So, I still have no clue where the engine oil came from. I was driving and started smelling burning oil. When I got home I saw engine oil on my a/c pulleys, a/c compressor, a/c belt had been tossed off and all chewed up. It was all wet with oil from that A/C belt/pulley area all the way back down the right underneath side of the car. Oil was on my LT headers so that was the burnt oil smell. Sway bar was soaked in oil just around that little area of the A/C pulleys.

I checked my oil after it had sat for about an hour and there was maybe 1/4" of oil on the end of the dip stick tube, so pretty low.

No clue where it exited the engine from, there's nothing wet with oil from about the water pump where the heater hoses connect and above. Its all below that. My catch can is dry and nothing is wet under it. Valve cover gasket is completely dry and there's no oil anywhere below it or anywhere near my headers or on the head at all.

How can oil get sprayed in front of the A/c pulleys and bacisally wet everything from there backwards........???

A/C belt is still off, I didn't put the new one on yet. I refilled it with oil and while up on ramps idled it for 20 minutes to see if anything would start a drip......nothing.
I drove the car 80 miles in the last 2 days since this happened........No oil is leaking anywhere anymore. Its still at the same exact level on the dipstick as when I refilled it.

I still haven't cleaned it because I want my friend to put it on the lift tomorrow and I just wanted him to see the evidence of the oil and try to find the leak spot. He'll clean it all off and then run it again and look for a leak.

I can take pictures when its on the lift tomrrow.

 

Front crank seal?

 

Its as clean as the day I installed the front cover when the engine was built. Not a trace of oil anywhere around the front cover, the crank snout or pulley wheel.

When I was taking the a/c belt pieces off when it slid off the tensioner pulley and tore itself into pieces I thought at first the belt was wound around the crank snout and might have damaged the crank seal. But there's not a trace of oil anywhere........its dry as a bone.

And a leaking crank seal would sling or cause oil to go everywhere, the oil is only on the right side of the engine.

 

The only thing I can think of is you have a gap in that front corner where the Oil Pan and Timing Cover meet. That's the only thing in that area that would leak Oil.

 

I still havent cleaned anything off under there because my friend got busy and cannot take another side job into the shop he works at.

I'll get under there tomorrow up on my ramps and see if that corner is leaking or has signs of oil anywhere. But to have a full oil level and just one ride 20 miles when the A/C belt came off the pulley.....to just a little tiny bit on the dip stick.
AND......now I've driven over 100 miles since topping it off and no more oil leakage.

Strange. You think it would keep leaking until repaired.

 

the merv,

Gasket is dirty with oil around that front right area, but not leaking at all after I refilled it. The oil in that area is the same line of oil starting at the A/C pulley area and flowing rearward covering everything in its path rearward.
But there's oil forward of that area of the gasket you mentioned and left and right. The sway bar is covered in that area. How can oil go froward and then turn backward to cover the A/C tensioner pulleys.....you know....?

The oil pan being unpressurized would just have a slow drip and it would always flow rearward.

 

I wonder if the belt wrapping around the snout could have jammed into that area and pushed open a spot on the front seal while driving until I got it home to check it the first time......spraying oil out while those belt scraps were jammed in there, then when I took it all out it sealed back up.

BUT.....the seal and cover all the way around and underneath is clean. All the oil evidence is to the right of center and all the way back.

 

Clean it all really good and see what happens.

 

Well…..I lost one A/C compressor mounting bolt and one other bolt used to mount the A/C compressor mounting plate to the block is loose. So it moves pretty good…..now I know why my A/C belt came off. But still……where’s this oil coming from?



And here’s why my belt came off, I guess.

 

Are you sure that’s oil? It looks like power steering fluid.

 

+1. That's how 85% of F-bodys look. PS fluid is sticky and seems to flow uphill. Gets on everything when the rack starts leaking. If you aren't loosing fluid from the PS reservoir, its just a cosmetic issue.

 

Yup I'd say the Rack or Lines are leaking.

 

Maybe with most other Fbodies.

Mine is always 100% clean and dry. Like the left side of the car....clean and dry.

