HELP...Huge oil leak now nothing...HELP

[Drew2010]

Well to start out i was coming back from a 3 hour drive from my Grandparents with my 1990 7.3, got about 10 miles from home and I noticed that the amp gauge wasnt showing a charge and when I was turning I noticed the power steering wasnt working very well. Pulled up at my house and popped the hood and found everything on the front of the motor to be COVERED in oil. The front axle and crossmember were covered too.

I thought oh Sh**. well today I hosed the front with about 3 cans of brake clean and dumped about 4 quarts to get it back in the crosshatches. Fired it up looked for leaks. NOTHING... I ran it around up to temp and down the road a few miles, came home and wasnt leaking still.... ***???? how can that be.

I first thought of the oil cooler but that is dry for the most part, its hard to tell where it came from.... The oil got in the fan some how and the fan covered everything....

My Oil Pressure guage doesnt work and I havent got one yet. (only had the truck a few weeks now) This coulda been really bad if I woulda been farther out....

I am going to a buddys shop to steam wash the motor then look again, but I figured I would post this here to see if anyone has ever had a similar problem... I did search through about 8 pages under "oil leak" and didnt find much.....

Thanks in advance and I will keep you guys updated...

 

[icanfixall]

Its generally difficult to find an oil leak on a dirty engine so... cleaning it will be the right thing to do. Not having a history is making this a harder question to answer too. Could the oil fill cap have been loose.... an oil leak as you describe doesn't just go away but.... Continue to investigate and don't run long without lifting the hood. At least you know what the problem feels like... No power steering or amps... Watch for that to come back. Pull over quickly and check for leaks... These engines don'r have an oil pan gasket. The factory felt their rtv was good enough. Too bad its no longer available so a quality rtv works great. I don't think thats where your leak is from either....

 

[bab029]

Do you know for sure that the oil you see is not oil from a broken power steering component? If this is the case it may only leak with the wheel locked fully one way or the other.

 

[Drew2010]

Do you know for sure that the oil you see is not oil from a broken power steering component? If this is the case it may only leak with the wheel locked fully one way or the other.

No its certainly motor oil. The truck was full when I left and 180 miles later was 4 quarts low. When I drove out a few days before it didn't use hardly any oil in the 180 miles.
And the power steering is full.

Still waiting for my buddy to get in town so I can steam it off.

 

[Goofyexponent]

What happened was the belt(s) lost traction due to the oil covering everything.

I would check the front main. The crank pulley could sling oil EVERWHERES if it got in it.

I noticed your truck is an ATS turbo, where are the oil return and supply lines located for the turbo? Are the loose, chaffed, cut or in bad shape? Would an external head gasket leak do this? It would have to be one hell of a leak though.

 

[typ4]

What happened was the belt(s) lost traction due to the oil covering everything.

I would check the front main. The crank pulley could sling oil EVERWHERES if it got in it.

I noticed your truck is an ATS turbo, where are the oil return and supply lines located for the turbo? Are the loose, chaffed, cut or in bad shape? Would an external head gasket leak do this? It would have to be one hell of a leak though.

there is no pressure passages in the head gasket, just drains

 

[RLDSL]

I'm thinking either loose oil fill cap or dipstick. After a long drive you can pump quite a bit of oil out of either , especially if you have high blowby

 

[Goofyexponent]

What about a blocked CDR? I had a blocked PCV valve in an n14 cummins that caused the dipstick to pop up and have oil come flying out...but it only covered the side of the engine....the dpistick is a ways back on an IDI, but it is possible.

 

[RLDSL]

What about a blocked CDR? I had a blocked PCV valve in an n14 cummins that caused the dipstick to pop up and have oil come flying out...but it only covered the side of the engine....the dpistick is a ways back on an IDI, but it is possible.

Sure could, but it would take a heck of a lot to block a CDR unless teh thing sucked closed at high RPM and jammed shut instead of fluttering to regulate crankcase pressure like it's supposed to

 

[HammerDown]

I'm thinking either loose oil fill cap or dipstick. After a long drive you can pump quite a bit of oil out of either , especially if you have high blowby

True...but...I would think the OP would notice those loose as soon as he put a hand on them?

 

[Silver Burner]

This might be a crazy thought, but get it back up to temp and then sit there in the driveway and run it at 2000RPM's or so. I imagine you were running somewhere around there on your trip back, so if your front main is going out it might take the motor spinning that fast to cause the seal to separate. I know, crazy thought, but it's a thought...

 

[Goofyexponent]

This might be a crazy thought, but get it back up to temp and then sit there in the driveway and run it at 2000RPM's or so. I imagine you were running somewhere around there on your trip back, so if your front main is going out it might take the motor spinning that fast to cause the seal to separate. I know, crazy thought, but it's a thought...

It ain't so crazy. Ask me about truck #22 at Bedford Ready Mix about 6 years ago.....it's a definite possibility.

 

[gatorman21218]

I drove around for a week without a dipstick. partly fords fault for messing up the order, partly my fault for forgetting to put the broken one back in. any way no oil shot out of the tube for me.

 

[Goofyexponent]

I drove around for a week without a dipstick. partly fords fault for messing up the order, partly my fault for forgetting to put the broken one back in. any way no oil shot out of the tube for me.

What was your blowby like though.

A lot of blowby will create positive pressure inside the crank case...the more pressure, the more it wants out.

 

[gatorman21218]

my blow-by is minimal to negligible