DupermanDave

I've been having a drip or two of oil under the truck and I followed the trail up to a a point where I *THINK* the oil is seeping from. It looks like it's coming from the head/block, like the headgasket. I've had this dripping issue for quite a while and it's not at the top of my priority list. I have drained and refilled the coolant 3 or 4 times on miscellaneous projects in that time and haven't had any sign of a bad headgasket. No oil/coolant mixing and I haven't been losing any coolant. I did one compression check about 3 months ago and the numbers were good. All cylinders were about 165.

Could I still have a bad headgasket? I checked to make sure it wasn't the valve cover, and it doesn't appear to be the valve cover gasket. The leak is on the passenger side. I'm going to snag some pics when the weather clears up and it's brighter out.

The Brick Mason

on the front of the motor, on the bottom of the head where it and the timing cover meet right.?

thats where mine was leaking. i replaced the head gasket and timing cover gasket and it stopped.

tho i had another that ran hot a few times and it warped the head and timing cover a little and cause it to leak aswhell

DupermanDave

Yeah, right at the timing cover. I got 2 pictures to help show what I'm talking about. It's definitely seeping from the head, not the timing cover. I hope it's not the head gasket. I just replaced that when I got the truck about 2 years ago. If it is, it'll need to wait. I was looking into getting a new head and cam from engnbldr, but not install it until summer.

-edit-
Im only posting one pic because the second is just the same thing. Just slightly angled differently.

The Brick Mason

thats where mine was coming from. when i check the gasket i noticed i had been slightly damaged , a tiny tiny crease and i guess after so many heat cycles the oil made its way threw. and the head gasket is the only one that can leak front that point.

DupermanDave

Ugh. Well, I guess that's settled. At least it's a tiny oil leak and not something dramatic that will cause cooling issues.

I was in a wreck recently so the insurance company might just want to total the truck. I really would like to keep it, but I can't keep throwing money and work into it. I just got done replacing the clutch with a heavy duty aisin from marlin crawler, then I got in a wreck (not my fault) and now it has a headgasket issue. I won't let insurance take it, but I might just sell it on craigslist to someone who wants to build a rock crawler out of it.

The Brick Mason

if u wasn't all the way in Colorado i probably want it. how bad is it wrecked?

DupermanDave

It's just a dent in the bed behind the cab. The back rim is probably bent, but that's probably the worst of the damage. The wheel bearing didn't have any play, that was the first thing I checked when I got home.

Sad thing is, it's just a dent in the bed that can probably be pulled out. He also bent a tiny piece of the cab so the driver's door wouldn't close all the way, but I hammered that out and it's good now. It's all cosmetic stuff, but as old as the truck is insurance would want to total it.

I'm going to start a new thread so I can get a feel for what the truck is worth. It has a lot of work put into it, and it has tires that aren't even a year old and a new heavy duty clutch.

The Brick Mason

trow up some pics and specs on it. and yeah insurance companies are alwayz trying to take the cheap way out. no matter how much you pay them

DupermanDave

I should have gotten pics of the guy that hit me. It was a mercedes and the front end was pretty bad. The radiator bent in half and cracked and it needed towed out of there. Mine is just a few dents that could have been pulled out easily, so I don't see why they'd want to total it. Must be easier on the paperwork.

The Brick Mason

they can total it out alot cheap than paying a shop to fix it. quicker and easier. and they make money cause they turn around and sell the truck.

DupermanDave

I decided I'm keeping the truck and doing a compression test tomorrow. I'm also going to work on a few problems it has.

Quick question. I'm going to clean off the oil and grease from the part of the head it's leaking at. It's not a huge leak, and as you can see from the pictures, it's just a drop or two every few hundred miles. I pressure washed the engine bay in August, and it has just now gotten that bad. Do guys thing after I clean it up I can smear in and pack in some gray RTV to try and band-aid the leak until summer? Once summer rolls around, I may be removing the head to replace it with a performance head and cam from engnbldr. (Well, assuming I'm not in the Air Force BMT or tech school by then.)

