Large oil leak... From dipstick tube?!?!?

[antiqueford]

I recently got tired of all the oil that was getting into my turbo inlet, an installed a RDT, (got tired of that even quicker and put it back to the intake), but I used too small of a tube and developed a big oil leak. I figured it was my rear main from the way the oil pan was decently clean and the transmission and rearward were coated with wet oil. I finally got around to crawling underneath and saw that the starter seemed to have the most oil accumulation. Got to poking around and noticed that the dipstick tube above it was popped out of the hole about 3/4". Could this have been the cause of most of the oil? There's a LOT of oil, my whole undercarriage is coated from the 150 miles or so I had to drive it before I could shut it down for repairs. It was enough that the oil would puddle in the skid plate and create a basketball sized stain wherever I parked

 

[icanfixall]

Yes... Thats your oil leak. The tube has an o-ring that seals it to the fitting thats pressed into the block but.. Nobody I know of has ever gotten the o=ring to seal correctly. So what to do.. What has worked well for me is RTV on the tube and stick it back in the block fitting. Then make sure its completely around the fitting. Let it dry and no more leaks. I use permatex ultra copper rtv. Please make sure the parts are cleaned off with brakeclean. If any oil is on any of the parts the rtv will not work. If you have to drain the oil do it. then pour it back into the engine when your done. I really don't think the small amount of cleaner getting into the oil will harm anything. The heat of the engine oil will burn it off and it goes thru the cdr...

 

[hesutton]

You can replace the o-ring and shove it back into the block......... but, it's not easy. It was a pain to do with the engine on a stand, even more of a pain with the engine in the truck. But, you can do it. Just lube the o-ring with oil and be patient. Gotta watch that you don't cut the o-ring on the block flange. Not a fun job..... but doable.

As far as RDT's go.... at least 1 inch is as small as I'd go with one.



Heath

 

[antiqueford]

simply pushing the dipstick tube back in until it seated in the block seems to have solved 90% of my oil leaks! The rest of it is the front main which has been dripping for quite some time now.

I had 5/8" RDT on for just like 60 miles and it was enough restriction to blow the dipstick tube out apparently. I switched to 1 1/4" after that, and then put it back to the intake. I don't think the oil is gonna kill my turbo or anything... just annoying, but less annoying than not being able to let my truck idle while standing anywhere close to it!


RTVing the dipstick tube sounds like a job for another time, when the starter has to come off for some other reason