I got a major oil leak and can't seem to find where it is comming from, lots of oil at the rear of the block above the lift pump, maby a head gasket? are they prone to leak there? That seems to be the starting point then it runs down the block and is dripping off the bell housing, of course after highway driving there is oil spread all over the place, really hard to pinpoint it. A second oil problem seems to be at the turbo, the exhaust is full of oil, it's dripping out of the tail pipe and the joints along the exhaust, i'm guessing there must be a seal where the turbo is bolted together an the oil comming from the oil filter housing to lubricate the bearing must be leaking by and going out through the exhaust. The truck does not smoke when running. The temperature here has been very cold for over a week, -30c at night, maby hard on seals? I have 154000km on the truck so i still have some engine warranty left. If part of the problem is a seal in the turbo is that covered under the engine warranty? Appreciate any and all help anyone can give.

rob

 

Rob:

Sounds like a trip to your local dealer is in order. That's sounding like really bad leaks, and your engine is still in warranty. I am not sure about the turbo, but would be really unimpresssed if it wasn't covered the same as the engine.

Good luck!

Matt

 

sound like a wash job and telcom powder is in order to me unless you are going to have some one else fix it.......NOT, or you you would not be here right??? so go thrue the wash and rinse cycle and tell us what you learn.......as I can think of only 50 or so things and do not want to impress you with my bad spelling and long vocabulary

 

It could be something as simple as your valve cover seal popped out in the back.

Are you getting and oil in the coolant? Or overheating?

Pull one of your intercooler boots on the turbo side and see if is blowing oil into the intercooler as well. If it is, get it fixed yesterday. Potential runaway engine in the making if you start filling that intercooler with oil.

 

Thanks for the tips folks, going in to the dealer this morning and see what they say. Like i said in my previous post i still have a some engine warranty left , 5000 km , so i don't want to start fooling with anything until they see it. The truck ran perfect before i spotted the mess, not running hot, good fuel mileage, no smoke and starting excellent in very cold weather (-30c)


rob

 

Update on the oil leak, diesel tech said it sounds like the breather system froze up and if that did happen i would see exactly what i am seeing , oil going by the seal in the turbo and going out the tail pipe, and also blowing out around the valve cover gasket. He said that if everything is thawed out now, and it is, everything should seal back up, if it doesn't it sounds like a new turbo because they don't seem to just replace the seal, that sounds like the pricey way to do it, but it is still covered by warranty so he told me to top up the oil and to do my run tonight with it ,350km and keep a close eye on the oil level, will post the results tomorrow.

rob

 

Good Luck, rob...

let us know how your trip goes.

 

Update on the oil leak, well looks like the diesel tech was partly right, the oil doesn't seem to be going by the seal in the turbo anymore,no oil at the tail pipe, exhaust system looks dry on the outside, but i still have a leak at the rear of the engine on the drivers side and he still insists it is the valve cover. Will know for sure on thursday cause its going in for a bath and then they will see where it is comming from. Should have a final update on thursday.

rob

 

Final update on the oil leak. Well the oil leak is fixed, it was the gasket on the inspection cover that is on the drivers side running almost the full length of the block just under the head, everything was covered under warranty There seems to be some kind of a breather on this cover and apparently it froze up when we had our last cold snap, which lasted about a week. I think this breather is coupled up to the one on the front of the engine where the breather bottle is, gona check this out when i pull it into the garage this weekend for it's weekly checkup.
On a side note regarding the warranty, when the mechanic was unable to locate the leak after shampooing the engine and checking visually with a mirror i was told that in order to get a better look in that area that the starter would have to come off and that the labor for this would not be covered by warranty, only part that would be covered was the actual repair, but seeing as how the starter would have to come off to do the repair when the leak was found it was covered, something to keep in mind when going for warranty work.

rob

 

What you are referring to is the tappet cover/gasket. When the crankcase ventilation system was rendered inoperable, pressures rose and blew out the gasket. This is, IMHO, the most poorly designed feature on the engine. It's merely light gauge steel, secured w/5 shouldered bolts along it's centerline. the gasket wraps around it's outer edge, and there are no shoulders or tabs for retention/indexing.Replacement requires removal of everything on the right side of the engine, including the injector pump. PITA Been there, done that.

The newer models use the front breather, while some of the older ones have the vent tube attatched to a baffle on the tappet cover. Internal openings in the block casting allow common ventilation.

I'll see if I can dig up some pics.

 

Bigk Thanks for the info, any pics would be appreciated, this is my first diesel and though i have owned it for a year i still have a lot to learn, this site and people like you really help.

rob

 

The tappet cover, on a drain pan containing the injector pump.
Viewed from the outside, with gasket in place, and rear crankcase vent location.

 

Looking at left side of block, just prior to re-installation of tappet cover. Looking at pushrods and lifters.

 

My early '99 has only the front breather, still has the box on the pushrod cover, but no breather on it. Same for this commercial engine.

 

Thanks for the pics Eric, that makes it a lot simpler to understand, it's almost imposible to get a clear view if that cover with all the stuff that is on top of it. Thanks again.

rob