Chevrolet Oil Leaks
Chevrolet oil leaks are common, but not on my blazer with a trusted 4.3 Liter V-6 engine. I changed my oil this weekend, and to my surprise when I crawled under the engine was soaking wet. I thought to myself, this couldn’t be because my 2004 Chevrolet Blazer ZR2 only has 19,846 miles on her. I performed the oil change and dried up the area and then gave her short run.
Chevrolet Oil Leaks
When I crawled back under the oil pan was wet again. I was able to easily pinpoint the leak at the front timing cover. The 2004 4.3 L V-6 has a composite timing cover. This is one of the reasons that Chevrolet oil leaks are common. But I was very surprised with the extremely low miles on my blazer that even this weak area was leaking oil. But if you look at the picture above, you will see that this was no accident.
Why engines leak oil
Improper assembly at the plant caused this Chevrolet oil leak. You can clearly see that the industrial-strength RTV starts out with a nice thick bead and then it just completely disappears at the lower side of the timing cover. Me being a auto mechanic that worked at Chevrolet dealers for 20 years have seen this before.
What happened to me is that when they ran to bead of silicone the machine ran out of glue. And they assembled the engine anyway even though it was sure to leak oil. Unfortunately for me my base warranty of three years 36,000 miles was up two full years ago. This leaves me to solve the Chevrolet oil leaks on my own. And this is one ugly job.
How to fix Chevrolet oil leak
To solve the Blazer oil leaks, I will have to obviously remove the timing cover. To accomplish this, the engine accessory bracket must be removed from the engine. This means that the power steering pump, alternator and A/C compressor must also be removed. Oh and don’t forget that the water pump must also come off as well. Since the water pump is five years old, it would sure make sense to replace this at the same time as resealing the timing cover.
Also, I found that the power steering pump is leaking, power steering fluid from the front shaft seal. So it looks like I will have to replace the power steering pump as well. I bought this blazer, brand-new in 2004 and paid cash for it because I do not believe in car payments.
If I cannot afford it then I do not buy it is how I roll. But I also wanted to have a vehicle that I can drive in instead of work on. Since I fix cars all day 6 days a week I did not want to also have to work on my own vehicle.
Unfortunately for me, this did not work out. I really liked this truck until this past weekend. In fact, I put up a car domain page all about my blazer ZR2. You can visit that page (opens in a new window) to see additional pictures and my story of how and why I bought this Chevrolet truck.
Mark Gittelman is an ASE Certified Automotive Master Technician With more than 24 years experience in the auto repair field.
check out http://www.ZR2USA.com If you haven’t done any mods yet, you will get a bunch of ideas, lol.
I think oil leaks are a common headache we all deal with, oil pan, rear main, intake gaskets, front seal, crank sensor, valve covers and oil lines are all places to check. I’ve done intake gaskets, one of the oil cooler lines, and the rear main seal.
I’m sure I will have the rest to do sooner then later!
Oil leaks are truly a big headache in auto repair. However ensuring that your vehicle does not have any will save you tons of future maintenance. This was a good read though. Thank you.
Hey nice site , oil leaks are really a pain to fix but usually its just the gasket but some vehicles are a pain to to change a gasket compared to others.
Great topic. I have people call in telling me they’re having oil problems each and every day. I will definately be coming back to read more posts. We specialize in engine and transmission repairs and always look for new opinions and topics on engines and transmissions.
i have a 1997 chevy 4.3 work truck it has 300,000 miles any way it still runs strong sometimes but sometimes it acts like its not getting enough fire and cuts out sometimes ive put a new dis. cap and rotor button what else should i do?????? any help would be appreaceted
I got a 96 blazer leaking oil a little i think i’m just going to let it leak I wish i would have never bought an American vehicle especially one by GM they are going out of business for a reason.
Fat Matt, I had a similiar problem recently, turned out to be a clogged cat. I kept getting codes for various misfires.
I have a 2004 Monte Carlo SS, it has about 80,000 and my oil pan is corroded so bad the oil is leaking through. The dealer has denied this under the 6 yr 100,000 warranty due to it not being a body part. If I would have had a small rock hit the oil pan, all the oil would have quickly leaked out.
The service desk agreed this should be covered but sorry……… The replacement oil pan and gasket are 200 bucks, not to mention labor, having to get under the motor mounts to get the bolts, terrible design. This is why this company will not survive. I am an American car fan, next time I will buy Ford!
tks for the effort you put in here I appreciate it!
My 2004 Monte Carlo SS Supercharged .. had a rusted oil pan. So had a new one installed. Now the fun really began. I have since had the oil pan removed and the gasket replaced 4 times and its leaking again. The car has 45,000 on it. So going to get a new oil pan installed again. If it leaks again its going down the road. I have bought GM since I started to drive. But Ford is really looking good at this point. If anyone else has this problem
please post.
I have a 96 montecarlo with 220,000 kms on it and it leaks so much oil I’m ashamed to park it in gravel. The car runs great but engine needs a diaper. Did I mention that it is for sale.
First of all; STOP! Put down the sharp instruments while I remind you that for 22 years now, FORD MOTOR COMPANY has stood under the slogan ‘QUALITY IS JOB ONE!” During the same period of time GMC has bragged about how good MR GOODWRENCH is at fixing your broken down GMC Vehicle. No what were you thinking when you compared those two slogans at the time of your vehicle purchase decision? See, there is a reason that during the last 44 years nearly 1/2 of ALL vehicles purchased in EUROPE are actually buit by FORD and FORD Affiliates… THEY LAST! Just a reminder that American CAB companies drive FORDs on average over 400,000 miles during the three years they keep them on the road. You may think FORD’s suck and that’s why you bought a Chevy, but the fact is…FORDs last and GMC crap doesn’t. Now that GMC stands for government motors, it can only get worse. Have a nice day!