What should i do about oil leak

[ahunn]

Don’t let it get to you. You have many more miles to go. Absolutely get that catch can installed ASAP. That will help you determine how much oil loss is actually blow by and actually leaking.

Valley pan leak is VERY hard to see from above.

Thank you. I'm trying not to let it get to me. I will install the catch can tomorrow and the new struts I just ordered from gm. These are probably the only thing that I think I've gotten a good deal on. Jake Sweeney cherolet in cincinnati has them Part #19368453, for $289.72 a piece. I think that's a good price for the electronic struts. I'm going to try and find a deal for the rears hopefully. I replaced them last year with Suncore shocks and a new pump but I don't think they feel as nice as the original. I'm gonna focus on the leak first before Ipotentially waste too much more money.

 

[ahunn]

The oil leak may cost you a bearing if it runs too low. Is the oil pressure sensor still working? Verify it reads out in your center dash by cycling through the buttons.

If no Indi techs call you back on the job try a diesel shop. They’re not afraid of rear main seal jobs. The rear main, pan gasket and oil pick up tube are best, labor wise, done together. That oil pressure sensor is a bear to reach but easy to reach when the trans is out for the rear main.

If you’re budget allows do the trans service/ fluid too.

I try not to let the oil get low since the first time it happened. After a trip I always check it.

I'm going to try a diesel shop and call a few more transmission shops. I called a few trans shops a few months ago but they weren't interested in doing the work
The oil pressure sensor is near the firewall near the ground strap I believe and I replaced that, the filter and cleaned out the orifice. I read a few posts on this forum to find it. I scratched my hand up pretty bad getting to it and dropped the sensor and my socket between the engine and firewall.. Loads of fun that day trying to get them out so I could finish the repair. Good thing is it only took me about 20 minutes to get it out. I need to attempt to get my ground strap again when I'm back there next. I can't seem to get it out and replace it.
Oh and I'll make sure I do the trans service at that time when I get the leaks fixed. I may as well get it all out the way.

 

[ahunn]

If you are leaking a half gallon of oil every 2 weeks then the entire undercarriage would be totally saturated and leaving multiple puddles underneath the vehicle spanning from the rear main seal all the way back.

If you are not seeing a catastrophic mess I think most of your oil consumption is being burned in the combustion chambers, a second clue is how the consumption changes based on "how you drive it"; pushing it harder will cause greater oil consumption if you are burning the oil but wouldn't have much effect if the oil is just leaking out.

I don't see oil all the way back. I see it from the oil pan and about to the fuel tank. I was seeing a lot of oil on the ground.
I'll have to put some card board out and see how much is leaking out over night. I leave an oil stain at least the size of a pancake on everyone's driveway when I go to visit. The longer I stay the bigger.
Wouldn't I have blue smoke coming out the exhaust if I'm burning the oil? Not my expertise so I'm not sure, but, I haven't noticed any smoke at all.

 

[ahunn]

I did my Rear Main Seal 3 yrs ago. It's still dry as a bone Here's the thread w/pics: https://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/threads/rear-main-seal-job-pan-etc-07-yukon-denali-6-2.108334/

Thank you. I'm going to check it out.

 

[ahunn]

Since you're in Cincinnati, maybe try Tater's Kenridge Auto Repair on Kenwood Rd in Blue Ash. He's a straight shooter and he's done work on my Yukon and my buddy's Suburban that we didn't feel like doing ourselves, with good results.

Thank you. I'll give them a call in the morning.

 

[ahunn]

x2. This is the same thing I was thinking and was about to reply with. My 02 has almost 400,000 miles on it. I’ve replaced the fuel pump once. I replaced the abs/wheel speed sensors once. Knock sensors and did the RTV dam/build up around them. While I was in there I also cleaned the valley pan, replaced the intake manifold gaskets and the valve cover gaskets. Make sure your valve cover is CLEAN, as is your gasket and it’s mating surface on the block. Do NOT oil the gasket.
If you do not own a Haynes or a Chilton’s manual for your vehicle…buy one or both along with a 3/8 digital torque wrench. They will be the best investment you can make for any vehicle.
Im guessing your “Rear Main Seal Leak” is not the RMS and instead is the valve cover or intake. Replacing both of those and super cleaning the engine (brake clean, degreaser, brake clean and then a hot soapy water bath like the Goat mentioned above).

Also as others mentioned, you don’t do the RMS without doing a couple other tasks while your in there (timing chain, cover, possibly a new TC, new seals, oil/filter change…etc). Since you’re not sure if the RMS is at fault, start with the oil consumption issue, the bad plugs, new intake and valve cover gaskets. It’s a days worth of work if you add an oil change to it, but is all work that can be done at home.

