oil all over the undercarriage and out the exhaust!
 

I have oil all under my car from the headers near the starter, the starter, the tranny (top and bottom), the drivershaft, and my back bumper has slick black residue all over it as well as my license plate. it almost seems as if it's bursting out of every clamp on the exhaust. but there is no signs of oil on the top of my motor at all. car is driving fine except for every time i push the gas smoke comes into the car like crazy.

rear main seal?

Same problem on mine, ac compressor is black along with the starter all the way to
the back. I really think its the front main seal though since theres crud around it.

I would think valve cover or rear main seal. Are you sure it's oil and not ATF?

Also is this an LT or LS engine? That will make a difference.

I know before I started the rebuild I had this same issue, Turned out to be a crappy oil pan gasket.

for starters, it's a 99 ta. i just replaced the rear main less than 1k miles ago. but i thought that was the cause of the bad oil leak i had. But the leak was still there. So it's got to be the front main or the oil pan gasket. I really dont think it's ATF, it's clearly blackened oil as you can tell in certain light. and the smell of tranny fluid is distinctive (i hate it).

Well, I decided to do an oil change to see what might arise..... URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/9/img2011060800203.jpg/]http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/9359/...0800203.th.jpg[/URL

Ouch! That doesn't look too good. What is that? Looks too small for a piston ring, but can't really think of what it could be... I just assembled a LS1 too and can't place it.

EDIT*** Just looked a little closer at your pic. Is that metal or rubber? It looks like an Oil Pump Pickup o-ring that got sliced in half... but then you wouldn't have any oil pressure.

Just thought of something. Right behind the starter is a sensor that is held in by 1 10mm headed bolt. It uses an oring to seal into the side of the block. If it has ever been removed it could have been put in wrong and sliced the oring. I would pull the starter and check that.

Also, I have had a nasty oil leak lately and it turned out to be a bad valve cover gasket. If the gasket has blown out toward the back on the bottom side you will never see it. I was pulling my hair out trying to figure out why my entire underside of my car was covered in oil. After I checked everything else under the sun, I finally took the valve cover off and sure enough, the gasket had blown out and was spewing oil out the side under higher RPMs.

That's the crankshaft sensor near the starter.

it's definitely metal. I did remove the starter a few months ago. Also, the car cranked fine and i drove it about 100 miles to pick a friend up and noticed the smoking but i (stupidly) drove the car home anyway. My oil pressure is normal now on cold starts. i havent cranked it since finding this piece. I did notice it drop to 20 psi the last time i drove it, but it returned to normal a while later in the trip. Interesting point about the valve covers, but the back of the block is clean as hell too. as well as the collector of my headers. I'm sure they would be painted black if the valves were leaking am i right? I'm so happy i just bought me an lq4 block a few weeks ago...

mite be a broken valve spring.

Check your PCV system.

Yes if it were your valve covers you would more than likely have a spot on your headers where the oil had been dripping/burning. That was the big reason why I noticed my oil leak.

I would have to agree about the valvespring. Only thing is that it would be difficult for it to make it all the way down to the oil pan. Not impossible but difficult.

Sounds like it might be leaking around where the rear cover and oil pan meet up. Did you put some RTV sealant on the left and right side where the pan and cover meet up? :nod:

i did not, but the only problem is the oil is blowing out of the exhaust as well. so it is definitely in the mixture. I am thinking a lot towards it being the valvespring. It looks so much like one. it just cranks up fine but i think i was hearing a little valvetrain noise that i thought was my exhaust leak.

Yeah, if you broke a valve spring it's very possible it damaged the seal also.

Nother mystery oil leak ive found is bad dipstick oring. That lil beesh gone bad will oil down all of the undercarriage and exhaust

c-clip for a rocker arm.