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?

That sounds truly disastrous! I've never heard of such a discharge of oil from the engine.

Elmer

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....

Is your car a Z51?

...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.

What did the oil pressure gauge show and did any service engine or oil warning lights come on?

From a previous post I'm assuming this is not a Z51.

Uhhh. :smash: Just sayin'

Yikes!!!!!!!!!!!:(

:iagree: Why in the hell would you drive it home? To make sure it was completely destroyed?

Which was my point ref the warranty implications.

Correct, it is a Non-Z51.

The check engine light did NOT come on.

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.

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!

Plug still on? Filter in place? Any pics?

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.

No pics. Filter was there.

Hard to see under such a low car.

My money is still on the filter gasket.....

:iagree:

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.

:iagree: 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.

The oil light never came on, and the gauge, honestly, I didn't check while the car was still on because I just drove it home real quick, parked it, and pushed it when I had to move it. (Electronic parking brake is annoying as hell btw, lol)

Pics?

I would not volunteer that you drove the car after you knew there was a major oil leak if I were you............

If there weren't any lights or buzzers going off, I wouldn't worry too much about damage from lack of oil. I blew a filter gasket 1 mile from my house once. As you said, oil was EVERYWHERE. I drained it to see how much oils was actually lost, and it wasn't even a full quart low. It doesn't take much out, to look like a lot. As much as I cleaned an scrubbed, that car still dripped oil for 2 weeks.
I bet the fix in your case will be easy, but make sure the dealer cleans every nook and cranny of oil, that alone should be a 3 or 4 hour job.

It did turn off, then I rolled it off the freeway in neutral, started it up, engine started as if nothing happened, I Babied it firm the street to my house, and shut it down.

No oil lights, CEL, nothing.


Just waiting for the dealership service center to call and advise me on what's going on.

Obviously, the high pressure side of the oil system went poop somewhere.

The engine is completely fine.

All the cars have oil coolers standard. The C7's cooler is a liquid/liquid cooler by the oil pan. I'll bet one of the lines came loose.

There's nothing in a C5/C6 that will auto shut down the car due to low oil pressure. It'll start chimeing at you and flash LOW OIL PRESSURE on the DIC, but it won't turn off until the car runs dry and seizes.

AFM plumbing maybe?

AFM is just a special type of lifter... it's not an external line or fitting.

Was thinking maybe a crack in this.

http://library.delphi.com/images/lib...8-27600_1.jpeg

Lifter Oil Manifold

Sorry to hear that, please keep us updated.

Sorry but pics or it didint happen.

What a bummer, GM QC strikes again! Whatever you find out it is I'd tell them to give you a new car, 11 miles and losing something that catastrophic is complete and utter BS.:smash:

You're lucky it didn't light up, if the car was real hot and all that oil got onto the exhaust it would have.

Without going into the gory details, my son's Grand Prix with 190K miles had an oil sensor "blow out" and the oil level went to completely empty. The engine ran for a little while after the disaster. Bottom line, after the incident which did absolutely no damage to the engine his oil pressure went back to exactly where it was before the blow out after the sensor(and oil) were replaced. He's now at 199K.
He had an aftermarket oil pressure gauge installed - the sensor got damaged when the front wheel drive differential exploded as he was accelerating on ice/dry pavement/ice/dry pavement. Today's engines (and oils) can withstand a lot of disasters.

Because a major problem has NEVER happened to a new car from any manufacturer other than GM before :eek: It's not like the car caught on fire on the road... hmmm... where did I read about that happening? :D

I've seen a similar issue with a BMW when a tech didn't tighten the oil cap properly and the hot oil poured out... not suggesting that is the issue but who knows what happened at this point.

Just don't build them like those Acura you sell, huh?

