Oil leak survey

[XLRATING]

My XLR has a tiny oil leak we are keeping an eye on. I've seen a lot of posts on here about oil leaks, including leaks in the hand built V engines (not sure how that happens with a hand built engine - ???!!!).

However, I was trying to put together the places to check/watch for leaks in our engines. That's not readily apparent from posts here, & internet searches mainly bring up stuff about the prior generation Northstar.

I'm curious as to who has had leaks repaired, where & at what mileage.

 

[Cadillac Tech]

There are many places for oil to leak, here are the most popular; timing cover ('04-'05) & timing cover gasket, oil manifold (above engine oil pan), lower crankcase seals, both cam covers, all 4 camshaft position actuators & housings, oil filter adapter & oil cooler lines on the 4.4L.

 

[mtrocket]

Sounds lie I've been quite fortunate... 38,000 miles with no leaks at all.

 

[XLRATING]

Wow, that's a lot of popular places! Thanks for the info Bruce.

Sounds lie I've been quite fortunate... 38,000 miles with no leaks at all.

Guess you've been giving yours a lot of that WOT action I keep seeing promoted as keeping the Northstar happy & leak free!

 

[WB6BBZ]

I've got over 57,000 on my 06 and no oil leaks so far (Knock on wood).

I did have a coolant leak last year and had to replace the water pump.

 

[Lola's Mom]

There are many places for oil to leak, here are the most popular; timing cover ('04-'05) & timing cover gasket, oil manifold (above engine oil pan), lower crankcase seals, both cam covers, all 4 camshaft position actuators & housings, oil filter adapter & oil cooler lines on the 4.4L.

True.
Rod ... probably happened before you got your car. The 'other' forum had quite a thread on that problem. Also have had 3 radiators put in Lola ... coolant leaks were the first sign. Ater about 26,000 and half the car replaced, knock on wood, that hasn't been an issue.

BTW the new battery (red top) seems to be the answer to the problem of an idle XLR ..... needle sits on the high side now ... I can't remember who posted it, but the after market batteries do tend to last about 2 years .... We have bought 3 in 7 years. And 2 gas caps .....

 

[Victor-V]

BTW the new battery (red top) seems to be the answer to the problem of an idle XLR ..... needle sits on the high side now ... I can't remember who posted it, but the after market batteries do tend to last about 2 years .... We have bought 3 in 7 years. And 2 gas caps .....[/QUOTE]

Victor-V is in the shop getting ready to find the oil leaks and insult to injury the battery went down on it while it was there. The shop charged it but the battery is 4 yrs old so I puchased a Optima Red Top battery and took it to them to install. Hopefully that will take care of my battery problems for a few years.

Not looking forward to what will be found on the oil leak.

 

[mtrocket]

True.
Rod ... probably happened before you got your car. The 'other' forum had quite a thread on that problem. Also have had 3 radiators put in Lola ... coolant leaks were the first sign. Ater about 26,000 and half the car replaced, knock on wood, that hasn't been an issue.

Kind of doubt it... only 6 months old and 2,075 miles when I got it.

 

[Lola's Mom]

True.
Rod ... probably happened before you got your car. The 'other' forum had quite a thread on that problem. Also have had 3 radiators put in Lola ... coolant leaks were the first sign. Ater about 26,000 and half the car replaced, knock on wood, that hasn't been an issue.

Kind of doubt it... only 6 months old and 2,075 miles when I got it.

I do not remember that. Lola had 27000 on her when we got her .... and she was almost 2 years old ... we've just doubled the mileage .... she sits A LOT. I think Ray gets tired (now) of keeping up with that black.

Victor V ... we should keep in touch with the performance of these batteries ....

 

[Phrede]

Mine has had oil leaks requiring the valve/cam covers (not just the gaskets) replaced and 2 camshaft actuator gaskets.

BTW, I went with a yellow top Optima rather than the red because of it's ability to do a deeper cycle (read parasitic drain) and not an overly high cranking needs. Just my thoughts. I'm glad I did and have not had a single battery related problem since.

Think Spring!

 

[CanadianViking]

There are many places for oil to leak, here are the most popular; timing cover ('04-'05) & timing cover gasket, oil manifold (above engine oil pan), lower crankcase seals, both cam covers, all 4 camshaft position actuators & housings, oil filter adapter & oil cooler lines on the 4.4L.

And I think I am having every one one of those leaks being repaired on my XLR right now!

 

[GizmoQ]

There are many places for oil to leak, here are the most popular; timing cover ('04-'05) & timing cover gasket, oil manifold (above engine oil pan), lower crankcase seals, both cam covers, all 4 camshaft position actuators & housings, oil filter adapter & oil cooler lines on the 4.4L.

My camshaft position actuators & housings leak just enough that it collects dust on the front of the engine. No drip, no loss, but after a few thousand miles the dust is like mud. Then again, after racing a few times its just as bad.

