Oil leaking from turbo oil-return downpipe; 2100 miles..

[Chris N5CWM]

For the last week I have noticed a 4" diameter

puddle of oil on my driveway. The drops are coming

from the bottom of the bellhousing, with other

drops of oil accumulating on the oil pan bolts on

the right side of the block/pan. I traced the oil

leak to the fitting that slips into the block

where the turbo oil return pipe goes. The front

of the engine is dry, as well as the left side of

the pan/block gasket area, and the rear main seal.

My biggest worry is leaving my new truck at the

dealership for two or more days (lots of horror

stories about lot monkeys that can't drive a stick

or run into poles etc ). I'm sure it is an

easy fix. I also dread thinking they may think

it is the pan gasket or rear main seal and tear

the truck apart only to make things worse.

In other words, am I the only one that DREADS

taking my 'baby to the dealership?



-Chris

Lake Conroe, TX

 

[Texas Diesel]

A fate worse than death.

*IF* (egads) you need to take it in for service I can suggest a dealer north of Austin. The DC mechanic is very good and a TDR member. He seems to be OK with Bombing ( to a point anyway ).

I have spent a fair amount of time with him and he is really good. Just a thought.

 

[EMDDIESEL]

You could proably do it yourself, one thing i do at the dealer is make it clear i am obsessd with my truck and will be looking at everything to be sure they did no damage. This way whenever i go there, they tell everyone "Be extra careful, this guy will notice anything worng with his truck" and this way they are more careful and know i am not some schmo who is blind to there incompitence

 

[Chris N5CWM]

I thought about fixing it myself. My dually never

needed to go back to the dealer and I had it for

a short 1. 5 years/25000 miles. I have not even

had the time to bomb this one. I have a Power Edge

sitting in my shop, but I'm waiting to get some

miles on it to make sure there are no hidden bugs

that will require a visit to the dealer. My gauges

are on the way, and about the only other thing I

have planned is a Mag Hytec rear axle cover.



Heck I'm about as particular about my stuff as

anyone. I even insisted that I drop my truck off

at the Line-X shop. (When I bought this truck a

few weeks ago, I negotiated the Line-X, sliding

rear window and alarm system). The dealer wanted

me to drop the truck off with them, and someone

would drive the truck 20 miles to get the Line-X

done and then back. YA RIGHT! I dropped it off

myself yesterday and picked it up later in the

afternoon. So far so good.



I think that I will remove the downpipe and check

it myself and if there is a defective part or seal

then I'll try to convince the service writer where

to start. Who knows, maybe I will fix it myself?

I guess if it is just a seal the local Cummins

shop will have one.



-Chris

 

[DAWG-1]

It could be as easy as the hose clamp not tight enough. Seems to me if you are going to the trouble of removing the downpipe you might as well take care of it. I dread taking this truck to the dealer and so far I replaced the IAT sensor myself along with rebuilding the front suspension. My truck drives great after I replaced the weak parts. Sm

 

[TXRam]

Hey Chris,



Mine was doing the same - noticed it when I installed the HX40. The return pipe from the turbo slips inside a rubber hose and is tightened with a clamp. I tightened mine up some and it seems to be OK. I didn't clean it up back then, so when I changed my oil filter this past weekend, I cleaned the motor (especially this area). We'll see if that did it .

 

[Chris N5CWM]

The clamps were loose, as expected

I removed my oil filter to get access to the

two hoseclamps. Both were loose. After I

tightened them and cleaned up the residual oil

I took a 20 minute drive and there is still

some oil seepage, but not nearly as much. I'm

going to tighten them up a bit more at a time

until the leak stops.



The oil filter was not too difficult to remove

considering it was the factory installed one.



-Chris