did this load cause this oil leak?

[zebra]

okay, i'm kinda lost on this one...
this weekend, i towed my Corvette from Pensacola to Atlanta & back, and now i've got a serious problem!

my truck: 99 Sierra 1500 4x4 (just hit 170k mi) with a 5.3 from an 01 Tahoe (just hit 125k mi on the engine) and a 5 speed transmission. basic bolt-ons (CAI, LT headers, 93 BB tune) 3.73 rear with 31" tires

my load: 00 Corvette FRC (just over 3200lb) on a Top Hat 20' 12k lb equipment trailer (i know, it was a bit much, but it's what i had to work with). i'm guessing the trailer is about 3000lb

yesterday after we'd got to the track, i kinda thought the rear bumper looked like it had little oil spots but thought i was crazy & dismissed it. then this morning when we were starting to leave, i got a low oil level warning. i checked it & it wasn't even on the stick. i drove carefully to the next auto parts store (still had good pressure) & bought a quart. still nothing. i then bought a 5qt jug (it was on special) & it took about another quart or so of that to get full. on the way home, my friend was following me & said he'd noticed when i would start uphill, it'd start blowing light blue smoke. i never could see it until he brought it to my conscious attention. about 2/3 of the way back, we stopped to check it again & it was another 2qt low. then we looked under the truck & HOLY CRAP!!! no joke... it looks like somebody just sprayed the whole underside of the truck from the oil pan back with motor oil!! the filer ain't leaking & neither is the drain plug, and everything in front of the drain plug is dry. it's all burned onto my y-pipe, all over the x-members, even the diff/axle/shocks, and the exhaust tips... pretty much everything.

the funny thing is that i never got a level warning while driving & the pressure was always 40-60psi unless idling (about 35), but from here to ATL & back to my driveway, i've added 6qts total.

the clutch still grabs like usual & the engine even seemed to run like normal with the exception of smoking & spraying oil everywhere. does anybody have any ideas on what this mess could be? with my car being busted right now (that's a whole nother story), i can't afford to have my truck dead, too

[DamnYankee]

Rear main?

Power wash it good and try a dye test.

[RedHeartbeat]

which xmember, under the trans or under the engine? Were you shifting down to 2nd on hills? How fast were you driving?

[zebra]

both x-members... and the transmission, the torsion bars, the gas tank, the spare tire, the exposed bottom of the body panels...

literally almost everything under the truck behind the engine has oil on it
the drive was mostly interstate, so we were doing 65-75 the whole time (except for in-town speeds) until we realized the problem. then i kept it about 55 on the highway. on the interstate, i was either in 4th or 5th (whatever'd keep it around 2000-2500rpm) & when doing 55, it pretty much just stayed in 4th

[country_3030]

you will have to clean it all off and see where the leak starts from. shouldn't take long to find once it is clean if it is leaking that much.

[RedHeartbeat]

sounds like you lost the front seal or if your truck has an external radiator cooler for the engine oil it may be leaking. One other thing to check is all the PCV tubing for leaks.

[zebra]

checked PCV - all's good. i don't think i have an oil cooler

one thing i did find after remembering to wipe everything off & then crawl under with the engine running is that apparently my oil filter sprung a leak at some point. under idle system pressure (35-40 psi), it was dripping every few seconds from a little rough spot on one side.

i sure pray to Jesus that's all it is!! after this weekend, pulling the engine out of my truck is one of the last things i need to deal with

[DamnYankee]

Yeah, that's what you call a good problem.

[zebra]

yeah... i'd much rather it be that than something else bigger.
i'll put a new filter on after work tomorrow & see how that does.

wait... how does a leaky filter explain having larger clouds of oil smoke when i get on the gas?
would it be that the system's under more pressure (spraying more oil out onto my oil-caked header y-pipe) & causing a larger amount of oil to get burned on a hotter (higher revs = more hot gas = hotter pipes) exhaust?

[RedHeartbeat]

higher RPMs cause oil vaporization and any blowby will push oil out any leaking area of the engine, even the oring around the filler cap.