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,

"carrajo" wrote

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?

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

On Mar 25, 9:50 pm, "shiden_kai" <V... (AT) hotma1l (DOT) com> wrote:

"carrajo" wrote

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?

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

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.

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" <V... (AT) hotma1l (DOT) com> wrote:
"carrajo" wrote

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?

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

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.

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