Expert: Brad Sears - 12/20/2010

Question
Vehicle has a delco-remy generator #1102043. I wasn't sure how long ago it had been serviced so I went ahead and added oil to both the front and rear cups (topped them off)as I had read to do. I drove the car and to my suprise I noticed fresh oil on top of the frame the next morning. It seems like the oil is coming from two places, from the underside of the generator and out the top of the oil cups.
Could I have put too much oil in and have blown a seal? The leak seems to have stopped (at least for now) but now I'm not sure if there is enough oil in the generator to lubricate the bearings or not and I'd like to be pro-active. Any suggestions? Thanks

Answer
I doubt that over oiling would cause a blown seal, but overfilling the oil cup could cause expansion as the oil heated up when running and some dribble. Also the seals on the front and rear bearing could be old and dried up letting the oil run right through. But remember old cars leaked oil every where and nobody really noticed. the new cars are so much cleaner that what was nonce normal appears now to be a problem. The question is how much fresh oil did you see? Was it the same amount that you topped off? If so the seals are leaking and removing the generator and checking the front bearing and rear bushing/bearing might not be a bad idea.