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Oil leak.


rc_cola_j
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I’m leaking oil pretty badly.

 

At first I thought it was power steering because it was just saturated around the steering rack where the shaft attaches.....but I’ve been watching my fluid levels carefully and for sure it is oil. Drove 300km yesterday and was down about 500ml.

 

I reached up through the hatch in my skid plate and tightened the filter down more....there was no oil around the filter. But on the frame just below that and behind the steering rack it was well soaked with oil.

 

I can’t tell where this is coming from. Anyone have any thoughts? Is there an oil line that runs back there?

 

 

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I wish I was a bit more familiar with the 3.3 L, but is there any seepage seeming to be coming from behind the Harmonic Balancer (Crank pulley)? I know on my 3.5 L, I had oil dripping down on my steering rack and it looked like it was coming from the oil filter, but it was actually coming from behind the front crankshaft seal.

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This is all I could find in the FSM on the oil routing for the VG33E.

n20q3c.png
​Obviously some of these can't really be accessed from the outside, but I would definitely try and hit the underside of the engine with some degreaser, and see if you can watch for the leak to form. Most of the channels for oil pathways are internal for the engine, and there shouldn't be anywhere aside from the engine seals that you'd be able to see the leak.

I'd check around the crankshaft seal, oil filter mount and seal, valve cover seals, and timing seals. Again, if you can clean those areas first, you'll save yourself some trouble because oil's going to just collect where it can be absorbed (aka. dirt).

 

 

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This is all I could find in the FSM on the oil routing for the VG33E.

n20q3c.png

​Obviously some of these can't really be accessed from the outside, but I would definitely try and hit the underside of the engine with some degreaser, and see if you can watch for the leak to form. Most of the channels for oil pathways are internal for the engine, and there shouldn't be anywhere aside from the engine seals that you'd be able to see the leak.

I'd check around the crankshaft seal, oil filter mount and seal, valve cover seals, and timing seals. Again, if you can clean those areas first, you'll save yourself some trouble because oil's going to just collect where it can be absorbed (aka. dirt).

 

 

Thanks! I’ll have a look in the morning. I’m hoping it’s something simple(obviously)....but if it is a crankshaft seal, how big a job is that?

 

 

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Thanks! I’ll have a look in the morning. I’m hoping it’s something simple(obviously)....but if it is a crankshaft seal, how big a job is that?

 

 

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Not too bad. Removing the belt and getting to the seal isn’t too hard, but the spacial constraints make it a bit difficult to pull the crank pulley off easily. There might be a seal directly behind the pulley, which if you’re lucky, that’s all you’ll need to pull out and replace. Otherwise, and I’ll have to check the manual to be sure, there might be something to get ahold of behind the crank sprocket for timing.

 

 

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You will need to pull the timing belt to change the crank shaft seal.

I really really hope it’s much more simple than the crankshaft seal

 

 

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On lunch and didn't have time to read all of the comments. Sorry if already said above. VALVE COVER GASKETS! ;P mine were leaking really bad and i could never find the oil trail because it was leaking out of the valve cover onto the header and burning off. When i pulld them out they were like hard platic instead of soft rubber.

 

hope this helps at all man

 

Pat

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On lunch and didn't have time to read all of the comments. Sorry if already said above. VALVE COVER GASKETS! ;P mine were leaking really bad and i could never find the oil trail because it was leaking out of the valve cover onto the header and burning off. When i pulld them out they were like hard platic instead of soft rubber.

 

hope this helps at all man

 

Pat

I still haven’t had time to take the skid plate off and look carefully. But it’s coming from the lower part of the engine, right behind and slightly above the steering rack. The valve cover gaskets look good.

 

Driving my GF’s Pontiac sunfire around, it’s sad.

 

 

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Mine is leaking right there also. The piece that your oil filter screws into actually bolts onto the block and has o rings itself. I either installed something incorrectly or that piece is warped from being smashed at the junkyard..

 

I suggest spraying a strong degreaser and blasting that area with a pressure washer. Then you can see better what exactly is leaking.

 

 

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