P/S Carpet Soaked w/ oil!!!

[igasper10]

Hey all, anyone had this problem before???

My 74' L-48 project has some type of oil thats soaked the carpet on the passenger's side floorpan. I can't see a color to it, but its a little thinner than motor oil. Its on the P/S only. Can anyone tell me what the source of this is? And if so, what I can do about the carpet? Will it have to be replaced? Whatever stain it ends up leaving can be covered by the floor mat.

Ian - ;help

 

[71LS5]

Sounds like it could be your heater core leaking. Check for the aroma of anti freeze. If it is anti freeze, you can remove the carpet and wash it thoroughly with plain water to rinse the anti freeze out of it. You can also use a mild carpet cleaner to help get the residue out.

 

[red70vette]

What does your oil pressure gauge read? If it is real low it could be your oil pressure line.

The oil pressure guage is fed by a plactic tube that gets brittle and cracks. When it cracks it spits oil all over the passenger side floor. Be careful it will drain your oil pan in no time depositing the oil on the floor of your interior. Real easy to burn up an engine that way.

You need to look behind the center guage bezel by removing the passenger side dash pad. Look for signs of oil on the tubing and the surrounding areas. Make sure your oil level is topped off before running the engine.

 

[igasper10]

What does your oil pressure gauge read? If it is real low it could be your oil pressure line.

I don't think its this. When I first noticed it, I checked the oil level immediately and a few times thereafter. It never lowered, plus it didn't have a motor oil smell to it. I've got to dig into the dash to do a few other things so I'll check everything out then.

ian

 

[tx73vette]

This happened to me on my 73 it turned out to be the oil gauge, the line that feeds oil to the gauge split and it leaked oil on the car and carpet. I had to replace the carpet. try and look to see if its coming from the center of the console and off to the sides of the center transmision hump. If this is the case your radio might have oil on it too. If its coming from under the passenger side only it may be your heater core feel under the dash ansd carpet in that are it will be wet. Hope this helps and good luck

Daniel

 

[Lee74C3]

If it's a 1974, the Oil Pressure Gauge is electric.

Sounds like heater core.

 

[dman]

pos ac oil ????????

 

[Lee74C3]

AC oil vents to atmosphere. Heater Core... Heater Core...

Just bypass the hoses outside to temporarily stop flow.

This is a royal PIA to fix if this car has AC.

 

[Twin_Turbo]

Just taste it, if it tastes sweet it's coolant and meaning your heater core is shot

 

[dman]

Atmospher. IN your Atmospher it mite work that way butt hear on earth it dosnot. evaporators can and do leak ac oil out it to evap case and on to floor of the pass side. ac oil dos not evap. pos ac oil. pos htcore. pos suntan oil that girlfrend spilled last summer

 

[Lee74C3]

Ok agreed... most of it collects in low spots, compressor, evaporater core, VIR.

The point here is... this guy has a heater core leak. I have never, never, never seen AC oil leak from any component into the passenger compartment.

I have had a couple dozen of these apart for repair back in the 1970's when I turned wrenches for a Chevrolet Dealer known nationally for his relationship with Corvettes and other Chevrolet muscle cars.

 

[dman]

I have have never never never seen an electron. but thay are for real. so thay say.. and ac oil cycles with the freeon it can leak at any hole in the systm... turned wernch in 70 and still turning it. and yes in I have seen this in 5 c3 of this y.m.m year make model . with this prob. and yes i eat with that wernch ......

 

[JohnZ]

It's the heater core - it's that time of year, and Murphy's Law sez things that are a PITA to fix only fail when you need them. :eyerole

 

[igasper10]

Ok, so the consensus is its the heater core. This car does have AC which I disconnected. I hope that by doing that I didn't cause any leaks...

ian

 

[Twin_Turbo]

the AC evaporator is seperate from the heater core. The AC evaporator is an aluminium core, the heater one is brass and notorious for leaks.

It's a major PITA to replace, if you don't use the heater you can just pull off the 2 lines from under the heater box and connect them, bypassing the core.

 

[igasper10]

the AC evaporator is seperate from the heater core. The AC evaporator is an aluminium core, the heater one is brass and notorious for leaks.

It's a major PITA to replace, if you don't use the heater you can just pull off the 2 lines from under the heater box and connect them, bypassing the core.

That sounds like a better choice for me. It will be in storage all winter, every winter when I'm done restoring it. Summer driving definitely doesn't require a functioning heater!

ian

 

[TWINRAY]

You may need it for a defroster (defogger)

 

[dman]

psi test the cooling systm to find out if your ht core has this leek or not. the psi tester will find all leaks in the cooling systm ... clamps ... hoses.... rad.... and heat cores .......ect ..ect .....

 

[vettenick]

A certain amount of refrigerant oil will settle in the evaporator. If the core has rotted, oil could leak out. Refrigerant oil looks like clean engine oil. Blot the spot with a white paper towel. If it's green, it's antifreeze. If it's amber color, it's refrigerant oil.

 

[vettenick]

Just a follow up. If it is the evaporator, don't replace it unless you intend to evacuate and charge the system. Otherwise moisture will get into the system. Moisture is death to a/c systems.