Major oil leak under the alternator

[forGEE63]

Car : 1990 GSX 5-speed Stock (except full exhaust, clutch, and mbc set to 13psi)

Im not sure if having the oil sprocket off 360 degrees is detremental to the engine, but today i was driving the eclipse, in second gear, and punched it, than shifted it into 3rd at around 5.5K and noticed a ton of oil coming out from under the car. i quickly shut off the car (aprox. 4 seconds after punching it in 2nd) and coasted to a neighbors house. I parked and popped the hood, to notice oil ALL over the lower right hand side of the engine bay, all over the hood, and basically covering my entire front drivers side tire/rim. I cannot pin point the oil leak, but in a matter of seconds i lost all of my oil. the Leak appears to be right under the alternator, but not sure exactly where. tomorrow i plan to whipe up all the oil, than add more oil to see where it is coming from. please let me know what you think may have happened. I was told that the oil sprocket was off 360 degrees from the previous owner, who was supposed to fix it somtime this week, Could that have been the problem.


Brian.

 

[fhudsonjr]

Did you pop the oil line to your turbo?

 

[luv2rallye]

I was told that the oil sprocket was off 360 degrees from the previous owner, who was supposed to fix it somtime this week, Could that have been the problem.

No, that will just make the engine vibrate excessively as the rear balance shaft will then be 180 out. Check if your oil filter is loose. Perhaps the extra vibration is causing it or some oil line connection to leak.

 

[forGEE63]

Well the oil filter WAS a little loose,(maybe a half turn backed out) but not loose enough to loose all my oil in seconds. Thanks for the advice though, and im going right now to look at it. If anyone is in the Waterford Michigan area and has any idea on what it is, just pm me, and stop by.

Brian.

 

[Dream On]

Dip stick probably popped out. See if it's loose. You could need a new one. If it seems to stay tight it still may have popped out though. Replace the $3 pcv valve and hopefully that will fix it if it's the problem.

 

[forGEE63]

i have a dipstick hold down. (homemade) but ill try to get some pics today.

 

[dsmgrimreaper]

sounds liike an oil line prob

 

[blackrosenova40]

Sounds to me like something burst or came loose on your oil filter housing. Check the oil pressure sensor, or the lines going to the air to oil cooler.

 

[forGEE63]

well today, i cleaned up most of the oil which was on the underside of the car, and after an oil change there has been no signs of a leak, so maybe the filter being a little loose was the only problem. If anything else happens than ill post it.

Brian.

 

[burntheblobs]

I am pretty sure there is a weep hole in the lower timing belt cover for oil. If oil comes out of the weep hole there, it sprays on the alternator and makes it looks like leaks are coming from the bottom of it. It has happened to me before. So check your valve cover gasket, and cam seals.

 

[kmoore]

Sounds to me like something burst or came loose on your oil filter housing. Check the oil pressure sensor, or the lines going to the air to oil cooler.

That's what i was thinking. Maybe check the stock oil pressure sending unit?

 

[boosted_91_tsi]

Just curious...how much oil was lost?

 

[forGEE63]

all the oil except about a 1/2 quart, in a 20 second time frame.

 

[boosted_91_tsi]

Was this after an oil change? If so, make sure the old seal/o-ring from the previous filter was not still stuck on the housing. I have done this before and lost nearly all my oil in about 15 seconds. Just an idea.

 

[burntheblobs]

Wow, guys. Read my provious post. It's most likely the valve cover gasket or cam seals. Oil doesn't leak up, only down. HOWEVER, the sudden oil loss is something probably MUCH bigger than the oil showing up under your alternator.

 

[oldman]

Let me take a guess with this, excuse me if I'm wrong. Your oil dipstick use to pop out under boost due to excessive crankcase pressure, instead of fixing the source of the excessive pressure, you installed a so call dipstick hold down which resulted in oil/pressure finding its way out of the crankcase else where.

 

[forGEE63]

ok, i believe i found the problem. the oil sprocket being off, is causing excessive vibration, which caused the oil filter to back off, therefore loosing my oil. AFTER this problem happened, i did an oil change, and tightened the filter a lil extra, and im keeping close watch on the filter to see if it is moving, and also my oil level, and pressure. Also, oldman, yes i did do the dipstick hold down because i was popping the dipstick, because i am BROKE right now. i have hardly any money. (probably not the best car to buy seeing as i have no money to put into it)

Brian.

 

[luv2rallye]

the oil sprocket being off, is causing excessive vibration, which caused the oil filter to back off, therefore loosing my oil.

Bingo.

BTW make sure your previous owner is very careful and knows what he is doing when correcting the rear balance shaft rotation phase, as this requires timing belt removal and retensioning. If tensioning is not done perfectly you could end up having the belt brake or jump teeth and bending many valves. With no money you would then have one big boat anchor.
http://www.vfaq.com/mods/timingbelt-2G.html
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=214625