losing oil

ttowndex · 11-01-2009, 05:13 PM

My 03 2500HD started losing oil. It has a leak on the left side. At first I thought it might have been the filter seal, but a new one didn't change anything, and there is oil higher up than that. It only seems to leak when the engine is running, but apparently not enough for me to see. However, it lost about a quart in an hour drive home Friday.
Are there any common leak areas on the left side of the engine? I'm still learning about this truck and engine, so I appreciate your help and patience.
I'm going to try to find the leak tomorrow and get it fixed, so any suggestions on where to start would help.
If anyone is near Tyler, TX and wants to come help I can provide payment of your choice, your favorite beverage, etc...

**Tow Master** · 11-02-2009, 10:54 PM

Wow thats a pretty big leak. There are a few gaskets and oil lines that could wear out and leak. Id clean it with some degreaser then drive it and remove the inner fender to see where the leak is comming from. IIRC if you got to a shop they can put a dye in the oil to help find the leak if you cant find it that way.

ttowndex · 11-03-2009, 07:55 AM

Thanks for the response. I actually did that yesterday. Didn't find the oil leak, but did find that I had a fairly significant fuel leak from the front left injector line. Tightened that up some, and got it mostly stopped, but not completely. Gonna send it back to the dealer who did the injectors recently and see if they'll take care of it for free, since they had that line loose, and I've already to have one tightened on teh other side.
The oil was good on the test drive. I think the leak may have been from the filter. The oil change place grossly overtightened it, I discovered. Changed it out and didn't see an immediate leak.
If the pressure sending unit is going out, would that cause the readings to fluctuate? The oil pressure reads considerably lower when the engine is at operating temp....
Gonna keep an eye on it for a bit and see how the oil pressure and level do....

**Tow Master** · 11-03-2009, 12:08 PM

Ya it could. But the dmax's always have low oil pressure at idle.

ttowndex · 11-03-2009, 12:39 PM

Well, now it's on the side of the road.....thought I had it going, then my wife was driving it today and got a low oil pressure warning. Pulled into a parking lot and it rapidly developed a puddle underneath. She didn't know if it was oil or diesel. The dog got into it, and it smelled like diesel on him (I'm on shift today and couldn't go, but one of our dept Captains went and picked them up and brought her to my station to get the other truck).
So now I'm waiting on her brother to get off work and go look and see if it has oil in it, and what exactly is leaking...
Anyone near Tyler that might can go look at the truck and give me an opinion? If so call my cell at 903-521-5323.
Thanks,
Devin

**ob_1jr** · 11-03-2009, 01:12 PM

hmm you say an oil leak on the left side...i read awhile back that someone had an oil line to the turbo damaged by the dealer during an injector replacement.

lostscout · 11-03-2009, 01:46 PM

just a stab in the dark--where does the oil cooler lines come from? one of my vehicles had a cooler plumbed in by the oil filter--and the gasket between the cooler adapter and the block above the filter mount (left side of the engine) had let go. Is the cooler adapter there? Maybe thats the source of the leak.

ttowndex · 11-03-2009, 04:19 PM

well, apparently I've found it.....the crankcase is full of diesel and it's blowing the oil/diesel mixture out wherever it can.....lovely
New injectors about 12k miles ago, so hopefully the dealer will take care of it....they said it sounded like one of the injectors was hung open and flooding the crankcase. Having it towed over there soon as the tow truck gets here....
Thanks for the help!!

ttowndex · 11-04-2009, 07:14 PM

it was an injector issue again. The service guy said they are replacing all 8 injectors again, since this is the second time I've had to bring it back for problems. I had an injector hang open just a handful of miles after the change that had to be replaced.
I should have it back tomorrow. I'm glad to have a good dealership!

**ob_1jr** · 11-05-2009, 01:20 AM

well if it was less than 12,000 miles and a year they had to warranty it anyway...even if you were outside the normal warranty of the injectors/motor.