Extreme Oil Leak!!
03-10-2014, 11:21 AM
#1
Drifting
Thread Starter
Extreme Oil Leak!!
My baby (with only 11 miles on it) literally puked almost all of the oil out.
It puddled everywhere underneath the hood, sprayed the hood liner on the driver side, coated the entire undercarriage, and even coated the entire back of the car in oil. I was getting on the freeway, and at 70 mph, a massive cloud of white smoke shot out the back of the car. It didn't make a noise like a pop, crack, or anything that I could hear.
The car still will run perfectly. (I rolled it off the freeway with the engine off) and turned it on and drove it home about 1.5 miles away. Engine did not blow, ran very smooth.
The huge cloud of smoke, I assume, came from oil being sprayed all over the exhaust manifolds.
I checked the oil level and it is basically bone dry.
I had it put on a tow truck to the local dealership.
Never heard of such a catastrophic oil leak. It literally emptied all of it.
Every hear of something like this?
It puddled everywhere underneath the hood, sprayed the hood liner on the driver side, coated the entire undercarriage, and even coated the entire back of the car in oil. I was getting on the freeway, and at 70 mph, a massive cloud of white smoke shot out the back of the car. It didn't make a noise like a pop, crack, or anything that I could hear.
The car still will run perfectly. (I rolled it off the freeway with the engine off) and turned it on and drove it home about 1.5 miles away. Engine did not blow, ran very smooth.
The huge cloud of smoke, I assume, came from oil being sprayed all over the exhaust manifolds.
I checked the oil level and it is basically bone dry.
I had it put on a tow truck to the local dealership.
Never heard of such a catastrophic oil leak. It literally emptied all of it.
Every hear of something like this?
03-10-2014, 11:24 AM
#2
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That sounds truly disastrous! I've never heard of such a discharge of oil from the engine.
Elmer
Elmer
03-10-2014, 11:25 AM
#3
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St. Jude Donor '11-'12-'13, '16-'17-'18
Sounds like maybe the oil filter gasket failed? I had that happen to me many many years ago on a Honda
Wouldn't be unusual if it was overtightened....
Wouldn't be unusual if it was overtightened....
03-10-2014, 11:26 AM
#4
Team Owner
My baby (with only 11 miles on it) literally puked almost all of the oil out.
It puddled everywhere underneath the hood, sprayed the hood liner on the driver side, coated the entire undercarriage, and even coated the entire back of the car in oil. I was getting on the freeway, and at 70 mph, a massive cloud of white smoke shot out the back of the car. It didn't make a noise like a pop, crack, or anything that I could hear.
The car still will run perfectly. (I rolled it off the freeway with the engine off) and turned it on and drove it home about 1.5 miles away. Engine did not blow, ran very smooth.
The huge cloud of smoke, I assume, came from oil being sprayed all over the exhaust manifolds.
I checked the oil level and it is basically bone dry.
I had it put on a tow truck to the local dealership.
Never heard of such a catastrophic oil leak. It literally emptied all of it.
Every hear of something like this?
It puddled everywhere underneath the hood, sprayed the hood liner on the driver side, coated the entire undercarriage, and even coated the entire back of the car in oil. I was getting on the freeway, and at 70 mph, a massive cloud of white smoke shot out the back of the car. It didn't make a noise like a pop, crack, or anything that I could hear.
The car still will run perfectly. (I rolled it off the freeway with the engine off) and turned it on and drove it home about 1.5 miles away. Engine did not blow, ran very smooth.
The huge cloud of smoke, I assume, came from oil being sprayed all over the exhaust manifolds.
I checked the oil level and it is basically bone dry.
I had it put on a tow truck to the local dealership.
Never heard of such a catastrophic oil leak. It literally emptied all of it.
Every hear of something like this?
03-10-2014, 11:31 AM
#5
Drifting
...and just because it didn't register on the dipstick does not mean it was "bone dry". And be careful about how you express yourself reference "driving 1.5 miles" after saying it was bone dry. There could be warranty implications for continuing to drive it after you already knew something was very wrong.
Just sayin'
03-10-2014, 11:56 AM
#11
Drifting
Thread Starter
03-10-2014, 12:05 PM
#12
Drifting
Thread Starter
I was so close to home, all I could think of was to just limp it home and check it out. When it drove just fine, I guess I was a bit confused, in that weird mental state, and just drove it home.
Stupid, thinking back on it. Sometimes you just get into a mind set and go with it.
No flames, no smell, no CEL, temp gauge read normal, car drove fine, I zoned in to getting it home. Had oil not smoked off the exhaust manifolds, I wouldn't have had a clue anything was wrong.
03-10-2014, 12:08 PM
#13
Drifting
Thread Starter
And my driveway has the most horrible oil stain I've ever seen. It dripped off from all over the underside of the car, not just the engine bay area.
