Welcome to the Corvette Forums at the Corvette Action Center!

C6 front oil leak and overheating

rhandle

Active member
Joined
Apr 23, 2009
Messages
30
Location
boca raton
Corvette
1996 grand sport
CROSS-POSTED . hi , my 07 vette recently went in to replace wobbly harmonic balancer. driving the next day ,lost steering ,a/c and charging.oil everywhere onder harmonic balancer 2 things i dont understand
my temp guage pegged out at 260 and got sign to shut a/c engine hot. after shutting engine within 5 min the engine cooled down into normal range . after restarting within 5 min got to 260 again . fans were running and i didnt have steam or boiling sound . coolant level was normal. WTF is going on?
#2 dealer said they just had to seal a bolt that was leaking . Is that possible . i expected an oil seal. Do u think they took a shortcut. Please help i am picking it up monday
 
CROSS-POSTED . hi , my 07 vette recently went in to replace wobbly harmonic balancer. driving the next day ,lost steering ,a/c and charging.oil everywhere onder harmonic balancer 2 things i dont understand
my temp guage pegged out at 260 and got sign to shut a/c engine hot. after shutting engine within 5 min the engine cooled down into normal range . after restarting within 5 min got to 260 again . fans were running and i didnt have steam or boiling sound . coolant level was normal. WTF is going on?
#2 dealer said they just had to seal a bolt that was leaking . Is that possible . i expected an oil seal. Do u think they took a shortcut. Please help i am picking it up monday



A lot of info is missing here.

1) How did the "lost steering, a/c, and charging" get fixed? What was fixed? Who did it? You should have receipts for the repairs.

2) #2 dealer? What did the first dealer say or do about your problems? Did they fix it, and if so what did they do? Again you should have receipts for any work/repairs.

3) Are these 2 dealers GM?
 
more info

THANKS LLC5 the dealer was Autonation CHEV in greenacres florida,
havent got the car back but svc. writer told me that the oil was leaking from a bolt that was removed during the replacement of the Harmonic balancer. I wasnt sure that an "unsealed bolt would cause a large oil leak. The svc writer is amazing but maybe he is getting false info

All the issues were caused by oil getting on the serpentine belt from the area of the harmonic balancer and causing the belt to slip
 
Sounds a bit "Fishy" to me. If you lost A/C, steering, charging and is overheating severely, I'd bet the engine threw(or broke) the belt, tensioner, balancer, etc. in some manner.....
How many miles are on this car and what's the issue with the balancer? If it came apart it would indeed cause these issues, but I haven't heard of a lot of balancer failures. I also believe the fan controller is mounted down in that area too. It is in my 2005.
What is the source of the oil too? Is it motor oil or p/s fluid?
You should have documentation of what was done, unless your getting a run around. Then I'd be a raging lunatic! You need to give us more info.

EDIT: OK I just read your last post. WHO left the supposed bolt out causing the oil leak.? If it was the dealer, It's ALL on them! Tell them to FIX it. Period!

I'm still curious to hear what bolt would cause such an oil leak.



Good Luck.
 
Last edited:
Sounds a bit "Fishy" to me. If you lost A/C, steering, charging and is overheating severely, I'd bet the engine threw(or broke) the belt, tensioner, balancer, etc. in some manner.....
How many miles are on this car and what's the issue with the balancer? If it came apart it would indeed cause these issues, but I haven't heard of a lot of balancer failures. I also believe the fan controller is mounted down in that area too. It is in my 2005.
What is the source of the oil too? Is it motor oil or p/s fluid?
You should have documentation of what was done, unless your getting a run around. Then I'd be a raging lunatic! You need to give us more info.

EDIT: OK I just read your last post. WHO left the supposed bolt out causing the oil leak.? If it was the dealer, It's ALL on them! Tell them to FIX it. Period!

I'm still curious to hear what bolt would cause such an oil leak.



Good Luck.
The 07 C6 is known to have an issue with defective harmonic balancers.There is a video on youtube. it shows how u can see the harmonic B start literally wobbling. It started happening at 60k miles. The oil leak started AFTER they replaced the HB.They told me that the leak was from a bolt on the harmonic balancer "THAT NEEDED TO BE SEALED". I dont understand how that much oil canleak out of a ****ing bolt
 
THANKS LLC5 the dealer was Autonation CHEV in greenacres florida,
havent got the car back but svc. writer told me that the oil was leaking from a bolt that was removed during the replacement of the Harmonic balancer. I wasnt sure that an "unsealed bolt would cause a large oil leak. The svc writer is amazing but maybe he is getting false info

All the issues were caused by oil getting on the serpentine belt from the area of the harmonic balancer and causing the belt to slip



Something is still a little fishy here with the info given. A missing serpentine belt would account for your original problems in your first post, a slipping belt would have to be really bad, not sure about that one.

The harmonic balancer has one big bolt that needs to be removed and replaced with a new bolt any time it is removed, but it bolts into the crank and seals no oil. I would want specifics on which bolt was causing the oil leak, you have every right to know. The power steering rack does need to be moved to access the crank pulley for removal, make sure it wasn't power steering fluid.

Ask to talk to the tech that performed the repairs, he knows exactly what was repaired.

Before driving away with the vehicle, have the service advisor or tech (preferably both) open the hood of the vehicle and show you what was done and at the same time look around the front of the engine (bring a strong led flash light with a narrow focus beam if you can, they are small enough to fit in a pocket) making sure that the area is clean with no fluid residue, that size of a fluid leak should have been properly steam cleaned.

Make sure that you get a printed receipt with thorough notes as to the repairs done.

Good luck with it.
 