:iagree: I would be out of my mind. The oil is going to be everywhere on the underside of the car. Probably in places that you can't see or get to without disassembling to get cleaned. I would not want dirt and road grime clinging to that oil everywhere and be there forever. At minimum I would demand that they get the car on a lift and do a low pressure power wash everywhere and let you see it while up there before you agree to take it back. The possible engine wear and damage is a whole nother story. Whether accurate or not, they will tell you all will be fine and say not to worry about anything. They won't want to eat your car and get you a new one. Demand a manufacturer rep get involved right off the bat. Good luck, hopefully all goes well. :ack:

It's an 11 mile car Heath, and had it got up to temp. it would have caught fire. :yesnod:

And of course it happens to all manufacturers but I have to tell you, IMO the amount of continual problems with this car are beyond excessive and anyone who says differently is in denial. :(

I for one would not want that car anymore, it probably reeks of oil.

That's the first thing you've said that makes sense, glad to see you're making progress!:lol:

:rofl: Define 'continual' and please give examples and number of instances of each.

So what are you suggesting, everyone stop buying them?

And those that do take them the scrap pile?


The pride of selling Japanese cars :flag:

You have ABSOLUTELY NO credible basis on which to base such a claim.

There have been what, over 12K C7 manufactured? And what percentage of those cars have reported problems? 1%? 10% 13.2%? Face it, you don't really know (unless you've seen some documented evidence somewhere)?

That's why anecdotal evidence is never used in scientific circles......

No doubt it is a serious issue.

I'm not sure how you are defining "excessive" and where you are getting your data from.

At this point, it is your subjective view, based on anecdotal evidence, only and part of that view is based on your personal perspective and bias. You might be right, you might not be too. With over 18,000 cars on the road now, I'm not sure how what we hear on this forum could be considered "beyond excessive" in any sense of the phrase. There have, without a doubt, been some teething problems... the question I would ask is whether this any more "excessive" than any other new car? My subjective and biased view is it is no different than most any other car... maybe I'm in denial, maybe I'm not.

I'd love to see data on this but we know it doesn't exist and this is speculation on your part at this point mixed with a little bit of bias against the C7. You show any of us how the problems to date have been "beyond excessive" for a first year, re-designed car and I will admit to being completely "in denial" and happily eat crow :thumbs:

Here we may agree depending on the severity of the damage... again, speculation until we know more.

Over 18K I believe :thumbs:

What a disaster, C7 Pimp. Sorry to read this happened to your brand new C7.

Almost all of which are built here in the states including the new NSX. How much of GM's fleet is built domestically?

As you say, read this forum and tell me that the word "continual" doesn't fit.:crazy2:

Percentage wise you're correct and I admit that. As for what we all read here, GM's stellar reputation for product quality and it's safe to say the car has issues.

Seeing how the other guy brought it up Acura just released an all new MDX in June/13 (one part shared with its predecessor) and I'm here at our store every day so I know first hand how many problems exist with our clients and throughout the line and i can tell you it is far less than just what I read on the CF. And btw, we are at near 40k built, not 12k.:cheers:

No, it's safe to say SOME cars have issues.

As I said, you really don't know and any opinion you offer regarding the same is just that - opinion....

Dano, still waiting on an answer, since you threw out continual. Please give us numbers...certainly you weren't just making things up :toetap:

Is it fair to say that a forum is all about conjecture?

Depends if one offers opinion as fact or opinion as opinion.

There's plenty of both to go around :willy:

Anyone have statistics on the number of threads that stay on topic here?

:rofl: 6% +/- 1% for statistical error. Good point though :thumbs:

61% of those surveyed say that 22% of threads stay on topic 10% of the time. While only 4% report that 33% of said thread deal with 99% of known issues.

And finally, 100% report that it is a well-known phenomenon that forum threads tend to stray off on a tangent 63.4% of the time.

(only 10% of 100% of animals used were harmed in this post)

Linky to this data please! :D


Oopps, back on point.

Here's the update:

The dealer service center cleaned off the entire car, under carriage, engine bay, etc.

They said it lost about 2 quarts of oil.

Here's the crazy part. The car is no longer leaking. They cannot find a leak anywhere. They filled the oil full, tried different RPM ranges, and the engine didn't lose a drop of oil.

They said they called into the higher up GM service center (whatever the corporate service place is called) to report the issue and to see if they can get any ideas on what caused this. They'll keep the car another day and see if they can reproduce the leak. If not, it will be released.

Scares the piss out of me to drive a car with a phantom massive oil leak that could catch the car on fire.

