Ok my truck has been leaking oil from what appears to be the drivers side of the pan. Does anyone have any suggestions on where or what to look for? I can let the truck sit for about 30 mins and come back and have a nice 4-5 inch diameter puddle.

 

My pan had seeps that started at the front and were pulled back by the wind making the whole thing look bad. I also had seeps from the oil fill tube, the dipstick tube and the gear cover. Added up it was pretty messy.
However, I'd get under there with a good light and folow the leak up it may be above the pan- others will know where.

If its the pan:
I assume you have already re-torqued the pan bolts to about 216 in lbs or about 18 ft. lbs.
The solution is not an easy one considering you really have to re-make the seal. To do that well you have to drop the pan.

If the bolt tightening did'nt work though and it were me I'd drain the pan and drop it about a half inch or so-whatever you can- just enough to be able to clean the surfaces of the pan and the block to get the old gasket stuff and dirt/oil off. Then squeeze in a bead of grey rtv. I think if the pan and around it are clean and you can get the old gasket off you'll have success.

It does not take a lot of rtv to make a good gasket. It takes a good surface to bond to. And going around all those bolt taps will be a mother.

And it only took 4 hours!!! (just kidding)

Big Jimmy

 

Use a torque wrench on the pan.
A lot of people make the situation worse by tightening the heck out of the pan bolts, warping the pan in the process.

 

make sure if you do decide to drop the pan 1" and scrape the old gasket, that none of the gasket material ends up in the pan. (almost impossible in my opinion)

 

Ok well after tightening all the bolts on the oil pan with a torque wrench it was still leaking. After I start cleaning around I found what seems to be like silicon on the block. Could this have been a cracked block someone tried to "rig". There are a couple pictures in my gallery that I will post once they are uploaded.

 

That does not sound good at all. Silicone would not be there otherwise.

 

NOW you tell me

 

Heres a pic. The bottom left of the pic is the drivers side front of the oil pan.




I also noticed that it only leaks after the truck has been running and then when I shut it off it leaks a good sized puddle in about 5 mins then it doesnt leak anymore.

 

Let me go out and check but that looks like a leak from the gear housing case.

Yes, thats what it is - a leak between the gear case and the block. It only leaks for a few minutes after shutdown because the gear case only holds a little oil- it is constantly draining back into the pan.

Two ways to fix it
1) remove the gear case and that means pull the gears, cam and whatever else- big job.
2) take off the gearcase cover just as you would for a KDP tabbing and try and clean the gearcase along that inside seam to clean metal by whatever means it takes, then put a bead of grey RTV on that same inside seam and fair it with your finger. Close it all up. Then before I tested it I'd change the oil in the pan in case any cleaning solution(I'd use a gasket cleaner) etc got into the pan by accident. I'd take pains to make sure that did not happen by blocking any drain holes.


I would be breathing easier right now if that were my truck. You can also try re-torquing the case bolts but my guess is someone already has tried that.
Big Jimmy

 

When I cleaned all the silicon off and started the truck the leak was between the gear case and I guess the block. There wasnt a crack though.

Where are the gear case bolts at?

 

Yup, what big jim said. I had the same problem. It ain't cheap unfortunately. Mine was fixed last fall by a good mechanic and hasn't been a problem since , the whole front end of the truck comes off ,ie, radiators , hood , bumper , and as jim said the cam gets pulled.
I got charged 16 hours shop labor , and truck was down 3 days.
Best of luck.

 

Lots of dealer shops repair a leak in between the case and block by removing the cover, loosening the case to block bolts and squeezing silicone goop into the gap.
Not really the right way to do it but sometimes works and is much faster and cheaper.

 

Can I reuse my timing cover gasket and crankshaft seal if I just did the kdp 10k miles ago? Or should I just get new ones?

 

You can re-use the gasket and seal. You will have to make another centering tool like what came with the seal though.

Big Jimmy