I have a new leak coming from the front of the engine. Mine is an 02 with 160,000 miles. I have owned it since new. It is not the puke bottle, it appears to be located somewhere around the water pump. It is oil and not antifreeze. I know it's a shot in the dark, but any help would be appreciated.

 

might of had a timing cover bolt or a dowl pin come out .check the timing case for a crack

or maybe the oil cooler gasket?

 

above and a little to the right is the oil filter....need i say more?

 

It is not coming from the oil filter. It appears possibly to be coming from behind the fan pulley.

 

It's quite possible a piece of the gasket blew out between the gear housing and the block. Seen them do it right there before. As mentioned, the other possibility is that a bolt or dowel pin came loose inside the geartrain and was ejected through the housing. That exact location is also the common place for that type of damage to occur.

The first step to diagnosis would be to remove the fan and its mount, and have a look. Clean the oil from the area with brake cleaner and blow it dry with compressed air and hopefully you will see the problem. To pinpoint an exact leak location, I will sometimes cover the area in foamy glass cleaner, then puff shop air into the engine's breather tube very carefully, to pressurize the crankcase very slightly. You will see the glass cleaner bubble right where the leak is.

 

Timing cover gasket...get the good one from Cummins

 

I had a leak on the front the kind tourquefan described. His method of finding the leak is excellent advice. He obviously has lots of experience at this.
Stan

 

I had an oil leak coming from the timing cover here about 3 weeks ago. My local Cummins shop suggested that I start simple. So, I did: I tightened up the timing cover bolts... and whattaya know... some of the bolts were loose. Ever since then, my oil leak below the water pump @ the timing cover is non existent. My oil level has not dropped, nor have I had any puddles, leaks, or any HINT of oil leaving my engine to migrate anywhere. Life could NOT be bettah.