2003 Saturn Vue oil leak

DAB5913

MEMBER
2003 SATURN VUE
6 CYL
AWD
AUTOMATIC
10,000 MILES

My daughters saturn vue blew something one block from my house. She pulled into the driveway, we raised the hood and saw what looked like oil all over the place. No lights had come on and the car made no odd noises before she noticed it smoking and the oily smell. I checked for broken hoses and found none. When it cooled I checked the oil and it showed no oil on the dipstick. What can I check for? Should I fill the oil and start it to check for leaks or should I have it towed in to a garage?

Sunday, January 31st, 2010 AT 1:12 PM

2 Replies

SATURNTECH9

MECHANIC
30,869 POSTS

With a large oil leak I would have it towed to a garage u don't want to damage the engine if it hasn't been damage already. Let me know what they find.

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Sunday, January 31st, 2010 AT 7:15 PM

LIAM193

MEMBER
1 POST

I can't say this is your problem, but I have a Saturn Vue 2002 AWD v6 with the same exact symptoms that occurred this Sunday at noon. The Vue had been sitting outside in very cold weather for two days and had only been driven 5 miles when we noticed the white smoke from under the hood, stopped, and saw oil everywhere sprayed up into the hood. We had the Vue towed to a local garage. After looking at the Vue and researching online, the mechanic believes it is related to bulletin 04-06-01-009A from GM. This lists the cause as:

During extremely cold weather, moisture at the engine crankshaft balancer may freeze to the crankshaft front oil seal, which may result in the oil seal being torn when the engine is started.

It suggests the replacement of the seal with a new one that apparently does not have the issue.

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Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010 AT 3:26 PM