[ZL1_1LE]

Hey everyone, not the way I wanted to introduce myself on here lol. Took the ol ZL1 out to lunch with a friend today and heard what I thought was a “pop” and then immediately smelled oil, pulled into the lunch spot and it was pissing oil but only from the two panels with holes under the car. Long story short I topped the oil off beginning of last week and didn’t drive it. It was a bit low from my previous oil change and I THINK i may have over filled the car. I had the car towed hom and changed the oil, no sparkles or chunks to speak of so I’m not sure where the oil came from. Oil pressure at idle was 30ish after the oil change. The weirdest part is during all of that mess I seemed to have shredded a belt. Not my supercharger belt, but a different one. I can attaché pictures later, but how could the two be associated with one another? Thanks for any help!

[Joshinator99]

Originally Posted by ZL1_1LE

Hey everyone, not the way I wanted to introduce myself on here lol. Took the ol ZL1 out to lunch with a friend today and heard what I thought was a “pop” and then immediately smelled oil, pulled into the lunch spot and it was pissing oil but only from the two panels with holes under the car. Long story short I topped the oil off beginning of last week and didn’t drive it. It was a bit low from my previous oil change and I THINK i may have over filled the car. I had the car towed hom and changed the oil, no sparkles or chunks to speak of so I’m not sure where the oil came from. Oil pressure at idle was 30ish after the oil change. The weirdest part is during all of that mess I seemed to have shredded a belt. Not my supercharger belt, but a different one. I can attaché pictures later, but how could the two be associated with one another? Thanks for any help!

Quite a bit to unpack here. My wild guess with no pics and limited info would be you might be leaking oil out of the front crank seal or oil cooler. If that oil got in a belt maybe it slipped out of the pulley. Again, that’s a pretty wild guess lol

[ZL1_1LE]

Originally Posted by Joshinator99

Quite a bit to unpack here. My wild guess with no pics and limited info would be you might be leaking oil out of the front crank seal or oil cooler. If that oil got in a belt maybe it slipped out of the pulley. Again, that’s a pretty wild guess lol

I agree Josh, a lot to unpack and thank you for your response. I am not sure where the oil could be coming from, but do you think me over filling the oil would have caused it to come out of some where it shouldn’t have (obviously) and where should I start looking first?

[SpeZ]

Definitely not caused by overfilling.
If I'd had to take a guess then I stick with a faulty front crank seal.

[ZL1_1LE]

Originally Posted by SpeZ

Definitely not caused by overfilling.
If I'd had to take a guess then I stick with a faulty front crank seal.

Ugh ok sounds like a big job. Not the type I can do in my garage I’m assuming? With your typical hand tools?

[Joshinator99]

Originally Posted by ZL1_1LE

Ugh ok sounds like a big job. Not the type I can do in my garage I’m assuming? With your typical hand tools?

If you’re asking that question, then it’s probably something to leave for someone else honestly. But you’re jumping the gun… you need to get under the hood and under the car and see exactly where the leak is coming from first.

[ZL1_1LE]

Originally Posted by Joshinator99

If you’re asking that question, then it’s probably something to leave for someone else honestly. But you’re jumping the gun… you need to get under the hood and under the car and see exactly where the leak is coming from first.

I agree, I know for sure there is a belt missing, I changed the oil last night and just checked the floor under the car and no reminisce of oil after the fact. Does the car need to be running for that front seal to leak? Also does anyone have a good diagram of the routing of the belts for the ZL1, i can’t find a good one for the lift of me. I’ll post a picture of which belt is shredded once the family gets up and moving haha

[bishopts]

I don't know if it applies to your engine but i see the 1.4 cruze and 2.4 equinox crank seals pop out of the front cover plate pretty often. If that were to happen then it will cover the belt in oil and easily pop off.
And yes the engine needs to run for the crank seal to leak.

[ZL1_1LE]

Thanks for the input. Looks like the belt is off what I believe to be the AC condenser. Is it in the bottom right hand corner of the engine? It’s pretty far down there and hard to reach but the pulley spins freely. What else does that belt attach too?

[bishopts]

That belt only contacts the compressor and crank pulley. Its a stretch belt with no tensioner

[Evansa22]

It can also be a pain to get on, especially without the outrageously priced gm stretch belt tool. If you need help shoot me a PM and I can give you an idea how I got mine on without any special tools.

[bishopts]

I think autozone sells one

[ZL1_1LE]

I’m more concerned with where the leak currently is, if i run the car without that belt on is it ok to run to watch for the leak? It obviously won’t be able to use AC, just want to run it to see if i can identify the leak.

[bishopts]

Yea it will be fine. The more concerning thing is once you start it will it start throwing oil all over the place