Has your tranny been serviced regularly? I would be more concerned about it with that mileage than I would be the engine. Not saying I wouldn’t do the aforementioned maintenance, but rather do those things and put the money you would have spent on the RMS and oil pan for some new tranny fluid and a filter.

My dad's got the Haynes book. I've got an alldata subscription and I bought a tech2 scanner. I have a torque wrench but I've been meaning to buy a digital one.

I'm pretty sure the trans has been serviced but I planned to get the fluid changed soon because I've driven it a little over 100,000 miles since I've owned it. I was going to last oil change but pushed it off. I'll do it the next oil change.

I'll be putting on my catch can tomorrow. I'm waiting on the valve cover to get here then I'll tackle that. I'm curious to see if there's going to be a lot of oil in the catch can.

Thinking about the leak overall, I only believe the rear main is leaking due to the gm tech telling me. The tech showed me where they could see the leak from the oil pan, and how they could tell the rear main had a leak. If I trust the dealer then they're both leaking. He did say at that time that the rear main leak wasn't that bad, but, the oil pan was bad. He did say the valve cover had a small leak also but nothing significant at the time. The gm tech inspecting my truck made a video of the leaks and other issues that I had at the time. Nothing personal is in it. I may post it for you all to see

 

[Rocket Man]

Technically I didn't see it but I pryed off the (I don't know what it's called) little metal cover with a screwdriver and took a peek inside. There was a slight bit of oil in there. I assume the oils from there because of that.

That oil can also drip down from above, either the valve cover gasket, valley cover gasket or oil pressure sensor. I would address the VC gasket and install a new oil pressure sensor and recheck through that inspection plate. You can also buy a boroscope cam that comes with a bendable cable and look at it that way. They're pretty cheap.

 

[wsteele]

My dad's got the Haynes book. I've got an alldata subscription and I bought a tech2 scanner. I have a torque wrench but I've been meaning to buy a digital one.

I'm pretty sure the trans has been serviced but I planned to get the fluid changed soon because I've driven it a little over 100,000 miles since I've owned it. I was going to last oil change but pushed it off. I'll do it the next oil change.

I'll be putting on my catch can tomorrow. I'm waiting on the valve cover to get here then I'll tackle that. I'm curious to see if there's going to be a lot of oil in the catch can.

Thinking about the leak overall, I only believe the rear main is leaking due to the gm tech telling me. The tech showed me where they could see the leak from the oil pan, and how they could tell the rear main had a leak. If I trust the dealer then they're both leaking. He did say at that time that the rear main leak wasn't that bad, but, the oil pan was bad. He did say the valve cover had a small leak also but nothing significant at the time. The gm tech inspecting my truck made a video of the leaks and other issues that I had at the time. Nothing personal is in it. I may post it for you all to see

FWIW, I had to replace my oil pan gasket at about 80K miles. I had developed a leak which wouldn't respond to snugging the pan bolts. After that gasket was done, it has been dry as a bone underneath (knock on wood). I just looked it up and the total at the dealer here was just over $500, including an oil change and new filter.

After you get the catch can installed, you will get a pretty good idea how much oil is being pumped through the PCV back into the intake. Before I had the oil consumption TSB done on my engine (which includes getting the updated valve cover), I was losing about 1qt of oil every 1K miles. Some of the plugs were so fouled with carbon, they didn't look like spark plugs. After we did the oil consumption TSB (including the new valve cover), I installed a catch can and I get about a tablespoon of oil in the can between changes (5K miles).

Depending on how bad the oil ingestion has been, the TSB can be a pretty big deal. Let's hope most of your oil loss is in leaks and not through the PCV and intake.

 

[Larryjb]

Technically I didn't see it but I pryed off the (I don't know what it's called) little metal cover with a screwdriver and took a peek inside. There was a slight bit of oil in there. I assume the oils from there because of that.

Here's my rear main experience: https://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/threads/rear-main-oil-seal.117639/

Check post #41 (page 5). I couldn't see much oil leaking from the rear main. In fact, most of the oil was probably leaking from the rear cover instead. This leak was dripping several drops each day, so in some respects not bad. But the starter bolts, skid plate, back of oil pan were totally soaked in oil. Since doing this job last year there's not a drop on the ground. Rocketman's suggestion of the boroscope might be a good one.

 

[ahunn]

That oil can also drip down from above, either the valve cover gasket, valley cover gasket or oil pressure sensor. I would address the VC gasket and install a new oil pressure sensor and recheck through that inspection plate. You can also buy a boroscope cam that comes with a bendable cable and look at it that way. They're pretty cheap.

I'm heading out to do the catch can now. I'll check around the valve cover gasket a little better while I'm out there. I may stop by harbor freight today and get a scope. I replaced the oil pressure sensor and screen about 2 months ago. Still waiting on the valve cover gasket to get here any day now so i can replace that as well.