I'm no mechanic, but, it sounds really fishy to me. I don't think you're getting the whole story. Listen to LLC5's advice.....:thumb
 
Thanks llcs

You are 100% right. I am going to demand an explanation as well as a warranty on the work for the shadiness of the story . You are also right about demanding a clean engine AND NEW BELTS better have been installed . I lost steering assist making a left turn with a green light with oncoming traffic. If it was my wife she could have been killed. I will take pix of the repair and post them if not satisfied..
I also want them to write down on my reciept exactly what they told me was wrong;i hope they will do that
 
Something is still a little fishy here with the info given. A missing serpentine belt would account for your original problems in your first post, a slipping belt would have to be really bad, not sure about that one.

The harmonic balancer has one big bolt that needs to be removed and replaced with a new bolt any time it is removed, but it bolts into the crank and seals no oil. I would want specifics on which bolt was causing the oil leak, you have every right to know. The power steering rack does need to be moved to access the crank pulley for removal, make sure it wasn't power steering fluid.

Ask to talk to the tech that performed the repairs, he knows exactly what was repaired.

Before driving away with the vehicle, have the service advisor or tech (preferably both) open the hood of the vehicle and show you what was done and at the same time look around the front of the engine (bring a strong led flash light with a narrow focus beam if you can, they are small enough to fit in a pocket) making sure that the area is clean with no fluid residue, that size of a fluid leak should have been properly steam cleaned.

Make sure that you get a printed receipt with thorough notes as to the repairs done.

Good luck with it.


Hi LLC5. The more I think about this, the fishier it becomes. The thing about this massive oil leak that strikes me is the fact of a wobbly balancer. What do you think about the possibility of the balancer vibration beating the front main seal out causing the gush of oil? The oil pump is located just behind the front cover assy., and is driven by the crankshaft.
There still aren't enough facts telling us what kind of oil it is.
 
Last edited:
Hi LLC5. The more I think about this, the fishier it becomes. The thing about this massive oil leak that strikes me is the fact of a wobbly balancer. What do you think about the possibility of the balancer vibration beating the front main seal out causing the gush of oil? The oil pump is located just behind the front cover assy., and is driven by the crankshaft.
There still aren't enough facts telling us what kind of oil it is.


Front timing cover seal is the only area that should have been disturbed with the balancer replacement that would cause a large oil leak. But that is not a bolt which is what the OP was told, it is a major seal, and the dealership would have told the OP that (I hope). The power steering rack needs to be moved to replace the balancer, so maybe a bolt was left loose on the power steering side? The OP talking to the tech doing the work should clear it up.
 
Front timing cover seal is the only area that should have been disturbed with the balancer replacement that would cause a large oil leak. But that is not a bolt which is what the OP was told, it is a major seal, and the dealership would have told the OP that (I hope). The power steering rack needs to be moved to replace the balancer, so maybe a bolt was left loose on the power steering side? The OP talking to the tech doing the work should clear it up.

By front main seal I was referring to the TC seal. I have seen older balancers beat a seal apart. Basically the spring on the back of the seal breaks or falls off. Then it leaks. As you know. But overall, I agree with you..

It is a scary scenario. Sounds like somebody screwed up and now they are covering their a$$. That's something the O.P. has to rectify. Plus who knows what gremlins the excessive engine temp will hatch down the road.

The only other remedy is call GM. You STILL need solid documentation.
 
Last edited:
By front main seal I was referring to the TC seal.


I knew that, I wasn't trying to correct or flame you. :)

Front or rear main seal has always meant crankshaft to me.
 
I knew that, I wasn't trying to correct or flame you. :)

Front or rear main seal has always meant crankshaft to me.

Me 2. Have a great 4th!
 
Update

Something is still a little fishy here with the info given. A missing serpentine belt would account for your original problems in your first post, a slipping belt would have to be really bad, not sure about that one.

The harmonic balancer has one big bolt that needs to be removed and replaced with a new bolt any time it is removed, but it bolts into the crank and seals no oil. I would want specifics on which bolt was causing the oil leak, you have every right to know. The power steering rack does need to be moved to access the crank pulley for removal, make sure it wasn't power steering fluid.

Ask to talk to the tech that performed the repairs, he knows exactly what was repaired.

Before driving away with the vehicle, have the service advisor or tech (preferably both) open the hood of the vehicle and show you what was done and at the same time look around the front of the engine (bring a strong led flash light with a narrow focus beam if you can, they are small enough to fit in a pocket) making sure that the area is clean with no fluid residue, that size of a fluid leak should have been properly steam cleaned.

Make sure that you get a printed receipt with thorough notes as to the repairs done.

Good luck with it.


So i went to dealer today .Actually looks like they cleaned the oil that leaked from the engine. When questioned about the leak I was told by the actual mechanic that the engine oil leaked from the bolt that fastens thr harmonic balancer to the crankshaft. They said the bolt comes with a sealant but there wasnt enough on it. Do you thing that that would cause a leak . I thought that it comes with a lubricant not a sealant. Is this bolt a torque to yield bolt? If they removed the bolt to put sealent ,should they have used another new bolt?
Does oil leak out of the crankshaft snout?
I didnt pick the car up yet Because they changed an alternator under warranty that is not charging at idle . It dips to ii.5 at a stop light. Do u believe the writer told me that GM might give them a hard time authorizing it under warranty. THIS IS A DEFECTIVE ALTERNATOR THEY INSTALLED A WEEK AGO! THANKS for taking the time to answer . I hope i am clear
RICH
/
 

Corvette Forums

Not a member of the Corvette Action Center?  Join now!  It's free!

Help support the Corvette Action Center!

Supporting Vendors

Dealers:

MacMulkin Chevrolet - The Second Largest Corvette Dealer in the Country!

Advertise with the Corvette Action Center!

Double Your Chances!

Our Partners

Back
Top Bottom