This Thing Is Pouring Oil! Chevrolet S10 Oil Leak

Finding Chevy S10 oil leak

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Here is a list of tools I use every day at the shop. Let me know if you use them too in the comments!

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Customer Complaint: This customer came in with a 2000 Chevrolet S10 with a major oil leak. The customer states that several months after a new engine was put in, the engine started to leak oil.

There are many ways to tackle an oil leak. Here are two:

  1. Visual Inspection - Take a look at the vehicle with an oil leak and see if you can see an area that may be leaking oil.

  2. Dye - Pour special dye into the oil and see if you can see it with fluorescent light.

Both ways are acceptable for finding oil leaks but in this case, it only took a visual inspection.

Diagnostics: The first step I took was to make sure this vehicle had oil. Sure enough, it was extremely low.

TIP : Any time you are chasing a fluid leak, be sure to have the fluid full. If it is leaking severely, it is possible that the fluid has leaked to a very low level and may not leak anymore. How can you find an oil leak if there is no oil in the vehicle?

After topping off the oil, I started the vehicle and immediately noticed a puddle forming underneath the vehicle.

I had to get this thing onto a lift so I could see underneath it.

TIP : Be careful before calling a component bad. Fluids flow down, a leaking component on the top of the engine can trick you into thinking something lower on the engine is leaking. When looking underneath this vehicle it appeared that the rear main seal was leaking, but in the next picture, you will see the actual culprit.

Leaking oil pressure switch

Look at the connector to the oil pressure switch. It is covered in oil.

If I had a video, it would be pouring out of it.

This may be a common problem with these trucks because I have done this repair before to another Chevrolet S10.

So if you are looking for an oil leak on a chevy S10, this may be it!

Chevy S10 leaking oil pressure switch

What happens is that a seal breaks and allows oil to flow through the connector.

After a new oil pressure sensor was installed, the oil did not leak. Fixed!


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