I have the smell of crankcase fumes in the cab of the truck. The fumes are coming from the road draft tube on the drivers side of the engine. They enter through the fresh air/heater vent system. I have 600 miles on my truck and this is the only problem it has. I can see the fumes at idle coming from the draft tube and rising up into the engine compartment. The amount of fumes do not look excessive, but they do smell terrible. Since I have read so much about this problem, I was suprised to have the people I spoke with at the dealer and Chrysler both say that they haven't heard about this problem. At this time they do not have a factory fix. I called Chrylser at this number (800) 992-1997 Customer Center. A file has been opened on my truck for this problem. I was wondering if the people that have complained about this problem at this site have contacted Chrysler about it. If you have this problem you should contact them. If extending the draft tube farther back with a hose is the answer to the problem, the dealers should be doing this under warranty. I don't think I should be working on the engine that is under warranty!! The crankcase road draft tube as I know were designed to vent the crankcase as air was drawn past them. Any change to the tube may alter the efficiency of the design to rid the engine of condensation. I am very pleased with the power and handling of the new truck. It is a pleasure to drive and can hardly wait to hook up my trailer to do some towing. If I have to push the recirculation button to keep out the bad air, I will until there is a factory fix. 04.5 600 2500 Quad Cab Laramie 4X4 LB Auto

 

The fix is .....drive the thing. It goes away after a few thousand miles. Would have figured you'd get that after all your reading on the topic Pretty soon you'll miss the smell and wonder why you like it

 

Scotty is that you????

 

I too have the smell coming from the 600. I also have the misfire problem so I haven't been stressing about the stink.

My truck is a little high on oil. Maybe that is what is causing the smell. And I will certainly agree with you....it smells terrible.

DC should fix this problem!!!!! The consumer shouldn't have to put up with this type of thing.

On a posistive note.......the exhaust does not smell bad at all. It doesn't even smell like a diesel. So if we can get the oil smell eliminated our noses could rest easy.

 

I just realized I had worked on this same problem 20 years ago! The 1973 American LaFrance 1500 GPM pumper I drove had a Cummins engine. The road draft tube would give off a lot of fumes. My attention was drawn to this problem by the two Firefighters sitting rearward in the open jump seats. The jump seats were on each side of the motor. They were complaining about the fumes and smell leaking from the center engine compartment cover next to them. The Master mechanic at the F.D. Shop contacted Cummins about this and they said they used a open crankcase vent system on all their engines. The shop ended up running a hose all the way to the back of the rig from the draft tube to where the tail pipe ended. I think it's interesting that Dodge owners are still doing this same thing! I never would have thought I would be working on the same problem with my new Cummins 600. I think the problem of crankcase fumes from the engine will improve as the engine gets more hours on it. But just like my old Fire Rig, that we keep in top condition, crankcase fumes will still vent from the road draft tube and should be kept away from people sitting in the cab. (P.S.) That old engine was given to Mexico and might be protecting the Dodge assembly plant.

 

Be careful with lengthening that hose too much boys - it can freeze up in the winter and cause you a nightmare =] I've seen it happen on about 5 tdi's that tried the same 'elephant hose' mod...

 

I just fixed that problem per this thread:

FIXED!

It works, and cost me a $3 roll of aluminum duct tape. I've got pics and some hints for you if you like (little things that would have saved me 30 minutes of headache). Email me if you'd like said hints.

 

After reading about the openings under the fresh air intake, I change my mind and tore into my new truck with 550 miles on it. I found that there were no rubber flappers, (scupper holes) on the two drain holes. I did the fix as per Dan and others to the four holes. Leaving a space for water to drain on the two lower holes. I used a flashlight to confirm the connection to the engine compartment bad air (fumes) and the fresh air intake chamber for the cab.

 

I did both fixes...it lessened the number of times I get EXHAUST fumes in the cab but not the intensity.
I also think its awful that we have to do this stuff ourselves on new rigs.
That crankcase oil smell was gone on mine even before I ran 8' of 3/4" heater hose out the back.
Now I have heater hose and foil tape on a 50K truck.

 

Scotty you got to have an exhaust manifold or turbo leak. Taping up the cowl will not help if the primary problem is not fixed. Get the dealer to pull the manifold and check for cracks or warps. Only exhaust smell I get is when the wind blows a certain way when I am stopped. And that is very rare. Oil smell is for a few miles after an oil change.

 

Yes, that is what we are doing next. I want the dealer to do this just so its documented. Otherwise I would be pulling the HY and the manifold for different parts.

 

I do not have to keep pushing the recirculation button to keep the fumes out of the cab when I stop at a light.. The truck has 800 miles now and being so new it still has the terrible smell from the engine crankcase. But the "FIX" has stopped the under hood fumes from entering the cab. I think these trucks are being built with some missing rubber plugs and one way flaps. It's fresh air now from the fresh air vents. Much better!! 04.5 600 Auto 2500 Quad 4x4 Laramie

 

I had read that the goal in the new fan shroud on the '04½ was to drop the ambient engine temp by 40°F. This was to lower air tempratures entering the air filter box and lowering intake air tempratures similarly.

IMO the fan shroud change also be pressing engine compartment [and crankcase] air into the passenger fresh air breather. At higher speeds the air is better, at standstill it comes straight off the engine.

There are pictures of the 600 fan shroud in my gallery.