Oil Leak

Hi,

Two days ago I was driving ( 2001 Pontiac Sunfire ) and I noticed my car battery light come on, I immediately suspected that my alternator belt must have snapped during some point. I pulled over and popped the hood open, my engine overheated as there was smoke coming from it. I looked at the alternator and confirmed that the belt actually did snap. Luckily, there was a GM dealership down the road so I waited half an hour and I was able to drive it into the dealership.

They replaced the belt and I drove the car home. After a full day of use I now notice 2 little pools of oil beneath the car, the oil is actually on the passenger side. My vehicle was driving fine all day, I was even on the freeway for about 1 hour. Any ideas where this oil could be coming from? Considering the situation, what would most likely be the cause?

Thanks,

Reply to
carrajo
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"carrajo" wrote

It's going to be a lot easier for you to figure out where the oil is leaking from then us. But, I can make some educated guesses. Front timing cover seal, oil filter, ps pump shaft seal, ps pressure hose. All of these items could leak on the passenger side.

Ian

Reply to
shiden_kai

A quick look and nope, it wasn't the oil filter. My mechanic shampooed my engine ( got it nice and clean ) and then added some dye into the oil. He drove it around for 20 minutes and when he lifted it, oil was everywhere again. He shined a light on the dye and the fluorescent light tracked the leak back to the "front crank shaft seal". It was a pretty bad leak as oil was dribbling out rather quick.

I thought the overheated engine may have caused this but he said "no", he said the leak could have always been there and the seal finally just gave out. I should have asked him if it's possible that oil was getting onto the alternator belt which caused it to snap.

Thank for your educated guesses, they were actually very helpful. I actually asked him to check all the areas you mentioned.

Reply to
carrajo

The engine cleaning probably revealed the leak. There was probably a lot of grime build up around the Crankshaft seal that is literally held back the oil. Once it was removed, It sprung a leak like you mentioned.

"carrajo" wrote: > On Mar 25, 9:50 pm, "shiden_kai" wrote: > > "carrajo" wrote > >

Reply to
usarmyrangrs

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