don't know what it's called) little metal cover with a screwdriver and took a peek inside. There was a slight bit of oil in there. I assume the oils from there because of that.

 

[ahunn]

My guess is there are multiple oil leaks going on and I am confident that the OP can do this work and save a f*ck-ton of money in the process.

My 2004 Yukon is just shy off 200k miles and I just fixed a few leaks. I replaced the valve cover gaskets, the oil pressure sending unit (because it comes with a new gasket), the oil cooler block off plate gasket, and the oil pan gasket, which had been seeping for quite a while. I also bought a rear main seal cover and installation tool but ended up not doing the rear main.

I did the valve covers and oil pressure sending unit one day and did the oil pan and block off cover plate gaskets another day. I tried to get the oil pressure sender without removing the intake but no dice. I pulled the intake and checked the valley cover and the crank or cam sensor next to the oil sender and both looked good to me. The oil sender was pretty wet.

The oil pan gasket was not bad at all with 4WD. Non 4WD is a walk in the park. The hardest part is snaking the pan back up in place with the new gasket, if you didn't rivet the new one on like I didn't. While I had the pan off I replaced the oil pump pick up tube seal just because. After all of this, if my rear main is leaking, it is very little and not worth the effort to pull the trans at this time. I did this work a few months ago and the engine is very clean. I saw a couple of trails but it could be from cleaning the engine. I used 2 cans of brake cleaner on it and then hit it with a can of engine degreaser and power washed it. There are no more drips in my driveway. Save yourself some money and fix this stuff yourself.

I've been trying to hype myself up for completing the repairs.
I order the new valve cover gasket. That should get here in a few days. I got my catch can this evening And will install that tomorrow morning.
I'm debating on doing my oil pan myself. I'll have to watch a few more videos to see what I'll need to remove to get it out. is it possible to get it out without removing the trans? If so what would I have to remove? I see the cross member being in the way. I need to replace my catalytic converter also and may as well knock that out on the same day. I'm really hoping to keep this truck and hoping I can make all repairs as cheaply as possible.

 

[ahunn]

Don’t let it get to you. You have many more miles to go. Absolutely get that catch can installed ASAP. That will help you determine how much oil loss is actually blow by and actually leaking.

Valley pan leak is VERY hard to see from above.

Thank you. I'm trying not to let it get to me. I will install the catch can tomorrow and the new struts I just ordered from gm. These are probably the only thing that I think I've gotten a good deal on. Jake Sweeney cherolet in cincinnati has them Part #19368453, for $289.72 a piece. I think that's a good price for the electronic struts. I'm going to try and find a deal for the rears hopefully. I replaced them last year with Suncore shocks and a new pump but I don't think they feel as nice as the original. I'm gonna focus on the leak first before Ipotentially waste too much more money.

 

[ahunn]

The oil leak may cost you a bearing if it runs too low. Is the oil pressure sensor still working? Verify it reads out in your center dash by cycling through the buttons.

If no Indi techs call you back on the job try a diesel shop. They’re not afraid of rear main seal jobs. The rear main, pan gasket and oil pick up tube are best, labor wise, done together. That oil pressure sensor is a bear to reach but easy to reach when the trans is out for the rear main.

If you’re budget allows do the trans service/ fluid too.

I try not to let the oil get low since the first time it happened. After a trip I always check it.

I'm going to try a diesel shop and call a few more transmission shops. I called a few trans shops a few months ago but they weren't interested in doing the work
The oil pressure sensor is near the firewall near the ground strap I believe and I replaced that, the filter and cleaned out the orifice. I read a few posts on this forum to find it. I scratched my hand up pretty bad getting to it and dropped the sensor and my socket between the engine and firewall.. Loads of fun that day trying to get them out so I could finish the repair. Good thing is it only took me about 20 minutes to get it out. I need to attempt to get my ground strap again when I'm back there next. I can't seem to get it out and replace it.
Oh and I'll make sure I do the trans service at that time when I get the leaks fixed. I may as well get it all out the way.

 

[ahunn]

If you are leaking a half gallon of oil every 2 weeks then the entire undercarriage would be totally saturated and leaving multiple puddles underneath the vehicle spanning from the rear main seal all the way back.

If you are not seeing a catastrophic mess I think most of your oil consumption is being burned in the combustion chambers, a second clue is how the consumption changes based on "how you drive it"; pushing it harder will cause greater oil consumption if you are burning the oil but wouldn't have much effect if the oil is just leaking out.

I don't see oil all the way back. I see it from the oil pan and about to the fuel tank. I was seeing a lot of oil on the ground.
I'll have to put some card board out and see how much is leaking out over night. I leave an oil stain at least the size of a pancake on everyone's driveway when I go to visit. The longer I stay the bigger.
Wouldn't I have blue smoke coming out the exhaust if I'm burning the oil? Not my expertise so I'm not sure, but, I haven't noticed any smoke at all.

 

[ahunn]

I did my Rear Main Seal 3 yrs ago. It's still dry as a bone Here's the thread w/pics: https://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/threads/rear-main-seal-job-pan-etc-07-yukon-denali-6-2.108334/

Thank you. I'm going to check it out.

 

[ahunn]

Since you're in Cincinnati, maybe try Tater's Kenridge Auto Repair on Kenwood Rd in Blue Ash. He's a straight shooter and he's done work on my Yukon and my buddy's Suburban that we didn't feel like doing ourselves, with good results.

Thank you. I'll give them a call in the morning.