Gonna have to clean that up!
Gonna have to clean that up!
03-10-2014, 12:24 PM
#15
I was so close to home, all I could think of was to just limp it home and check it out. When it drove just fine, I guess I was a bit confused, in that weird mental state, and just drove it home.
Stupid, thinking back on it. Sometimes you just get into a mind set and go with it.
No flames, no smell, no CEL, temp gauge read normal, car drove fine, I zoned in to getting it home. Had oil not smoked off the exhaust manifolds, I wouldn't have had a clue anything was wrong.
Stupid, thinking back on it. Sometimes you just get into a mind set and go with it.
No flames, no smell, no CEL, temp gauge read normal, car drove fine, I zoned in to getting it home. Had oil not smoked off the exhaust manifolds, I wouldn't have had a clue anything was wrong.
It's possible this is a simple leak from the oil line leading into or out of the oil cooler, assuming there is an external cooler on the LT1. The loss of 2 quarts, enough to be below the dip stick, would look like the Exxon Valdez oil spill yet still provide enough oil to maintain pressure and hence save the engine from damage. It could be something as simple as an oil line not being tightened and it backed off a little. Certainly unacceptable but not catastrophic unless it happened at speed on the highway and you didn't notice it till your oil light came on.
03-10-2014, 12:49 PM
#17
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St. Jude Donor '11-'12-'13, '16-'17-'18
My money is still on the filter gasket.....
03-10-2014, 12:49 PM
#18
You didn't mention it but did your OIL GAUGE show pressure at all times?
It's possible this is a simple leak from the oil line leading into or out of the oil cooler, assuming there is an external cooler on the LT1. The loss of 2 quarts, enough to be below the dip stick, would look like the Exxon Valdez oil spill yet still provide enough oil to maintain pressure and hence save the engine from damage. It could be something as simple as an oil line not being tightened and it backed off a little. Certainly unacceptable but not catastrophic unless it happened at speed on the highway and you didn't notice it till your oil light came on.
It's possible this is a simple leak from the oil line leading into or out of the oil cooler, assuming there is an external cooler on the LT1. The loss of 2 quarts, enough to be below the dip stick, would look like the Exxon Valdez oil spill yet still provide enough oil to maintain pressure and hence save the engine from damage. It could be something as simple as an oil line not being tightened and it backed off a little. Certainly unacceptable but not catastrophic unless it happened at speed on the highway and you didn't notice it till your oil light came on.
If the leak was on the way back to the pan and it never went dry then the oil pressure never dropped an no harm was done to the internals.
03-10-2014, 12:50 PM
#19
Race Director
You didn't mention it but did your OIL GAUGE show pressure at all times?
It's possible this is a simple leak from the oil line leading into or out of the oil cooler, assuming there is an external cooler on the LT1. The loss of 2 quarts, enough to be below the dip stick, would look like the Exxon Valdez oil spill yet still provide enough oil to maintain pressure and hence save the engine from damage. It could be something as simple as an oil line not being tightened and it backed off a little. Certainly unacceptable but not catastrophic unless it happened at speed on the highway and you didn't notice it till your oil light came on.
It's possible this is a simple leak from the oil line leading into or out of the oil cooler, assuming there is an external cooler on the LT1. The loss of 2 quarts, enough to be below the dip stick, would look like the Exxon Valdez oil spill yet still provide enough oil to maintain pressure and hence save the engine from damage. It could be something as simple as an oil line not being tightened and it backed off a little. Certainly unacceptable but not catastrophic unless it happened at speed on the highway and you didn't notice it till your oil light came on.
If memory serves me, the engine is programmed to shut down on really low oil pressure so I am thinking there was still enough oil in the sump to get you home without oil pressure getting too low.
03-10-2014, 12:56 PM
#20
Drifting
Thread Starter
You didn't mention it but did your OIL GAUGE show pressure at all times?
It's possible this is a simple leak from the oil line leading into or out of the oil cooler, assuming there is an external cooler on the LT1. The loss of 2 quarts, enough to be below the dip stick, would look like the Exxon Valdez oil spill yet still provide enough oil to maintain pressure and hence save the engine from damage. It could be something as simple as an oil line not being tightened and it backed off a little. Certainly unacceptable but not catastrophic unless it happened at speed on the highway and you didn't notice it till your oil light came on.
It's possible this is a simple leak from the oil line leading into or out of the oil cooler, assuming there is an external cooler on the LT1. The loss of 2 quarts, enough to be below the dip stick, would look like the Exxon Valdez oil spill yet still provide enough oil to maintain pressure and hence save the engine from damage. It could be something as simple as an oil line not being tightened and it backed off a little. Certainly unacceptable but not catastrophic unless it happened at speed on the highway and you didn't notice it till your oil light came on.
