Myfourth1

I just brought my 3LT C7 in for an oil change with 1,260 miles on it and they found a small puddle of oil sitting on the lower control arm on the driver's side of the engine. No known cause yet so they cleaned the puddle up and added some oil dye to my original oil and told me to drive it 100-150 miles and then they can check to see if it's still leaking (the dye will show up under a black light). Has anyone had a similar experience? It doesn't appear to be serious but it certainly concerns me a bit.

b4i4getit

I would not worry about it. Someone probably got a little sloppy filling it at the factory.

Myfourth1

Normally I would agree but I live in AZ and it should have evaporated by now since the car is 3 months old....regardless of that, I'm going to monitor it closely....

Myfourth1

I just went out to the garage and checked. There is a new small droplet of what appears to be oil on the lower control arm. But when I touched it it felt sticky which seems to suggest it's not oil. Oh well, we'll see what happens in the next few days.

Chip A

A failed belt tensioner perhaps?

slief

Probably not since the tensioner is on the passenger side.

C6FirstVette

I had a similar thing happen when I first purchased my then new C6…very small puddle of fluid that looked like engine oil but felt different than that type of oil. Turns out that when weather was warm/hot some of the hydro-form 'oil' would drip a bit from the hydro-formed chassis rails. Maybe what you have...

Myfourth1

Thanks, I'll check that out. I live in AZ and the car sat in the hot garage for 3 weeks while I was out of the country. And it was 90 degrees yesterday when I drove it. I'll mention it to the dealer although they tend to ignore me when I suggest things....typical Chevy dealer. One of the reasons I bought the car from Kerbeck. My local dealer isn't very good.

Myfourth1

I drove the car another 200 miles as per the dealers instructions, after they added some oil dye, and when I checked it this morning there is more fluid sitting on the lower control arm and it is wet. That proves that something is leaking, albeit a miniscule amount. It has the color and viscosity of oil but it has no smell and it seems to be sticky. I have no idea what it could be. I scheduled a service appointment for this Wednesday. Hopefully they can determine what it is and hopefully it's not serious.

Myfourth1

Problem has been identified. I have a leaky driver's side valve cover gasket which is dripping onto the lower control arm. Of course my Chevy dealer doesn't have the gasket in stock so I have to wait until next week to have it repaired. A brand new $70,000 car should not have a leaky valve cover gasket. And, as I side note, when I picked the car up and drove it home, just for safety sake I opened the hood to check and what do I find? The cover that snaps on over the valve cover was sitting on top of the engine unattached. This is the 3rd time the dealer has done this with my 2 Vettes. One time they left crumpled up paper towels on top of the engine. It's a miracle it didn't start a fire.

Hopefully by next week the problem will be resolved and I can enjoy the car. If anyone out there has had a similar problem please let me know. Thanks.

Myfourth1

Bringing the car in today to have the valve cover gasket replaced. But before I do I'm going to ask them to check if the valve cover is torqued down properly. Maybe one of the bolts are loose and causing the leak. Just a hunch but worth checking before replacement. Does anyone know if the valve cover bolts are torqued down by robot or human at the engine manufacturing plant in Tonawanda?

Myfourth1

Car is in the shop as we speak. They did check the bolts for correct torque and they were all good. So the process of replacing the valve cover gasket begins. They will call me if they find anything other than the bad gasket. Hopefully they don't find anything more serious. I also found a video which shows the valve cover bolts being tightened by robot.

Translator

^^^Good luck, and please let us know the final outcome.

lgodom

Hopefully the valve cover gasket replacement will be problem free and they won't break something else while its in the shop. It shouldn't have leaked, but since it's not a major repair, you're lucky.

RapidC84B

Should be an utterly simple fix. But I agree a new $70k car shouldn't leak, but **** happens and parts are defective.

Myfourth1

Dealer called and said the car is fixed. There was a slight kink in the original gasket around a corner which most likely was the culprit. I'll monitor it closely after I pick it up tomorrow. I will also check under the hood before I drive it from the dealer to make sure they didn't leave anything loose or disconnected like they have done 3 times in the past....

C7Joy

Sounds like one of those shops where they "detail" your car with the same dry paper towels!

Bill Dearborn

You are right it shouldn't have leaked but brand new parts are sometimes defective. That is why all new cars come with warranties. They are designed and made by humans and anything humans do isn't perfect.

As for any dealer having a Corvette part in stock why would they? They sell very few Vettes in relation to other cars and a valve cover gasket is probably not a high failure rate item. From an inventory standpoint they have a low volume vehicle with low demand for services and a low probability of failure part. Why would anyone order such a part to sit on the shelf and gather dust while paying for the part and then the cost of keeping it in inventory? Parts managers can get fired for not keeping their costs under control.

As for this being a big concern it really isn't, a few drops or oil now and then aren't worth worrying about unless you can get the leak stopped for free. There are thousands of cars leaking everywhere in the world. That is why there is a dark strip in the center of every well used vehicle lane.

In most cases it isn't worth it to fix engine leaks until the cost of replacement oil or the potential for internal engine damage exceeds the cost/risk of fixing the problem and that means it is almost never cost effective to fix a leak even when doing it yourself with free parts.

Bill

Myfourth1

Just picked up the car and everything seems to be ok. The left valve cover gasket was kinked or cracked at the 2nd bolt. It's been replaced and no leaks so far. I will continue to monitor it nonetheless. Thanks for everyone's comments.

Snorman

OP...thanks for the info and follow up. This helps when somebody has a leak from an area other than under the airbox (which typically seem to be a sign of the dry sump on Z51 cars being overfilled).

S.