canadamaniac

I've had my Corvette for just a couple months and had been trying to isolate an oil smell. I 've traced the leak to the oil filter area. It leaks there and gets blown all over the exhaust causing the smell. I checked the filter and it is on tight so I climbed under with the engine running. The oil is coming from a bolt above the filter. I'm not sure what it is.

Attached are some pics. The bolt looks like an incredible pain to get to. Anyone know what it is and how to fix the leak? I'm hoping it's just loose I can tighten it to solve the problem.

Also any advice on how to get the oil off the underside of the car?



Leak is from the bolt in right above the drop of oil.

torquetube

That is the bypass valve of the oil cooler pipe assembly. Oil leaks can be tricky to trace. It may actually be coming from the gasket between the oil cooler pipe assembly and the engine block, or from the pan gasket, or from someplace else.

To get to the pipe assembly: drain the oil, remove the left catalytic converter, and remove those two bolts you see holding the assembly to the block. Some more oil will spill out from the oil cooler lines. Look around for leaks. I would replace the gasket p/n 15203889 regardless.

As for cleaning up, I'd give it a once-over with mineral spirits and a rag. Follow up with soapy water. I would not use powerful solvents like acetone or caustic degreasers like the purple stuff. The former can screw up plastic parts and the latter will etch aluminum.

Dreamer2

I had the same scenario. Oil filter was covered with oil but not leaking.I would bet dollars to donuts that it is the oil pan leaking. It is very common for the gasket to leak front and rear at the stepped portion of the block surface. The factory applies RTV in those spots which weakens over the years. A new gasket with fresh RTV in those spots is in order. Did it myself. Parts are cheap but job is labor intensive.

cmonkey713

Similar situation here. I pulled the filter and cleaned everything up and kept an eye on it for a while. In the end it was the rear corner of the pan leaking. changed the pan gasket and all is good now.

canadamaniac

Sounds like it's the gasket then. I've seen a number of posts saying try tightening the bolts very carefully to 12ft-lbs. Apparently they're very long and prone to breaking.

If that doesn't work then I guess the pan is coming off. It doesn't look like too tough a job but I am worried about the adhesive that comes already on the gasket. I've not done an oil pan before and doing it wrong could leave me worse off than I am now. I may give in and have a shop do it.

Should I replace the oil level sensor while the pan is off? It's 16 years old and around $30. It looks like you don't need to remove the pan for that though.