5.3l vortec mystery oil leak
09-13-2021, 02:22 PM
#1
5.3l vortec mystery oil leak
Hey, I have a 1999 Silverado with a 5.3 Vortec with an oil leak I can't find, I already replaced both valve cover gaskets because when I goit the truck it was pouring over a quart a month. I don't think it's the head gasket because I am not burning coolant and my temp is always around 205-210. It might be the oil pan but I am not sure because of all the 4wd stuff and skid plates in the way that I don't want to take off yet. Any ideas are greatly appreciated
09-13-2021, 02:52 PM
#2
TECH Veteran
Open the transmission service hole and look at the flex plate. If it is oily etc it is probably a rear main
09-13-2021, 03:18 PM
#3
Take it to the quarter car wash, clean it up, and see where it's coming from.
Except by pure dumb luck, nobody out here is going to be any better at playing "maybe it's this maybe it's that" than you are. After all, it's sitting right in front of you, but it's too dark in your garage for the rest of us to see it at all.
Except by pure dumb luck, nobody out here is going to be any better at playing "maybe it's this maybe it's that" than you are. After all, it's sitting right in front of you, but it's too dark in your garage for the rest of us to see it at all.
09-13-2021, 03:20 PM
#4
TECH Veteran
I would not at all do that. An inexperienced engine cleaner is going to mess something up. This is the time for brake cleaner, not the quarter car wash
09-13-2021, 05:40 PM
#5
I would NOT use brake cleaner.
Engine degreaser, yes. (diesel fuel in a spray can) AT the quarter car wash, ALONG WITH plenty of soap and water.
Nothing works any better. Especially not on some old motor that's never had anything of the kind done to it, and is all covered with the funk of 10,000 ages, I sure as hell wouldn't want that on my driveway or in my yard.
Quarter car wash.
Live it, learn it, love it.
Engine degreaser, yes. (diesel fuel in a spray can) AT the quarter car wash, ALONG WITH plenty of soap and water.
Nothing works any better. Especially not on some old motor that's never had anything of the kind done to it, and is all covered with the funk of 10,000 ages, I sure as hell wouldn't want that on my driveway or in my yard.
Quarter car wash.
Live it, learn it, love it.
09-13-2021, 05:42 PM
#6
TECH Veteran
Why not brake cleaner? Cleans well enough lol
Quarter car wash has it's uses but I would not just spray my engine. Too many horror stories for me to wanna do that lol
Quarter car wash has it's uses but I would not just spray my engine. Too many horror stories for me to wanna do that lol
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09-13-2021, 07:11 PM
#8
Brake cleaner comes in itty bitty cans that you can clean about 3 sq in per can with. Costs ALOT more, in terms of sq in of clean, than the quarter car wash.
Oven cleaner is phenomenal for bare parts. Use it myself for cleaning heads and whatnot, at the quarter car wash. Not so good for assembled engines.
Engine degreaser (diesel fuel in a spray can) comes in cans with about twice as much in them, and won't evaporate near as fast as brake cleaner when the parts are hot (like right after driving to the quarter car wash). Doesn't eat paint, doesn't deteriorate plastic, just dissolves oil and grease. Then it's partially water-soluble, so the quarter car wash just blasts it right down the drain.
But The King Of All is the quarter car wash. I've "heard" "horror stories" about VIRTUALLY EVERYTHING on this planet. Seems like here lately the loonies (and no I don't mean the CA $) like to latch onto EVERY little thing that has EVER gone wrong with ANYTHING, and use that RARE occurrence to try to convince us that the thing (whatever it might be) is inherently evil now. Communist, socialist, racist, capitalist, radical, fascist, left-wing, you name it. I'm sick of it. Enough. Let's all suddenly become logical. (like that's gonna happen, right??)
I've been quarter car washing my motors for over 45 years now. Sure, I've had to wait for a dist cap to dry, maybe twice; and I think one time some years back, some sensor got water in the connector and it ran funny for a little while. BUTT, given the CLEANLINESS that I have enjoyed for lo! these many decades WITH EASE, I consider those minor annoyances AT MOST, and well worth the results. All ya gotta do is be careful not to shoot it at things that it can hurt. Kinda like complaining that replacing spark plugs is evil and no one should ever do it because "I've heard horror stories" about busted knuckles from doing that. Yeah right.
Quarter car wash FTW. Try it, you'll like it.
Oven cleaner is phenomenal for bare parts. Use it myself for cleaning heads and whatnot, at the quarter car wash. Not so good for assembled engines.
Engine degreaser (diesel fuel in a spray can) comes in cans with about twice as much in them, and won't evaporate near as fast as brake cleaner when the parts are hot (like right after driving to the quarter car wash). Doesn't eat paint, doesn't deteriorate plastic, just dissolves oil and grease. Then it's partially water-soluble, so the quarter car wash just blasts it right down the drain.
But The King Of All is the quarter car wash. I've "heard" "horror stories" about VIRTUALLY EVERYTHING on this planet. Seems like here lately the loonies (and no I don't mean the CA $) like to latch onto EVERY little thing that has EVER gone wrong with ANYTHING, and use that RARE occurrence to try to convince us that the thing (whatever it might be) is inherently evil now. Communist, socialist, racist, capitalist, radical, fascist, left-wing, you name it. I'm sick of it. Enough. Let's all suddenly become logical. (like that's gonna happen, right??)
I've been quarter car washing my motors for over 45 years now. Sure, I've had to wait for a dist cap to dry, maybe twice; and I think one time some years back, some sensor got water in the connector and it ran funny for a little while. BUTT, given the CLEANLINESS that I have enjoyed for lo! these many decades WITH EASE, I consider those minor annoyances AT MOST, and well worth the results. All ya gotta do is be careful not to shoot it at things that it can hurt. Kinda like complaining that replacing spark plugs is evil and no one should ever do it because "I've heard horror stories" about busted knuckles from doing that. Yeah right.
Quarter car wash FTW. Try it, you'll like it.
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arthursc2 (09-14-2021)
09-13-2021, 08:22 PM
#9
100% Redneck
I cleaned every engine part for my rebuild with my pressure washer, degreaser, ScotchBright and nylon brushes
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metalchip (09-15-2021)
09-13-2021, 09:48 PM
#10
All thaht stuff works great when the engine is APART. No doubt about that.
Whole different matter when it's TOGETHER; and doubly so when it's your DD and you're mostly just trying to find the oil leeeeek.
Pressure washer = miniature personal-sized quarter car wash. Except that, all that crap is now in your own yard, instead of going down the drain somewhere else.
Whole different matter when it's TOGETHER; and doubly so when it's your DD and you're mostly just trying to find the oil leeeeek.
Pressure washer = miniature personal-sized quarter car wash.
Except that, all that crap is now in your own yard, instead of going down the drain somewhere else.