Oil Leak

[AndyS]

About a month or so ago did an oil change on my 19 2500 with the 6.4. Today I noticed a oil smell from the front of the truck and sure enough there is an oil leak. Was very wet on the pass side of the engine. I thought the oil filter might be loose but it's nice and tight. Any ideas on where it could be coming from? Pictures attached. Thanks for any assist!

 

[AndyS]

Another set of pics looking from the back to front pass side

 

[jadmt]

well what it looks like to me is when you or whoever did the oil change when they pulled the filter they dumped a bunch of oil that went into the cross over on the frame (photo #1 on post #2) and it just takes a long time to finish dripping out on its own. it blows back on to everything else as you are driving. Clean everything with brake cleaner and wipe it all down and pay see where it is actually dripping from.

 

[AndyS]

well what it looks like to me is when you or whoever did the oil change when they pulled the filter they dumped a bunch of oil that went into the cross over on the frame (photo #1 on post #2) and it just takes a long time to finish dripping out on its own. it blows back on to everything else as you are driving. Clean everything with brake cleaner and wipe it all down and pay see where it is actually dripping from.

Oil change was done on August 7th. It's been dry as a bone until a couple days ago. Just put the truck on ramps and fired it up and it immediately started dripping from the area of the oil filter. Im going to change filters and see what happens. And yep will be cleaning with brake fluid afterwards.

 

[jadmt]

well maybe when you put it up on ramps raising the front end the oil from the frame came spilling out. One other place to look but unlikely is go to the passenger side wheel well and look thru and look for oil leaking where the red circle is. it is a plug that can leak.



k.

 

[jadmt]

again I would clean it all up before I changed filters and see where it is coming from.

 

[Rockcrawlindude]

Seems odd. Watching this

 

[AndyS]

Switched out filters. Cleaned up area around the filter best I could. Always used WIX XP, tonight had to use Fram Ultra as that was what I could get locally. So far no drips. Let the truck run for awhile and then moved it to a clean area in the driveway. I'll go outside in a bit and check again. Tomorrow I gotta give the truck a good cleaning as oil sprayed all the way back to the front of the trans pan on the pass side.

The Wix filter was tight. I'll take a better look at the filter tomorrow but a cursory look showed the rubber seal was not torn but Im wondering if maybe the filter didn't seal? My wife noticed oil spots in the driveway day before yesterday. She said this morning after I left for work there was bigger spots and when she saw the truck this evening, said the oil spots were way bigger. So whatever was happening was getting progressively worse. Truck was down about a half qt or so. I'll post another update tomorrow. Thanks guys!

 

[AndyS]

Went for a ride today and when I got back home looked under the truck. The cross member had some oil on it. Hoping its just residual that leaked previously. Filter is dry. The plug jadmt was talking about shows some oil around it but not a leak that was spraying everywhere. I'll keep an eye on it and see how the trip to work tomorrow goes. If it still looks like its dripping, I'll take the truck into the dealer.

 

[Fishnerd]

Did you ever find out what the cause was?

 

[AndyS]

Only thing we can think of is that the oil filter didn't seal correctly. The filter was tight and all was good for a couple weeks until it started spraying all all over. So far it's been good with the new filter on. There was some residual drips but that is all gone now.

 

[Fishnerd]

Only thing we can think of is that the oil filter didn't seal correctly. The filter was tight and all was good for a couple weeks until it started spraying all all over. So far it's been good with the new filter on. There was some residual drips but that is all gone now.

Oh good to hear! When i was lifting the truck the other day I had noticed some oil on the cross member and drag link. At first i thought it was the filter or the residual oil from the last oil change on the catch tray but after feeling around and inspecting i couldnt locate the source. I cleaned everything up and inspected/tightend oil filter again, will check again in couple days.

 

[H3LZSN1P3R]

Only thing we can think of is that the oil filter didn't seal correctly. The filter was tight and all was good for a couple weeks until it started spraying all all over. So far it's been good with the new filter on. There was some residual drips but that is all gone now.

Didnt happen to have 2 orings? One from the original filter could have stuck to the filter housing

 

[AndyS]

Oh good to hear! When i was lifting the truck the other day I had noticed some oil on the cross member and drag link. At first i thought it was the filter or the residual oil from the last oil change on the catch tray but after feeling around and inspecting i couldnt locate the source. I cleaned everything up and inspected/tightend oil filter again, will check again in couple days.

Check the plug jadmt mentioned. You can see it from the pass side wheel well.

 

[AndyS]

Didnt happen to have 2 orings? One from the original filter could have stuck to the filter housing

No sir, just the one.

 

[Fishnerd]

Check the plug jadmt mentioned. You can see it from the pass side wheel well.

Thanks, I checked that as well and didnt see anything. If i find more oil, ill look into this as well (its for 2014 but thought may be worth investigating): http://www.engineprofessional.com/TB/TB110717-1.pdf

 

[Fishnerd]

Follow up: been a few days and havent seen oil (knock on wood) guessing it was residual oil from the tray, though it was odd the tray was completely dry. But i will make it a point to check from time to time.

 

[Rockcrawlindude]

The drain funnel thing doesn’t hold a lot of oil but the crossmember sure can.

 

[Fishnerd]

The drain funnel thing doesn’t hold a lot of oil but the crossmember sure can.

Actually that makes a lot of sense now that you say that, there is a hole in the cross member and when i felt in there i could feel slight oil film, maybe it was coming from there! Definitely puts my mind at ease.

Thanks!!!

 

[Rockcrawlindude]

Actually that makes a lot of sense now that you say that, there is a hole in the cross member and when i felt in there i could feel slight oil film, maybe it was coming from there! Definitely puts my mind at ease.

Thanks!!!

I made a video on this about a month ago because I made a huge mess last time I changed my oil. If you pull the filter too fast, the oil overruns that funnel and spills into the two different areas of the crossmember at the front and back of the funnel. My truck dripped oil for days it was annoying.