Son in law just bought a 2002 120000 miles,real nice,when cleaning up all a round found a bottle type container hanging in front of engine crank shaft with hose up to front of pump area.Was full of oil? and running out onto drive way,my 2005 doesn't have it.What is it?Bottle has a hole in it near the top,some type of over flow??What was the standard exhaust configuration,he appears to have a small exhaust muffler in front of a large one,has a very throaty sound.

 

The bottle hanging down is the crankcase breather...i believe there is a more technical term for it, but im still learning! The bottle catches all the oil that "overflows" from the engine. if I remember correctly, a lot of oil in the bottle isn't a good thing, but someone will probably help you better on that.. The "small exhaust muffler" is the resonator, its main purpose is to quieten the turbocharger whistle, and the big muffler is...well the muffler, it makes things (the engine) quieter...As for the throaty sound,welcome to 2nd Generation Cummins!

 

That little bottle at the front of the engine is the breather bottle. Our engines do not use PCV (positive crankcase ventilation). Rather they vent the crankcase gases to the atmosphere. Right where the hose connects to the engine vent is the fuel pump drive cover. Inside that is a mesh screen (looks a lot like steel wool) that catches a lot of the oil mist and returns it to the oil pan. The gases go through and out the tube. The bottle is there because not all of the mist (and condensation) is trapped by the screen. Every oil change you should empty that bottle. If you don't it will eventually fill up and start leaking its contents, mostly into the radiator fan, and redecorate your engine compartment. Also due to the bottles location it has been know to plug up the backside of your radiator, and severly diminish its cooling capability. A lot of memebers here have re-routed the breather (myself included, see my signature) to a variety of places to prevent the radiator from getting gunked up..

 

We all call that little black bottle a puke bottle.
The bottle should be emptied every oil change.

 

Click on the BOMB in my sig and you'll see how I moded that pesky oil breather.