Here's a leak I bet no one has ever seen. Elwood is going to Stiegemeier's Porting Services tomorrow to have the supercharger snout rebuilt. At the Texas Mile, I spun the blower pulley so hard at 160MPH that the pulley detached from the shaft, the belt jumped behind it and the front seal of the snout was damaged. So I have no boost and there's oil dripping from the snout.

Bob Stiegemeier thinks the heat differential from the Super Chiller and the stock snout made the pulley loose and the torque did the rest. So he is going to rebuilt the entire snout and add a "Venom Cooler" to it. We're also gonna install changeable pulleys on a pinned shaft.

 

[sschooley]

My camshaft position actuators & housings leak, but after a few thousand miles the dust is like mud. Then again, after racing a few times its just as bad.

Here's a leak I bet no one has ever seen. Elwood is going to Stiegemeier's Porting Services tomorrow to have the supercharger snout rebuilt. At the Texas Mile, I spun the blower pulley so hard at 160MPH that the pulley detached from the shaft, the belt jumped behind it and the front seal of the snout was damaged. So I have no boost and there's oil dripping from the snout.

Bob Stiegemeier thinks the heat differential from the Super Chiller and the stock snout made the pulley loose and the torque did the rest. So he is going to rebuilt the entire snout and add a "Venom Cooler" to it. We're also gonna install changeable pulleys on a pinned shaft.

Gee, my Alpine white XLR has none of these disgusting issues,,,,
Never had any leaks whatsoever...probably due to the tender care of photo-girl....

Steve

 

[SrChief]

When I bought my 07 it had 34000 miles . Soon after I got it I had a small oil spot on the floor and the dealer replaced the timing cover. A few weeks later I had another small spot and as it was under warranty the dealer pulled the engine and did a reseal on the lower end. They had it for 6 days as they had to order some seals. That was over a year ago and I have had no more leaks. I was told if I had had to pay for the work it would have been about $3000.
The work order had 16.3 hours labor on it. They stated they followed instructions in Doc# 2126673 to R&R engine to reseal lower crankcase.

 

[Lola's Mom]

Gee, my Alpine white XLR has none of these disgusting issues,,,,
Never had any leaks whatsoever...probably due to the tender care of photo-girl....

Steve

Somewhere along the way the factory made some sort of adjustments to those seals ..... I don't think I ever heard of any of the cars mfg after '06 to have those problems. But, yes .... I agree - btw Kathy and Bruce, you couldn't find better 'sitters'

 

[Phrede]

Somewhere along the way the factory made some sort of adjustments to those seals ..... I don't think I ever heard of any of the cars mfg after '06 to have those problems. But, yes .... I agree - btw Kathy and Bruce, you couldn't find better 'sitters'

My '08 did.

 

[Lola's Mom]

Phrede .... I missed that! Maybe there were just so many people when these cars first came out that posted their problems because we were so looking for information from anyone who might have had the same problem - or knew what was normal or wrong .... shoot .... we only had like 18,000 cars to get information from .... and probably only 10% of those people ever joined a forum to talk about them. And the cars were such great innovative technology back then .... shoot .... only now - 10 years later are cooled seats being offered. Love my car.

 

[XLRJIM]

oil leak

Phrede .... I missed that! Maybe there were just so many people when these cars first came out that posted their problems because we were so looking for information from anyone who might have had the same problem - or knew what was normal or wrong .... shoot .... we only had like 18,000 cars to get information from .... and probably only 10% of those people ever joined a forum to talk about them. And the cars were such great innovative technology back then .... shoot .... only now - 10 years later are cooled seats being offered. Love my car.

In 2006 had an oil leak at timing gear cover, repaired under warrenty.. Has recently started again..very minor but will probably get it serrviced next time I am in the dealers. FYI my last Eldorado Northstar had chronic leaks.

Jim

 

[WB6BBZ]

My camshaft position actuators & housings leak just enough that it collects dust on the front of the engine. No drip, no loss, but after a few thousand miles the dust is like mud. Then again, after racing a few times its just as bad.

Here's a leak I bet no one has ever seen. Elwood is going to Stiegemeier's Porting Services tomorrow to have the supercharger snout rebuilt. At the Texas Mile, I spun the blower pulley so hard at 160MPH that the pulley detached from the shaft, the belt jumped behind it and the front seal of the snout was damaged. So I have no boost and there's oil dripping from the snout.

Bob Stiegemeier thinks the heat differential from the Super Chiller and the stock snout made the pulley loose and the torque did the rest. So he is going to rebuilt the entire snout and add a "Venom Cooler" to it. We're also gonna install changeable pulleys on a pinned shaft.

Pinned pulley plus Taper Lock is a really good combo Giz!

 

[CoCoXLR]

No leaks so far, but I fear this may be a bit of a self-fulling prophosy. As soon as a start bragging about it, then the leaks will happen...