Help Oil Everywhere

[PonceDeLeon187]

I just cahnged my oil and when I turned off the engine after warming it up I noticed a PUDDLE of oil under the engine. Well I put another quart in and started it up to find where it was coming from. Its pouring (a quart a miniute) out from a mysterious point midway up the engine. I checked the filter I checked the plug I checked everything and nothing is loose. What is going on?

[ladymech62]

Since you didn't bother the rocker arm covers it wouldn't be there . . . Did you watch for oil spraying from the filter with the car running? Double check to see if the old gasket came off with the old filter - at times they stay 'glued' to the gasket surface and when you put on the new filter it will break out and you can have a leak. Did you check to see if the threads were pulled (stripped) on the pan plug? That means a new plug. Also if the plug is on the edge of the oil pan the gasket can be thicker on one side than the other and when the thick side ends up where the thin side goes it can leak too - A new nylon gasket helps.

* helpful hint: rub some oil on the gasket, and whenever possible pour oil into the filter if it won't run out when you go to put it on - the filter will come off easier and the engine won't have to run as long to get oil pressure . . . it is pumping the filter full with oil that delays the oil pressure from coming up right at start up.

Let me know what you find out!

[gschretter]

Chevy 350 Pre-vortec heads.

I have oil coming out somewhere on the driver side below the head.

The valve cover is not leaking

I replaced the intake and I check for leaks there (NO LEAKS).

It is like there is some kind of hole on the back of the block that is letting oil out of.

HOW MANY QUARTS DID YOU PUT IN ? 5

Has anybody heard about this before ?

[Thunderbolt]

Check your oil sending unit back by the distibutor. They have been known to spring a leak and pour oil everywhere. It sounds to me like that may be where the oil is coming from.

[gschretter]

I used engine cleaner on the back of the engine and removed everthing.

It is not leaking from the intake / oil sending unit or distrubutor.

Looks like it is leaking from the head on the driver side.

I am going to replace the valve cover gasket on that side. I moved my figure all around the valve cover and not oil but better safe than sorry.

What is weird is the longer I let is sit the bigger the oil pubble gets.

The oil pan is not leaking since the oil is coming from the top.
Does a 350 have some kind of over flow if you put to much oil in it ???

Thanks.

[Stonewall2]

If it was me? I would backtrack over every move I had made when changing oil and filter.

In other words, and speaking from past experience, I would check for operator malfunction before flying off to the winds and get to tilting windmills.

If all was well before you did the changes, look for the problem first with your procedures.

[rich4nowk]

i had a oil filter adapter leaking once ruinned my engine between the motor and the oil filter .....possible if you just changed the oil and theres no seal left from the old filter maybe you did something to this adapter if your has one mine was an 91

[Rbraczyk]

it may be a headgasket.

[chvsuburban]

Wouldn't a head gasket be blowing water and producing white smoke or at a minimum water in oil? I didn't think it would leak oil, have been wrong before though.

[knucklebuster2]

If it wasn't leaking before, it could only be two things. One is like ladymech said. The old oil filter gasket stayed "glued" to the filter housing and is not allowing the new filter to seat properly. Or it is the drain plug and or gasket. Maybe the drain plug needs a new gasket, or the threads are screwed up ( which would have been easily noticed.) My vote is the oil filter gasket is still on the filter adapter. It is not as uncommon as you may think.

[derek barrios]

Originally Posted by PonceDeLeon187

I just cahnged my oil and when I turned off the engine after warming it up I noticed a PUDDLE of oil under the engine. Well I put another quart in and started it up to find where it was coming from. Its pouring (a quart a miniute) out from a mysterious point midway up the engine. I checked the filter I checked the plug I checked everything and nothing is loose. What is going on?

check out your oil pump. i had the same prob. i changed the o ring gasket and no more leaks. later

[Rbraczyk]

I bet its rear main seal. It wouldn't leak from the filter if it were halfway up, The filter is right above the driveshaft. I know what you mean if the oil filter isn't lubed properly. What side is the oil leaking from, passenger or driver? That may lead a better hint.

[richtazz]

IF it's not a doubled oil filter seal, I would check the oil cooler lines if the truck has an engine oil cooler. I work for an AC-Delco distributor, and we sell these all day every day. They split from age at the factory crimped connection between the rubber and metal part of the lines. They are available through GM SPO or GM dealers, and they run along the drivers side of the block from the filter to the radiator, right where you say your leak is

[chebby uno ton]

unscrew the new filter and see if the old seal is on there, if not, screw it back on and move on to plan B.

[atthacker]

Rich Tazz has a great point. I just had to replace my oil cooler lines on my pickup. The way they were made from the factory made them leak because the metal hoses would come straight out of the radiator and rest on the frame. I just got new ones from the factory and now they are rubber where they hit the frame, also, make sure you didnt accidentally unplug those lines where they connect to the oil filter housing. While putting in my oil cooler lines, I must have not put one of the lines in all the way (it's a quick connect fitting into the housing) and oil went everywhere while going 70 mph on the highway. Now i have coolant constantly leaking into my oil (which is another story)