Weird oil leak

[Diesel_Brad]

Ok guys. Finally have time to work on the new project

97 f250 supercab short bed psd 5 speed 170k

When I bought it home from Oklahoma in January I noticed I had some small oil spots on the ground. The pan is damp and bell housing , Trans and Trans crossmember were quite wet. I was thinking o rings at base of turbo.

Anyway today I finally have time to work on it. Fired truck up and the leak was dripping from flywheel inspection cover. Truck ran for maybe 2 min and made this puddle on garage floor. About 6" in diameter


Ok. I move truck to another bay in the garage. Figuring it is rear main now because the valley is bone dry. Remove inspection cover and it has quite a bit of oil In it. Fire up the truck and look up at rear main. Nothing. Not even a drop. Have had it running in the garage for 10 min now and not even one drop of oil on the floor. What gives. Both engine and Trans are full. And it was a 1200 mile ride home w the truck and it used ZERO oil


Suggestions????!!!?!

 

[Justin@DP-Tuner]

Have you checked the oil rail plugs on the back side of the heads?

 

[Diesel_Brad]

Have you checked the oil rail plugs on the back side of the heads?

Yes, dry as a bone.

I also just finished taking a gallon of purple power and the heated power washer to the underside of the truck. Just to make sure where the leak is if it statrs again

 

[KYpatriot]

Mine did this and i believe it was the ebpv that was leaking and dripping back down to the inspection cover. It was not leaking into the valley. I deleted it when i pulled the turbo.

 

[old man dave]

Mine did this and i believe it was the ebpv that was leaking and dripping back down to the inspection cover. It was not leaking into the valley. I deleted it when i pulled the turbo.

Thats a good idea, I think the EBP operator is pressurized only when cold/cycling.

 

[gnxtc2]

Pan rail leak by the starter and migrating backwards.

Billy T.
[email protected]

 

[Diesel_Brad]

Pan rail leak by the starter and migrating backwards.

Billy T.
[email protected]

This is what I am thinking. After truck ran for 30 min after pressure washing, i had ONE drop of oil on the corner of the block next to the starter. I tightened the far back two bolts about 1/2 turn

But why did it make a 6" circle on my garage floor running for 2 min and then not a drop after running for another 90 min?

 

[gnxtc2]

Maybe crankcase windage or crankcase pressure?

Billy T.
[email protected]

 

[kramarj]

I have a similar oil leak with my truck. The only place I can find that could possibly leak was the corner of the oil pan by the starter. Mine even looks like somebody tried to put some RTV or something back there to "attempt" to fix it. I have a deleted EBPV, even pulled the turbo twice to make sure I didn't pinch an o-ring. And mine even leaks like yours, sometimes quite a bit and sometimes hardly any.

Not sure what your plans are, but we recently had to have a new front cover put on our work truck and they put a gasket on the oil pan so they wouldn't have to pull the motor and seems to be working pretty well. Granted there are only like 5k miles on it tops, just saying, a possible simpler fix than pulling the engine.

 

[Diesel_Brad]

Mine did this and i believe it was the ebpv that was leaking and dripping back down to the inspection cover. It was not leaking into the valley. I deleted it when i pulled the turbo.

That is mechanics wired open, but maybe it is still electrically hooked up. I will look at that!!!

 

[ghohouston]

There isn't a 1/4" drive oil galley plug there near the starter is there? I know Ive had one on the drivers side by the oil filter back off a bit, and caused a bit of a strange leak.

 

[Diesel_Brad]

OK, may have spoke too soon.

the drivers side head in the back, the 1/2 drive one appears to be quite wet on the bottom, that is the oil plug correct? I was looking at the smaller allen plugs yesterday.

How much of a PITA is it to fix that?

 

[SDS97_7.3]

Yes it's the oil galley plug. Mine wasn't too bad, was able to get a 1/2 breaker on it to break it loose. Then used a really short stubby 1/2 drive ratchet. Took 5 minutes at most on my old 97

 

[Diesel_Brad]

Ok, good to know. Going to look at it more in the daylight tomorrow

 

[gnxtc2]

The 1/2" square drive are the HPOP gallery plugs. They are held in with red Loctite.

http://www.dieselorings.com/1994-19...07-oil-rail-end-plugs-uvc-cylinder-heads.html

http://www.dieselorings.com/1994-19...s/15-006-oil-rail-end-plug-gasket-o-ring.html


The smaller square drive are the fuel gallery plugs. There are two different styles.

http://www.dieselorings.com/1994-19...07-oil-rail-end-plugs-uvc-cylinder-heads.html

http://www.dieselorings.com/1994-19.../15-018-fuel-end-plug-banjo-bolt-o-rings.html

Billy T.
[email protected]

 

[Diesel_Brad]

Wasn't there an upgrade to those big plugs somewhere along the line? Or was it just an upgraded O-ring?

 

[old man dave]

Wasn't there an upgrade to those big plugs somewhere along the line? Or was it just an upgraded O-ring?

O-rings were changed from dual to single for the plugs.

 

[Garbage_Mechanic]

Here is a trick I developed for pesky oil leaks, especially ones that only leak oil thrown at high rpm. Create an adaptor to put compressed air in the crankcase through the blowby vent hose. Put no more than 5 psi in the crankcase using a regulator. (Much more the dipstick will blow out!)

Then go to all the likely (and unlikely) spots with soap solution. Viola!

 

[Diesel_Brad]

O-rings were changed from dual to single for the plugs.

The ones I got from ford look practically the same as the old ones, but the Standard black O-ring is now a Viton Blue seal just like the one GNXTC2 showed above

 

[old man dave]

The ones I got from ford look practically the same as the old ones, but the Standard black O-ring is now a Viton Blue seal just like the one GNXTC2 showed above

The plugs are the same but the '97 service manual shows a "O-ring, oil supply rail" and a "Ring, Backup Supply Rail".

The set of plugs I bought are like yours with a single o-ring.