Two NW Dodge Dealers and still 2003 H.O. oil leak @ 85K and under warranty

[Cummins4WD]

My engine is still leaking oil after having Dishman Dodge in Spokane, WA and Tom Addis in Coeur d' Alene, ID replace valve cover gasket, timing gear gasket etc... What in the world could be going one? Bad Piston, Injector, and/or Vacuum pump... ?



Here is what the Dishman invoice states from work performed 11/24/06:



"Found both valve cover gaskets leaking, also timing cover and crank seal leaks. May need a crank sleeve. R+R Fan. Serpentine Belt, and all pulleys, P/S Pump, Both Valve Covers, Timing Cover, replaced crank seal, Both valve cover gaskets, re-sealed timing cover. "



Here is what the Tom Addis invoice states from work performed 10/18. 06:

"... found oil leak from front crank seal, Inj pump cover plug. R/R front timing cover replaced front crank seal and pump cover plug rechecked for leaks... None found. "



My wife drives our truck most of the time so when I saw it this weekend I checked it out and cursed the heavens! ... Why!



Is my Vacuume pump going bad? Could there be too much pressure inside the engine and it's blowing out the seals? I did notice that the heater controls on the drive in this morning had an issue with blowing out the Windshield for Defrost... It would just blow on the floor... but then it fixed itself later after I turned off the cruise control?



Is there one vacume source that controls the heating/AC system and venting the engine pressure etc. ?



I'm at 86,500 and the engine warranty goes until 100K... Should I contact a regional service manager for the Northwest to make sure this is fixed... or do you think my engine is ruined? It seems to run fine... it just leaks oil everywhere around the timing cover...



This is driving me nuts and is really causing transportation issues since we live 2 hours from Spokane and it's my wife's primary vehicle.



Where can I locate the regional service advisor so I can get this properly fixed. I noticed the dealership scraped the fan shroud and took a chunk out of the serpentine belt putting everything back together... Why can't they just fix this issue.



I've tried searching for vacume pump failure but haven't seen anyone with the oil leak I'm experiencing...



The closest thing is from Prairie dog who wrote:



"On my 03 the eng breather gadget under the plastic valve cover was leaking and made it look like oil was coming from all the places you describe. They replaced the whole assembly twice and on the third occurance, DC updated the part by adding a clamp (or clamps).

It hasn't leaked since.



Scotty"



Any advice... please? I'm going to let them know about Scotty's fix and see what they can come up with but other than that... ?

 

[Cummins4WD]

This must be a rare issue for the cummins... I've always used Valvoline Premium Blue and the best Fleetgaurd oil filter...



Hopefully on Friday I'll have a resolution from the Dealer.

 

[JCasper]

From the few times I have taken my truck in, and all the reading I do on here. I have come to the conclusion that Dodge warranty and dealers are just plain worthless. There warranty is worth about as much as a pile of dog poo.



Sorry I can't help you more, but all these stories I read about dealers not covering things that should definitely be covered just make me mad.

 

[JLibert]

I was under the impression that the common rail engines no longer used vaccum pumps (unless you are running the jake exhaust brake)

 

[PGreenleaf]

What does vacuum pumps have to do with oil leaks from all over motor. I think you got a crankcase venting problem allowing pressure in crankcase. I don't think vacuum pumps have anything to do with crankcase pressure

 

[Troll]

The first question I would ask is "How did BOTH of the valve covers leak on a straight six?



Tell them to drop some dye in it and then check it, and get a rep. involved.

 

[Scrappy]

The HPCR engines don't have an engine driven vacuum pump(unless you have a Mopar exhaust brake that is belt driven). there ARE 2 valve cover gaskets( one for the actual cover and one for the spacer that the injector harness is connected to)



As to the HVAC issue ther is a TSB for a broken Blend door in the HVAC unit that will cause the issues you are having

 

[JHardwick]

Is there one vacume source that controls the heating/AC system and venting the engine pressure etc. ?

HV/AC system is servo controlled, no vacuum pumps here.

 

[Bob V]

1st the 03 CR engines have a upper and lower valve cover gasket. 2nd, I agree with PGreenleaf, sound like to crankcase vent system is NOT venting

 

[Cummins4WD]

Bad Head Gasket

Well Dishman is pulling the head today to replace the head gasket... They seem to think that is what is causing the oil leak...



I gave them a disposable camera and asked the tech to please take some shots of the pistons and the head for me.



I sure hope this fixes this leak... Is this a rare issue for the 3rd Gens?

 

[Cummins4WD]

Well Dishman was going to pull the head but did something else which I'm not sure of. I need to get the paperwork. It has a few quarts of the colored die in it and they thought it was not leaking anymore after some in-town driving.



I picked it up last week and drove it two hours non-stop to Ephrata, WA and sure enough it's still leaking out of the front timing gear cover area.



I drove it from Spokane to Seattle this weekend to further prove that it was leaking oil.



I've put a call back into Dishman to bring it in for the fourth time so hopefully they will bite the bullet and replace the head gasket like they were going to do two weeks ago.



I think I'm going to have Jason over at NW Customs do a full engine check with Compression and Leak down to independently perform an engine health check.



The engine seems to idle and drive with no problems and it seems to be pulling around 22mpg highway @ 63mph



I don't hear any wierd noises but there seems to be internal pressure coming from somewhere causing this oil leak.



Under what conditions will a dealer just replace the entire engine... there must be some point where they won't keep putting band-aids on and spending hours of labor on and issue?