I hope they do reproduce the leak, because this is some bull$#!+

Did you keep the oil filter?

That's what I'm wondering.

As I posted earlier, oil gasket failures would cause the exact symptoms the OP reported.

Oil filter seal probably would not heal itself though...That is a relatively high pressure area. I had an oil sending unit break near the oil filter area once and oil pressure went to zero instantly. Obviously not a vette but same principle.

I know that. I just wonder if they changed the filter as a matter of course but didn't stop to look at its gasket

Well that is a good question but it doesn't sound fathomable that the dealer could be that bad could it? (Its not like they didn't know to look for an oil leak) And it pretty much leaves trail as well...

That is very disturbing. I would feel really uncomfortable driving that car also. Very strange for sure. Sorry for this issue...i hope that this does not become a continued problem for you.

:iagree:

Never good, but it's a car--things happen, things get fixed, things move on.

Could a dealer be that bad? Took my wife's BMW in today to get a run flat replaced that had a nail in it and they put a non matching tire on the car, also gave me my paperwork with someone else's name and info. Same first initial and last name so I guess that was close enough but the other was a women. I am convinced that dealerships and service departments leave a lot to be desired.
Eric

Reving a car on a lift is not putting it under load. I would have them drive it under a load and see what happens. Phantom leaks don't heal themselves, when you lose 2 quarts something is wrong.

Very strange! I wonder if they tried to trace the trail before cleaning up and destroying the evidence? Possibly an intermittent failure that caused a massive internal pressure buildup in the engine forcing the oil out a seal? With 11 miles on it that was a very "green" engine still. A lot has changed with production over the years but I remember one of the magazine testers went a bit crazy with a low mile engine in a test Corvette and tore a ring.

Your car pukes 2 quarts of oil and they cant find a leak? Come on, someone's not looking hard enough! There has to be residual oil from where the leak started. Tell them to follow the trail. carl

oil leak
 

11 miles on the clock!!! I would be pushing for a new car!!! Good luck!

:iagree:
I know, right!
:ack:

Become very familiar with your states lemon law rights. If it happened once it's going to happen again. There is no way I was personally k.eep that car. I am very familiar with the lemon laws if you need any advice just let me know. P.m. me or email me
Best of luck to you!

How could they not tell where it's coming from? Dealership doesn't sound like they are too good at diagnostics. How hard is it to put it on a lift and see where the oil is coming from? Is it up high? Is it down low? Is it on the right side or the left side? They shouldn't have cleaned the motor until they saw the general area where it was coming from. Z51?

Did you take pics?

Maybe there's a crack somewhere and when the car is under load it opens up?

I ordered from MacMulkin out of state. Zero blame to them obviously because they were top notch.

I will have their state's lemon laws apply (New Hampshire).

MacMalkin is first class. It wouldn't be their anyway as they did not build the car Unless they did something wrong during PDI. They are vet experts so I wouldn't believe that they have any liability whatsoever.
Was the car shipped to you or a courtesy delivery?

Let's all give GM a chance to fix it. It happened once, lemon laws require more than once in order to file a claim.

Maybe if you read the post and were able to comprehend then you would've seen that they already did supposedly fix it But couldn't find the problem and gave him the car back. And yes it does take more than one attempt the lemon law car so thanks for clearing that up for everybody...:rofl:

Calling the OP a liar. That is crap guy. :ack:

Got it smart guy.

Point is they have tried once.

No problem now.

Right?

So until it happens again, not a lot to do.

Got it professor?

Oh come on no one knows as much as you do about everything.
How many cars have you personally lemon lawed? How many dealerships have you run? You don't even own a C7 and quite frankly don't believe you even have one on order. Posting here is like a full-time job for you now isn't it?

The dealer still has the car.

Maybe you should take your own advice. :thumbs:

:yawn::yawn:

Yes, I actually did order one (TPW 3/17).

Here's my Workbench pricing since you seem to be skeptical:

http://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/...psff6a6cdd.png

I don't come to forums to waste my time on a car I'm not interested in or buying (unlike some). Probably hard for you to understand.

