Leaking Crank Seal on brand new 2016 3500

[dkdiesel]

I picked up my 3500 Ram in March of 2016 and after 1,000 miles my step son noticed oil around crank seal area. I had it brought to dealer and they eventually agreed it was oil seeping around crank seal. They wanted to say it was residue from shipping. So they replaced crank seal and I have 8500 miles on it and step son took it to his shop to do oil change on it and he looked and noticed the crank seal had oil seeping around it again. I'm contacting the dealer today to see what they are going to do about it. Just wondered of anyone else has had this issue.

 

[Hoefler]

All seals will seep/weep/leak to some extent. If they didn't, they would burn up from lack of lubrication.

 

[Deleted member 995608]

My 16 has the same hint of a small leak. I noticed it about the 4k mark. I'm not going to address it unless it increases.*

 

[Newsa]

Check this video out at 0:47. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh5UTX2P1H8



It says they shouldn't leak?

I haven't noticed anything. No dripping. But it is sort of hard to see in there with very little room between the fan and Crankshaft bolt. I haven't noticed any oil flinging around. So I assume it's not enough to make things dirty or oily looking. It may not leak at all or little enough to not be able to see it.

 

[kthaxton]

I'll have to look at mine, but if it is not actually enough to form a drip, I will not worry about. That's just how engines are.

 

[Kirwin]

I would not mess with it unless it actually drips off on the ground. Seal replacement is not an easy task and lot of dealers aren't up to it the first time around. It may stop on its own.

 

[Newsa]

I would not mess with it unless it actually drips off on the ground. Seal replacement is not an easy task and lot of dealers aren't up to it the first time around. It may stop on its own.

I like this suggestion. The seals sometimes swell and stop leaking.

 

[Deleted member 995608]

Before I offloaded my 3rd gen, I was on a mission to fix all the leaks and squeaks. All those fixes lead to more leaks and squeaks. I should have left it alone.*

 

[mweiman]

Look closely at the plastic access cover for the fuel pump drive gear or make sure it is tight(but don't overtighten). Had a truck here last week leaking there and it was very hard to see but oil was leaking from there because previous mechanic left the o-ring out when replacing the fuel pump.

 

[Newsa]

Would using a 15w40 instead of a 5w40 slow the leak down. Some countries that don't have easy access to either 5w40 or 15w40 are using 20w 50.

 

[sag2]

Unless it is dripping from the seal you are best to leave it alone. I would not want anyone tearing apart the front of my engine to replace a seal that had residue on it. I always say, be careful what you wish for.

 

[BigPapa]

I had a head gasket weeping a LITTLE bit of oil on a Honda NightHawk S once. Everybody said leave it alone. I HAD to fix it anyway. The exhaust cam got put back together one tooth off. I rode it 50 miles with no issues then hit it hard once and bent a valve. It was an expensive head gasket. Lesson learned.

 

[jacknife]

The 5 40 syn probably has something to do with seepage. as prior posts said if it isn't dripping don't worry about it. i had the same thing on a 15 liter engine. no big deal

 

[Wayne M.]

Long story short.*
My first CTD was a '92 auto I bought in '97 with ~20k miles. It was a pleasure vehicle and was never worked. It had a seeping rear main since it was pretty new. I knew the truck since it was born.*
Fast forward to a long flat out trip to Florida from NY and back. A month after the trip I did a oil change and the rear main done dried up. I then declared that engine broke in after 5 years and about 30k miles. Oh yea, it ran progressively better on the way down*:-laf