MASSIVE Oil Leak in a 90 C1500 5.7

[Bicbiz]

90 C-1500
Ex. Cab, Long bed, 4X4 all options, 196K miles, still running strong.

At first, I thought my massive oil leak was the main seal, and I was about to put a new motor in it...turns out, it could be a bad seal at the Oil filter housing. The aluminum oil filter cooler- the point the oil filter actually attaches to must have seals in it that go bad. I am going to try to tackle it this weekend- the GM dealer sold the gasket set to me $4.30, and said it was somewhat common- and likely my problem. Anyone else ever run into this? The oil was coming out at an incredible rate---a quart in about 10 minutes, and the majority of it was coming from above the coolant return lines on the oil filter housing. I'll post an update on Monday on this subject- I hope it helps someone out that has an oil leak- cause there isn't much on the subject if you do a search for it.

Let me know if anyone else has run into this issue.
-Bic

[LUKE396]

[quote=Bicbiz]90 C-1500
Ex. Cab, Long bed, 4X4 all options, 196K miles, still running strong.

At first, I thought my massive oil leak was the main seal, and I was about to put a new motor in it...turns out, it could be a bad seal at the Oil filter housing. The aluminum oil filter cooler- the point the oil filter actually attaches to must have seals in it that go bad. I am going to try to tackle it this weekend- the GM dealer sold the gasket set to me $4.30, and said it was somewhat common- and likely my problem. Anyone else ever run into this? The oil was coming out at an incredible rate---a quart in about 10 minutes, and the majority of it was coming from above the coolant return lines on the oil filter housing. I'll post an update on Monday on this subject- I hope it helps someone out that has an oil leak- cause there isn't much on the subject if you do a search for it.

Let me know if anyone else has run into this issue.
-Bic[/Q IM NOT SURE IM TYPING IN THE CORRECT PLACE BUT HERE GOES. YES YOU ARE ON THE RIGHT TRACK. YOU WILL BE A HAPPY MAN IN ABOUT 1 HOUR. IT IS NOT VERY DIFICULT TO REPLACE THAT GASKET. GOOD LUCK!! DOENT FORGET TO CHANGE YOUR OIL.

[comp]

a whole lot cheaper than a engine

[Bicbiz]

Just so everyone knows- this was the problem!!!

The oil cooler has a gasket (aluminum and a rubber one) that over time dries up and breaks...once it breaks, it causes a leak. The leak gets amplified over time, and weather conditions (cold). At first impression- I thought my old motor had given up and a main seal was called for...thank goodness I went to the dealer to check on possible causes before going to the boneyard for a new motor. The procedure took a little over an hour, and wasn't too difficult. Changed the oil and filter, started it up- BINGO! No leak- oil pressure is back up, and we are still rolling on a 200K mile motor with plenty of power!

Now, if I could just get the ignition system fixed- I would be in A+ condition.

Hope this post helps someone in the future- I would have killed to read it before I started my venture.

Thanks to everyone that replied!

[thud]

I had this problem on my 89' the top gasket was blown out. Replacing only took 20 minutes but was messy

[atthacker]

man i'm glad i ran into you guys. I just got back from the dealer with those two parts, the gasket and o-ring, luckily, my truck is not leaking oil that bad, but i plan on tackling this over the weekend.