So, took my '97 to a local shop down the street because they were $600 cheaper than these 'big wig' mechanics when it came to the harmonic balancer replacement. Got the car back the same day and all seemed well. A few days later, I noticed some fresh oil on my garage floor. The car has never leaked anything before. Took it to the place that changes my oil to see if they could spot the leak or if the pan bolt or filter was loose. They said it looked like the front of the pan gasket or somewhere in that area. Now, I parked the car for observation and am planning on taking it back to the shop that did the work to address this. Also failed to mention that since this service, the headlights only seem to come up when they want and the hood isnt latching as smoothly. Guess my question is, what could the mechanic failed to have done to cause this leak? Seems like everything else was fine with the car and now I have more issues than before I took it in.

 

If all they did was replace the pulley which is attached to the harmonic balancer then I'm not sure what they could have done that would cause all these other problems. Now if they pulled the harmonic balancer to replace the pulley, then that might have disturbed the seal and caused it to start leaking.

 

Apologies if I had created any confusion. The harmonic balancer was replaced with an aftermarket unit, along with a new crank seal. Seems like a good, competent group of guys down at the local shop that performed the work, but I'm wondering if the guy that did the job wasn't too familiar with the C5 install and missed something or cut corners to get the job done on time. I took the car on a little road trip right after it was done, but there has never been any leak, anywhere- at least nothing that dripped onto the floor.

 

Well if you're sure it's leaking from the seal around the harmonic balancer, then they either had a bad seal or damaged it installing the harmonic balancer. I suppose there's always a chance that the harmonic balancer snout is undersized.

 

Well, the guys at the shop were cool about it- being that I have no way (or space) to actually get underneath the car myself to properly diagnose and/or pinpoint the leak- I have to wait 2 weeks and then take the car back to the shop so they can lift it. I took an adjustable mirror and a light to tryn find the leak, to no avail. And just when I think I'm good to go for a great season of driving, not only did I find the oil leak, but I also found grease all over my driver's side rear wheel. You can tell that when the car was at higher speeds is how the grease was slung about due to the pattern. I crawled underneath, couldn't find exact location of breach, but given what I do know, it's probably the outer CV boot that's slinging grease everywhere. I bought this car because I know that when they're properly maintained, they're typically pretty reliable. Probably going to replace both axles and all boots eventually. Damnit, just can't catch a break. Seems like one thing after the other. Makes sense having a car that's 25 years old- even with low miles. I appreciate everyone's insight and suggestions!!

 

I don't know if this would work in your case for the CV boot but they used to make a split boot that you could put on without pulling the axle. And if you can get to the bad boot soon enough before water has got in and created a lot of damage, then you could possibly use one of these split repair boots to replace the bad one without removing the axle assembly.

 

No kidding!? If that's the case, I'd be very interested- even if it were just temporary. I've put a lot of money into the car since I bought it, and the majority of the upgrades were parts that the car needed- even though I could've kept driving for thousands of miles without fixing any of it (save for the harmonic balancer). I want the car to consistently be in tip top shape, but I need to take a break financially Thanks, Shark! Much appreciated!! 👍