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Reply To: Can an oil leak short out a starter and cause a brand new drive belt to snap?

Home Forums Stay Dirty Lounge Service and Repair Questions Answered Here Can an oil leak short out a starter and cause a brand new drive belt to snap? Reply To: Can an oil leak short out a starter and cause a brand new drive belt to snap?

#990082
Arne RobinsonArne Robinson
Participant

    Thanks for replying.

    No idea if smoke was from the starter shorting out or the belt. Was concerned for safety so stood back. Smoke more or less subsided by the time I was brave enough to go under the hood.

    My oil leak was nothing new and nothing obviously severe. In fact, I forgot about it and never really checked the oil level regularly like I should have. Hence, the oil leak is just a trickle, not something you would expect to drench and short out an electrical component. I asked the dealer what the risk was of not addressing the oil leak and all they stated was that the engine could fail if I didn’t properly monitor and refill the lost oil. Nothing about risk of leaking onto an electrical component and shorting it out, probably not impossible but I would think highly improbable and statistically impossible to happen only within the one hour window of me picking the vehicle up (as opposed to not way before I brought it in and not way into the future).

    I spoke with an experienced mechanic I know and he sternly said, “a new, properly inspected/installed/tested belt without defects would NEVER snap as a result of a short in the starter or anything locking up”. He suspects they botched the belt replacement (didn’t inspect, properly install and/or properly test) and are trying to cover it up by blaming it on the oil leak (I’m not even sure the oil cooler is directly above the starter or not).

    I did not hear any noise prior to losing steering. I will search service info (any suggestions of sources)?

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