Best of luck with your lawsuits...take care.

Speaking of comprehension C7 pimp posted this today in #52

They'll keep the car another day and see if they can reproduce the leak. If not, it will be released.

Your dealer service department is not very good. A car does not leak oil and then heal itself. I would take it somewhere else. The next time it leaks you may not be so lucky.

G-d....

more pissing contests going on here than in a bar men's room.....

Chances are he will get it back with nothing done. Chances are it will happen again. I think we all agree that it shouldn't have happened in the first place.

Chances are we don't know anything at this point except the engine lost two quarts of oil, and you incorrectly told another CF member off for his lack of reading comprehension. :thumbs:

Let's wait until the OP updates all of us with facts. :cheers:

Sorry to hear about the oil leak on your new car, the inconvenience, stain on your driveway, and the overall hassle of having the dealer not find the problem. It has to leak again unless they're covering something up. We all know a massive leak like this doesn't fix itself. Hopefully the dealer will find it and your car won't come back smelling like burned oil.

:lurk:

Maybe you should read some of his other words of wisdom then as it certainly is a habit of his. He constantly tells off whoever he pleases..
Unless a cap was left off or something this leak will happen again. Not exactly something an owner of a car of this magnitude wants to happen. I felt sorry for the OP as I know how I would feel and simply offered help if needed.
I didn't realize you and I had some sort of problem though so if we do then so be it.

:iagree:

Okay I will admit not reading every post in this thread but did anyone suggest it could have been overfilled either at the factory or during PDI and it blew it out?

Mike. :hide:

:ack:

Geez, sounds like quite a mess. A pressurized fitting or gasket must have failed to expel all that oil. Sorry for your trouble.

I would recommend that if this happens again you shut the car off immediately and get towed. Oil can ignite and I bet you don't carry a fire extinguisher with you.

I wondered about that also. :yesnod:

As I stated in another post, we really do not know what happened, but members are already commenting about poor QC, Lemon Law suits, demanding a new car from GM, and other nonsense. :thumbs:

We have no problem as I don't come here to fight with any other member. I do maintain the immediate responses complaining about GM, assuming the Lemon Law will come into play, demand a new car, etc. are premature knee-jerk reactions when none of us even know what really happened. :cheers:

It soaked under the hood! So it is not the oil filter!

HA!!
And a poop load of experts too! :crazy:

The service department is blowing smoke :(.

If they cleaned all the oil they could easily have added some ultra violet dye into the oil, run the car and bring the oil pressure up and then look for a leak.

Cars do not blow two quarts of oil unless there is a massive leak or pressure build up in the engine. If the engine was over filled it would have blown out of a gasket and you should have a residual leak.

It is time for a serious talk with the service department

The only knee jerk reactions are by the service department thinking a massive oil leak is a one time thing. If the op will forever be nervous about this happening again and or catching on fire destroying life or property then it sure wouldn't be knee jerk to take this seriously. I know what gm will try to do and that will be to cover this over as fast and cheap as possible. If my brand new 11 mile vet sprung an oil reserve like this I promise you I'd be getting a new car and there's nothing knee jerk about it. I truly hope they find what caused it but from what I've read so far about the service dept I'd be very skeptical and careful. If the car catches fire it will be the owners insurance company paying and the op paying the deductible along with all liabilities and damage or injurys the car could cause.
:cheers:

Guys this is the internet....you own a 70k car but no cell phone pics to prove this? And you obviously think being a pimp is a good thing. I smell a rat.

Calling the OP a liar? That is crap guy. :ack:

My take is the oil fill cap was left off or not tightened during the PDI. Dealer embarrassed but does not want to admit mistake. Did the OP verify the cap was in place after the event?

Attachment 47774485

-Mark

Hope the dealer finds the leak point. A phantom leak puking 2 qts will eventually happen again at the very worst moment. I will be following this thread to hear the conclusion.

True about occurrence and lemon law. Also, it depends on the state he lives in. I know, from personal experience, that if you live in Texas, Lemon Law only applies to cars purchased in Texas. If problems with the car persist, he may have to pursue the issue through Magnuson Moss Warranty Act.

Good Luck.