 

[ahunn]

x2. This is the same thing I was thinking and was about to reply with. My 02 has almost 400,000 miles on it. I’ve replaced the fuel pump once. I replaced the abs/wheel speed sensors once. Knock sensors and did the RTV dam/build up around them. While I was in there I also cleaned the valley pan, replaced the intake manifold gaskets and the valve cover gaskets. Make sure your valve cover is CLEAN, as is your gasket and it’s mating surface on the block. Do NOT oil the gasket.
If you do not own a Haynes or a Chilton’s manual for your vehicle…buy one or both along with a 3/8 digital torque wrench. They will be the best investment you can make for any vehicle.
Im guessing your “Rear Main Seal Leak” is not the RMS and instead is the valve cover or intake. Replacing both of those and super cleaning the engine (brake clean, degreaser, brake clean and then a hot soapy water bath like the Goat mentioned above).

Also as others mentioned, you don’t do the RMS without doing a couple other tasks while your in there (timing chain, cover, possibly a new TC, new seals, oil/filter change…etc). Since you’re not sure if the RMS is at fault, start with the oil consumption issue, the bad plugs, new intake and valve cover gaskets. It’s a days worth of work if you add an oil change to it, but is all work that can be done at home.

Has your tranny been serviced regularly? I would be more concerned about it with that mileage than I would be the engine. Not saying I wouldn’t do the aforementioned maintenance, but rather do those things and put the money you would have spent on the RMS and oil pan for some new tranny fluid and a filter.

My dad's got the Haynes book. I've got an alldata subscription and I bought a tech2 scanner. I have a torque wrench but I've been meaning to buy a digital one.

I'm pretty sure the trans has been serviced but I planned to get the fluid changed soon because I've driven it a little over 100,000 miles since I've owned it. I was going to last oil change but pushed it off. I'll do it the next oil change.

I'll be putting on my catch can tomorrow. I'm waiting on the valve cover to get here then I'll tackle that. I'm curious to see if there's going to be a lot of oil in the catch can.

Thinking about the leak overall, I only believe the rear main is leaking due to the gm tech telling me. The tech showed me where they could see the leak from the oil pan, and how they could tell the rear main had a leak. If I trust the dealer then they're both leaking. He did say at that time that the rear main leak wasn't that bad, but, the oil pan was bad. He did say the valve cover had a small leak also but nothing significant at the time. The gm tech inspecting my truck made a video of the leaks and other issues that I had at the time. Nothing personal is in it. I may post it for you all to see

 

[Rocket Man]

Technically I didn't see it but I pryed off the (I don't know what it's called) little metal cover with a screwdriver and took a peek inside. There was a slight bit of oil in there. I assume the oils from there because of that.

That oil can also drip down from above, either the valve cover gasket, valley cover gasket or oil pressure sensor. I would address the VC gasket and install a new oil pressure sensor and recheck through that inspection plate. You can also buy a boroscope cam that comes with a bendable cable and look at it that way. They're pretty cheap.

 

[wsteele]

My dad's got the Haynes book. I've got an alldata subscription and I bought a tech2 scanner. I have a torque wrench but I've been meaning to buy a digital one.

I'm pretty sure the trans has been serviced but I planned to get the fluid changed soon because I've driven it a little over 100,000 miles since I've owned it. I was going to last oil change but pushed it off. I'll do it the next oil change.

I'll be putting on my catch can tomorrow. I'm waiting on the valve cover to get here then I'll tackle that. I'm curious to see if there's going to be a lot of oil in the catch can.

Thinking about the leak overall, I only believe the rear main is leaking due to the gm tech telling me. The tech showed me where they could see the leak from the oil pan, and how they could tell the rear main had a leak. If I trust the dealer then they're both leaking. He did say at that time that the rear main leak wasn't that bad, but, the oil pan was bad. He did say the valve cover had a small leak also but nothing significant at the time. The gm tech inspecting my truck made a video of the leaks and other issues that I had at the time. Nothing personal is in it. I may post it for you all to see

FWIW, I had to replace my oil pan gasket at about 80K miles. I had developed a leak which wouldn't respond to snugging the pan bolts. After that gasket was done, it has been dry as a bone underneath (knock on wood). I just looked it up and the total at the dealer here was just over $500, including an oil change and new filter.

After you get the catch can installed, you will get a pretty good idea how much oil is being pumped through the PCV back into the intake. Before I had the oil consumption TSB done on my engine (which includes getting the updated valve cover), I was losing about 1qt of oil every 1K miles. Some of the plugs were so fouled with carbon, they didn't look like spark plugs. After we did the oil consumption TSB (including the new valve cover), I installed a catch can and I get about a tablespoon of oil in the can between changes (5K miles).

Depending on how bad the oil ingestion has been, the TSB can be a pretty big deal. Let's hope most of your oil loss is in leaks and not through the PCV and intake.

 

[Larryjb]

Technically I didn't see it but I pryed off the (I don't know what it's called) little metal cover with a screwdriver and took a peek inside. There was a slight bit of oil in there. I assume the oils from there because of that.

Here's my rear main experience: https://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/threads/rear-main-oil-seal.117639/

Check post #41 (page 5). I couldn't see much oil leaking from the rear main. In fact, most of the oil was probably leaking from the rear cover instead. This leak was dripping several drops each day, so in some respects not bad. But the starter bolts, skid plate, back of oil pan were totally soaked in oil. Since doing this job last year there's not a drop on the ground. Rocketman's suggestion of the boroscope might be a good one.

 

[ahunn]

That oil can also drip down from above, either the valve cover gasket, valley cover gasket or oil pressure sensor. I would address the VC gasket and install a new oil pressure sensor and recheck through that inspection plate. You can also buy a boroscope cam that comes with a bendable cable and look at it that way. They're pretty cheap.

I'm heading out to do the catch can now. I'll check around the valve cover gasket a little better while I'm out there. I may stop by harbor freight today and get a scope. I replaced the oil pressure sensor and screen about 2 months ago. Still waiting on the valve cover gasket to get here any day now so i can replace that as well.