Oil Between Trans and Engine

[ACerf]

Has anyone that has an 03, notice oil residue between bell housing of trans and rear of engine? It is black and I could not tell for sure if it was Trans fluid or Engine Oil. There is a bar going across the frame at this point and it is black with this stuff! Since this is my first diesel p/u I am not sure what to expect. I have had diesel tractors, and most of them leaked some sort fluid at one time or another.

 

[bulabula]

Prob engine oil. I'm thinking that since most ATF fluid is red and easy to discern. Is factory ATF in the 48RE not red?

 

[lschultz]

Could be engine oil from the crankcase breather line. I had a slight amount on the 03 I had similar to that till I extended the line back farther.

 

[Steve M]

Yep, the synthetic ATF+4 is still red and stays red when it leaks. Probably engine oil and could be blowby from the breather dipping down the back of the motor or a slight leak from the rear main seal. Common with the PSD, occasional with the Cummins, harmful to neither. Mine has a little damp spot on the bottom of the bell housing. I sleep well.

 

[Tony T.]

Oily Residue

My understanding is that some older model CTD had a catch bottle for this purpose of the blowby, but some where not servicing the catch bottle like they should, and causing it to vent back to the engine compartment. I have noticed the oily residue, and I believe it's from the blowby like the others. Never had a problem so far with oil on the driveway. As long as it's not dripping gob's of oil on the drive it's no problem to me it's rare now I install the mirrors on the ground for those under body shots. :-laf

 

[Steve M]

Never thought about using a mirror to peek under the truck!

 

[rbattelle]

Tony-



Do you really have mirrors installed under the truck? That's a good idea! Except I'd probably just put one on the end of a stick, rather than securing them to the pavement.

 

[Tony T.]

You guy's never been to a show and shine, or the Autorama. I had to have some other means to display to the neighbors. :-laf

 

[Prairie Dog]

Yep, most likely just blow-by like mine. The second gens did have a little catch bottle to collect this juice. Dodge saved a few $ by deleting it in our rigs. Anybody have a spare they wan't to sell?

 

[Steve M]

Just the same I'd like to aim mine to the ground like my '95 was and forget the plastic cover on the rocker box. Then a nice chrome or polished finish would look nice.

 

[barbwire]

Oil from engine

Why would any eng oil that leaks from the eng be black? When I pull my dipstick (with 5000 mi on the oil ) it is a very light brown.

I like all that blowby all over the underside of my rig. After-all, something has to counter the effect of all that D@#n salt that they put down nowadays. #ad

 

[Prairie Dog]

Blow by is burned and contaminated w/fuel and therefor it's black even when your oil is clean. l

 

[ACerf]

Thanks for the info guys. I will look at it better when It up on the rack for an oil change.

 

[ACerf]

I saw in the Last issue of TDR that they were talking about this very problem. I took a 3/4" hose about a foot long and fit it over the breather pipe. The article says that if fits snug. Not really! It fits nicely over the pipe, but you need a hose clamp to hold it in place. The other end of the hose I attached to a cross frame with a plastic tie. That way it won't move around while driving. This should keep the mess down on the engine and trans.