If this is a normal cosmetic condition of any car, the owners are pretty pathetic. This is wet and dripping.......who leaves their cars like that. Unless of course is just a junker......

Also, the bottom of the power steering fluid reservior and lines going to/from the rack are clean and dry. So if it went uphill its not doing that here.

 

When this first happened I checked my oil and it was so low that all that would show on the dipstick was about 1/4" on the tip. I had to add back almost 2 quarts.

Also, I checked my power steering fluid reservior, its completely topped off. That much fluid.....ON A CAR THAT IS ALWAYS 100% clean and dry.....is a hell of a lot of fluid. It surely would have been low in the reservior.

My power steering lines are not leaking. Any power steering fluid lines forward of those A/C pulleys are dry and clean. My power steering fluid cooler is in front of my condenser and are also clean and dry.

 

I just cracked 2000 miles with this brand new engine, freshy painted engine bay. All front of engine brackets powder coated new. That rack is brand new (rebuilt). Alternator, water pump, oil pan and almost everything is new.

It doesn't get much cleaner that what I had. It was all spotless until this started.

I've had it up on ramps, totally hot, and sat under there with a light for 20 minutes and nothing leaked anywhere. CRAZY.

 

It's actually not just common to F-Bodies. Its common to any GM car built since the 1960's with a Saginaw steering rack. Oil forms thin films and spreads out. Put a drop of oil in your bathtub on top of the water and watch it cover the entire surface. This is what is happening here. This is one of the things that makes oil oil and how it sticks to everything inside the engine (and PS pump) and always keeps things lubricated.

As you age and get experience with cars, you'll appreciate that these things happen and learn the physics of oil.

Well, it looks like you are going to need to throw away that POS rebuilt rack and get a good one. I recommend going to TurnOne if you want a quality job. You'll also want to make sure you have new seals on the PS hose, which you can get from a GM dealer.

 

My OEM has leaked since year one. "Pathetic Owners", geesh. Put the blame where it needs to be, a shitty design. Replaced the 25 yr old OEM one last year and yes now its all clean under there.

Came here to say when the OEM compressor starts to go it leaks oil all over the place. But since all of your stuff is new that's doubtful. "In My Case", it covered most of the stuff around it on the right side with oil. But I highly doubt that would wick all over the rack.

Another place the power steering leaks is under the reservoir where the hoses attach and makes a mess like that. You'd be able to see that most likely.

 

If he doesn't clean the soot out of his Exhaust System, the WHOLE thing, after he drives the car I'm calling him pathetic.

 

This is what I’m trying to say……it’s all DRY. There’s nothing leaking from from the low pressure or high pressure line from the steering pump reservoir. It’s not leaking anywhere around it or from the shaft. And as in the video it’s all dry on that side everywhere under the pump reservoir.

And yes, if you saw how wet and dripping and splashed all over the right side this was, especially as soon as I first saw it…..it’s a PATHETIC car owner if that’s how they leave their car. I’ve owned this car since new, it has never ever had a single slot of wet fluids all over it. If ever there was it was because something had leaked, which I would have found quickly from low fluid and then I did ted as to why it was low and I would have found the leak. Then…..fixed it that day and cleaned everything.

The rack is not leaking a drop anywhere. And if it was…….AS IVE SAID AND THE BIDEO SHOWS…….it cannot spray fluid forward and up and into the A/C pulleys.

 

physics of oil……yea oil defies physics now…..lol

My car was on ramps maybe 2-3 days before this happened. I was tightening the clamps on my exhaust pipes. The right sight where the collector attaches and where that pipe goes back and then attaches to the merge just got loose and started to sag down a little and was slightly scrapping this one parking lot speed bump I always go over. So I pushed them back up and tucked them up as high as they would go and I tightened those clamps.

I looked at everything while it was up, everything was 100% dry. I visually check this car all the time. It was also aligned at my friends shop that same week and we would have seen all this **** everywhere, it was dry and sparkling (lol) clean……

So all I can say to you is……when it comes to people who leave their cars a mess.

Not this one. And not many other cars of members who have posted pics of their cars through the years.
But if you like you car all messy that’s cool.