So...did a 15% pulley and belt on my '05 MCS today, went for a 6 mile drive, came back to find an oil leak at the front of the engine, belt all oiled up, front of the alternator very oily, idler pulley oily but does not look like any leakage at the main crank seal, and the backside of the new SC pulley is clean so it does not appear to be leaking at the snout.

I've taken off the inner fender shield and splash shield to find the pan quite oily on the passenger side, but can't find the exact source of the leak. Weird.....could the new pulley create enough pressure in crankcase to cause the pan to weep oil?

Any thoughts appreciated.....my joy at the new pulley is literally getting rained on .

thanks,
Mad Gepetto

 

Did you remember to put the oil dipstick back in its tube?

Eric

 

Ayup.... Actually I took a good long look at just that first thing I noticed the leak...but I did not remove it during the pulley install, and the tube is clean except the side of it facing the plane of rotation of the belt.

I am wondering if the pressure of the weight of the motor during jacking was enough to create a leak at the edge of the pan, causing a drip onto the edge of the crank pulley that then spun around and made the mess...it's a strange one.

I have run the motor and shined a light into the area behind the crank pulley and there's no evidence of leakage there, but the edges of the crank pulley and the belt itself are pretty wet with oil indicating a leak from nearby...

about tired out now, I will continue to try and suss this out tomorrow,

Mad Gepetto, over and tired out!

 

I'd imagine that it had something to do with jacking up the engine. I've yet to hear of any problems while doing this, however, it's certainly a possibility. Where did you jack the engine up from?

 

check the motor mount, it is fluid filled and may have been damaged when you dropped the motor back down.

 

+1

I haven't done my pulley for exactly this reason...too scared to have an "unrelated" problem arise...and my motor mount has probably leaked all it's oil out.

 

+1 to this too. The '02 and '03 MCS have a large rubber mount that has a small amount of dampening fluid. The '04-'06 MCS has a hydraulic setup with a large amount of dampening fluid. I since upgraded mine to the TSW solid polyurethene mount. Downside is increase harmonic vibration in the chassis from the engine, especially in temps below 40 degrees F. Plus is the engine can no longer flex/twist as much, so torque transfer to the wheels is better.

 

The hydraulic motor mount is new, I had to replace the old one since it had indeed puked, nasty black stuff all over the frame.The new mount was the catalyst for doing the belt & pulley job as I had to lift the motor anyway.

I wish it was the mount..an easy fix, but all I can figure is that either the pan/block junction leaked, or the SC snout leaked out behind the pulley somehow and the oil from it was slung around...

No temp issues when I drove it, nor any bad noises but I am reluctant to do anything until I find the leak and deal with it.

There has been no further leakage over night, the cardboard under the engine is fairly dry, but I am going to remove the belt to clean it and see if I can find the source for good...at this point I wish I had not done the pulley too, but in the end I am sure it will be a worthy effort.Faint heart n'er won fair lady and all that.

Mad Gepetto

 

Well, at this point, hit the engine with some Gunk engine degreaser. Have a friend handy to assist. Start the engine and rev it up some to build oil pressure in the engine and look for oil leaks.

Keep us posted.

 

Well folks..found my leak, and I hang my head in shame.

In my desire to cut wedges out of the SC pulley to get it off ( I am one of the lucky ones who's pulley seemed to be welded on ) the SC shaft, I drilled a 1/8th inch hole through the sleeve part of the pulley parallell to the shaft so I would have less cutting to do near the shaft.Cautious little me...

Didn't realize the drill bit had popped through just a teensy bit...and you guessed it...I pecked a tiny hole in the face of the bearing seal which is painfully obvious now that I have removed the new WMW pulley, degreased the front of the engine and looked at it in the cold light of morning.What a doofus.

I saw the little hole before installing the new WMW pulley but thought nothing of it as it was so small,it was dry and I assumed it was a witness mark or perhaps a leftover from pressing in the seal at time of mfr.Wrong...

Oh well, now I am on a new adventure, have to pull and replace that seal, but it could have been far worse had I not spotted the leak and kept driving..no doubt the SC would have been trashed.My motor is very, very clean now too.

Lesson learned...use a drill stop when you don't have exact dimensions...and, in my newly humble opinion, if you want to do a pulley..get it done by someone who has done it before.Thanks for teh suggestions, and stay tuned...gotta go get that seal out .

Dad always said the first hundred years are the hardest.

Mad Gepetto

 

Man that sucks, you shouldn't have to ever cut the pulley off.

 

Rotrex kit?

 

There's a seal supplier on ebay. Pop off seal retainer ring, remove oil seal with pick(should be easy with hole in it). Top off snout with GM eaton supercharger oil($4-5 a bottle at GM dearlers)until it runs out. Reinstall pulley. You shouldn't have to jack the motor up to do any of it. Have fun and don't sweat the oopsies; at least you figured it out and will correct it before blowing the snout bearings and rotor pack gears!

Jeremy