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Oil leak survey

As long as you guys don't return with a new/worse oil leak you're doing better than me! - & the only picture I have from my trip is of the leak (going to be emailed to the dealer).
 
cooled seats

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.
I think you're wrong about the cooled seats. Mine is an 05 and it has cooled seats. Harry
 
I think you're wrong about the cooled seats. Mine is an 05 and it has cooled seats. Harry


My 2004 has both heat & cool for driver and passenger. :)
 
Hi guys
I think the way I read this.... she, Lola's Mom, meant other brand of cars not our XLR's I've known Lola's Mom for a couple years and meant her and her hubby 2 years ago at the Carmel Show. I think they owned an XLR back when they first came out and still may have it or a newer model! BTW this original thread post was from January 16 2013


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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.:wave:

These leaks are common to all North Stars. It is said our XLR's has been upgraded (I don't trust that GM did so) from the rest I'm new to the XLR however not new to the North Star engine. The list provided is very accurate by my experience. I have experienced them all including head gaskets on 2 cars. The head gaskets by my experience appear at about 135k. You would think the head gaskets would be the worst of it but they are second to the crank case leak know as "the leak". The remainder of the list are easily repaired. If you experience "the leak" I have found that Blue Devel block seal does work. I usually don't fall for the snake oils but this one has worked well in two North Stars with over 200k. My 18 year old daughter drives one of them. Other than the stated leaks I believe the North Star is bullit proof. Great engine that continues to deliver power at high milage. Great discussion for those who don't know the North Start. Nothing to be feared of and all are repairable. The listed leaks can appear under 100k but mostly at or just over.
 
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I had a whole bunch of oil leaks fixed under my aftermarket warranty about a year or two ago with around 90,000 K on her!


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I think this is what is really going on :chuckle
 

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Marking Territory

The Ferrari (1990), and 928S4 (1988) both mark territory. The 'F' has only 35,000, the Porsche 120K. The SLK55AMG (a gut German engine) at 115K is also handbuilt engine, narry a drop ....

Must be catching, cause now the XLR decided to join the club at 71K miles. A little drip, finding its way to be bottom of a tensioner it looks like (a little shock absorber) at the passenger front of the engine. :dunno: Sound familiar to anyone, worth ripping into it? Just started.
 
Valve covers and oil pan reseal $1,964. ??

I have owned a bunch of leaky Corvairs over the years and never paid that much to do the covers, pan and reseal the pushrod tubes, pulling the engine myself. How much of this work can be done by the home mechanic? My Cadillac dealer has a service and showroom building that would rival our finest gov't buildings.
 
2007 is leaking slightly at the cam position sensors. There is another small leak somewhere that hits a hot surface and makes oil fumes.
Not real bad, there is no smoke visible, but it is very annoying in stop and go traffic. I don't know where the cabin air intake is but it's picking up the fumes. The pan gasket was replaced at some point according to CarFax.
There are no oil drips under the car when parked overnight. 41,800 miles.
 
On our 2005 directly behind and slightly above the battery, on the passenger side of the firewall is a long skinny panel door for the replaceable cabin filter. You may want to clean or replace the filter and make sure the door panel is in tight and correctly sealed off from any motor area fumes!


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Hi, I had a very similar smelly problem. I had my engine removed for a very dedicated inspection. We found the problem !!!! Under the intake manifold was a rubber seal similar to an old style pcv valve setup. The seal was split and leaking oil which was dripping down to the exhaust system and getting real smelly. Bottom line and best news is that the engine does NOT have to be removed in order to accomplish this repair. Saves about 800.00 dollars. Hope this helps and saves you money.
 
Hi, I had a very similar smelly problem. I had my engine removed for a very dedicated inspection. We found the problem !!!! Under the intake manifold was a rubber seal similar to an old style pcv valve setup. The seal was split and leaking oil which was dripping down to the exhaust system and getting real smelly. Bottom line and best news is that the engine does NOT have to be removed in order to accomplish this repair. Saves about 800.00 dollars. Hope this helps and saves you money.
Hi Harry, I bought a 2006 XLR-V in June of 2020. The car is in great shape but it has an oil leak. Wasn't terrible but usually see a drip forming on a couple of bolts by the oil pan. I wipe them off and they'll reappear after a few days - again not a very bad leak.

After purchasing I took it to the dealer for a once over. They recommended leaving the leak alone because of the cost to remove the engine. Plus the car sat for most of the previous 3 years so the service manager said it might work itself out. I live in NJ and only use the car when the weather is nice so it's not used much this time of year.

It's up on a lift in my garage and noticed drips on the car below it yesterday (I have drip pans but they weren't positioned properly). This is a first - so whatever is going on appears to be getting worse. The garage is somewhat heated and maintains about a 55-degree temperature.

Do you know of any way to address the leak without removing the engine? I checked the bolts by the oil pan and they all appear to be torqued correctly. Any insight would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Jerry
 
Hi Harry, I bought a 2006 XLR-V in June of 2020. The car is in great shape but it has an oil leak. Wasn't terrible but usually see a drip forming on a couple of bolts by the oil pan. I wipe them off and they'll reappear after a few days - again not a very bad leak.

After purchasing I took it to the dealer for a once over. They recommended leaving the leak alone because of the cost to remove the engine. Plus the car sat for most of the previous 3 years so the service manager said it might work itself out. I live in NJ and only use the car when the weather is nice so it's not used much this time of year.

It's up on a lift in my garage and noticed drips on the car below it yesterday (I have drip pans but they weren't positioned properly). This is a first - so whatever is going on appears to be getting worse. The garage is somewhat heated and maintains about a 55-degree temperature.

Do you know of any way to address the leak without removing the engine? I checked the bolts by the oil pan and they all appear to be torqued correctly. Any insight would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Jerry

Hi Jerry,
I just changed my oil pan: it wasn't leaking, just that it had been dragged along the ground one too many times for my taste. I had the majority of the front suspension off at the time so I supported the engine and took down the subframe = no need to remove the engine.

I believe in order to do it this way with all the front suspension etc in place would be to first disconnect the little arms that connect the height sensors, both front lower a-arms. Brake calipers off and supported, disconnect the upper a-arm or free the upper ball joints. That's a little tricky as the leaf spring (pushing down on the lower a-arms) has to be lowered carefully. Not a big deal, just requires a bit of thinking ahead.

The steering rack comes along with the front subframe so it needs to be disconnected at the shaft (relatively easy). What's more difficult is fidgeting with some of the hard lines and hoses to the power steering so the subframe can be lowered. Awkward is maybe a better term for that.

There's the ABS unit that's also bolted to the subframe and that's just a couple of bolts but you'd need to support it up as well.

With the engine supported, remove the two motor mounts. It's a good time to inspect / change motor mounts while you're in there.

I think that's about it besides maybe a few electrical connectors that might get pulled too much if you lower the subframe excessively or decide to remove it. You should now have enough room to get at the pan and the mating surface.

I removed my subframe entirely (just a few more little bits to undo) and gave it a really good clean-up (it needed it).

The arrangement I made to support the engine was just done with 2x4s and 2x6s screwed together and I used chains on lifting eyes to pull up on the lifting brackets you may or may not have on the exhaust side of the heads.

If you need further details, let me know - I might even have a picture or two of my spiffy wooden engine holding jig. Oh, and I did change the motor mounts on mine and recall that an 18mm ratchet wrench would have been a really handy tool to own at the time.

HTH!

Gord :thumbsup

p.s. The subframe is held on with only 4 nuts and the subframe itself is pinned to the chassis, so one only needs to jack it up on to the pins and it'll take its alignment just like the factory.
 

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