so at first my truck starting leaking oil and it got worse and worse, so bad to the point where i could keep up with it to top it off, and eventually my turbo was ruined. replaced turbo with another H1C, so i did reasearch on here and figured it must be the tappet cover.

right after i installed the other turbo i threw some dye in the oil, i noticed oil on the engine block, so i started to tear it down. now my power steering pump has been shot for a long time, it spewed PS oil all over pretty much every where on the front driver-side of the block, so im replacing it while im in here, also took out the vacuum pump because it was missing a bolt and needed the other to match it up.

so im in the process of of removing the injection pump, need diffrent bolts for the steering puller i bought that match up right, but i was looking over my engine and pulled out the black light to see the dye, and i noticed dye on the bottom of the injection pump and my friend says he sees some where the injection lines connect to the back of the pump, now that i can see the tappet cover better the bottom of it is free of dye! i have no idea whats going on

thanks for all help and advice in advance! kyle

 

was your turbo discharging oil into the intake? if so, was it passing from the cac tube boots, otherwise look for traces under the intake dripping down to the pump, ive had a lot of pump leaks, only fuel though

 

My son says the puddle on the driveway isn't oil, it's horse sweat. He can't believe my first gen doesn't "sweat".

Long story short, eventually you have to do some maintenance, even on a Cummins. Follow the drips to the source and fix it. Tappet cover is likely. If it's leaking, now's the time to fix it as you pretty much have to take everything off the driver's side of the engine anyway to do it. Front and rear seals also are wear items eventually. It's possible for a head gasket to form an oil leak to the outside, but not real likely. Rocker covers leak, but are very easily resealed. Pan gasket, of course, could also leak profusely.

If you ran the engine out of oil enough to starve the turbo, you probably did more damage than that to the turbo. In this engine one of the reasons for the large amount of oil in it is because it is part of the cooling of the engine by design. Also all major bearings in the engine are pressure lubed, and when you drop pressure (which is the only way the turbo will starve) you lose lubrication in those bearings. It only takes a few turns, literally seconds after that and all film strength is gone and it's metal to metal.

 

Yes, when he removed the inter-cooler it was full of oil. If that oil was somehow leaking through the IP, that would explain the lack of dye oce he toe it down. He fixed the turbo and then added the dye. Meaning the IP was still leaking old oil without the dye since the turbo had been repaired.

Having said that, I'm in full agreement that while he is there he should address the Tappet cover gasket and anything else he suspects to be a problem.

It might be that the major leak is now resolved with the rebuilt turbo and emptying the inter-cooler from the excess oil. You will not know for sure untill you clean-it up and get her running again. Big project I know, but you might need to tear it down again to ultimately find the source or sources.

Practise makes perfect. Enjoy the learning curve! :-)

P.S. What was all of that about Re-Sealing the IP at a cost of $700?

 

I think the IP deal is that as long as it's coming off, he's well over halfway to the tappet cover, and might as well change it. IP, and wet intercooler have nothing at all in common.

If the intercooler is wet, the turbo bearing seal is the culprit. A hard to keep up with external oil leak will leave pretty big puddles, and nobody will let you park on their tarmac.

 

for any who are wondering lv2bUnderwater is my dad lol, yes when my turbo bearing went out if filled my intercooler with oil as well as the pipes, but luckily my intake manifold isnt really wet with oil so im hoping not to much got blown in there.

i figure i will do the tappet cover since im there but i still cant think of why oil full of dye would be on the bottom of my IP

im also am goin to put new gaskets on the valve covers and oil pan

 

Sooty, you wrote "was it passing from the cac tube boots, otherwise look for traces under the intake dripping down to the pump, ive had a lot of pump leaks, only fuel though".

Could you please provide a little more info on what to look for to determine where the oil is coming from that is dripping from the bottom side of the IP? Not sure if it is okay to put everything back together since the turbo has been rebuilt or if we need to remove, reseal, and re-install the IP. From what we learned here, that is a BIG job and should be avoided if it is not required at this point.

Thanks for your help. Any adiitional info on what to look for and how to proceed would be much appreciated.

 

I thought my tappet cover was leaking also, but when I changed my power steering pump I found it was the vacuum pump that was leaking. New gasket between the timing cover and pump and all is well. It was leaking badly too. Probably a gallon or more between oil changes.

 

What's the condition of the oil line coming from the main oil galley feeding the vacuum pump? I know the threads in the block are NPT but don't know how the stainless hose seals to the 90* fitting in the block. Anyhow, if that's leaking and with enough pressure in the system, that could be the oil you're seeing on the bottom of the injection pump. You'd probably see some on that side of the block also though.

Just something else to check and eliminate.

 

thanks thrub i was wondering if the vacuum pump and power steering could have any thing to do with it, and jimbo i broke that line when trying to disconnect it from the vacuum pump, so i have to replace it, but it looked to be okay and saw no dye around it, but yet another reason how dye could have got on my injection pump