Steve777

In CO, the insurance company has to sell you the vehicle if they are totaling it, if you request, (for the scrap value which is typically quite low). So if they do want to total it, make it clear to them that you will be keeping the vehicle and ask them what your cost is.

If you fix it up, it will then have a salvaged title on it, but if it's good otherwise that won't make a difference until you go to sell it.

DupermanDave

At this point, it's been 2 months since the accident and I have yet to be able to speak with the other insurance company. I have called the other company 3 times a week and left several voice mails, but have had no reply. Monday if I don't hear back from them I'm demanding that I keep the truck without a salvage title and that they pay me what it costs to fix the truck. I'm about to sic a lawyer on them if I don't get a response with a written letter. It pissed me off because he had his tow truck paid for and I'm sure his car is back on the road. Basically his insurance company let him get away with vandalism. Destruction of private property. He damaged my truck and I have not been compensated for the damages.

In the beginning I would have accepted them wanting to total the truck for less than $1000. But since they've taken their sweet time putting this off and making it an inconvenience for me, this is on my terms now. They fix it or I get a lawyer. I was willing to play it their way in the beginning.

waynesworld

hey dave, doesn't ur neck still bother u?

DupermanDave

It's starting too. Now that I think about it, my back has been hurting really really bad lately.

Philbert

iTrader: (2)

I have a leak in this exact same spot right now.

Does your leak ONLY right after the engine is turned off (and not when it's running)? Clean up the area and see if it does that - mine does. My idea (thanks to YTers here) is that the oil that normall pools over the "hidden bolt" under the cam drive gear leaks out through the bolt hole. I hope to get into it today and investigate - maybe throw some FIPG in there with the hidden bolt to better seal it up.

I did my timing cover in the last year and the part of the head gasket that sticks out over the front of the block and the timing cover was mangled - I cut it with a razor blade where it meets the block, which created a gasket-thick gap - which is also what could be contributing to this.

What did you end up doing?

Hope your back and neck are feeling better...

DupermanDave

Right now my truck is parked at my parent's house and I'm borrowing my brother's ram charger. I won't be able to clean it up and test it until christmas or christmas eve, or that weekend. Right now the intake manifold is off because I was fixing some stripped threads where the EGR meets the head and I was adjusting the TPS.

When I do get to it I'll definitely clean it up and run the engine for a bit and see if it drips. Right now, from the look of it, it's not a bad leak at all. It has been parked at my parent's house for 2 weeks and it hasn't dripped at all. There is oil seeping down the front of the block, but it looks no worse than it did when the picture was taken (and I put a lot more miles on it since then.)

Philbert

iTrader: (2)

Hey guys, Merry Christmas and hope you all have a great new year's this weekend!

I tore down the front of the engine today - 4th time in 13 months - wahoo! What I determined was that it was NOT my "hidden bolt" under the distributor drive gear - there was a solid pool of oil there (see pic below). I'm 99% certain it's the void left by the part of the head gasket I had cut out with a razor blade last time I did the timing cover earlier this year.

I got a new timing cover gasket set this week, and plan to:
1) clean the cover and block, front of oil pan, bottom front of head
2) Use the gasket set and some RTV black to mate the timing cover to the block
3) Use FIPG to mate the bottom and top of the timing cover to the oil pan and head, respectively.
4) Let it dry over night, then fill it with oil again


Anyone see something wrong with my approach? If so please speak up ASAP as I plan to tackle this again tomorrow morning!

Some photos:

Halfway through tearing down:


Good, old bump the starter with the breaker bar trick (thanks Santa!):


Dirty, dirty timing cover....ugh:


Pooling oil from the leak:



Where it would leak from immediately after turning the engine off:


It's NOT leaking from the "hidden bolt":


Guts:




The offending leaky area that I plan to FIPG the hell out of (but not too much - don't want debris in the oil pan!):

snobdds

In order for you to seal that area up, your going to need to drop the front of the oil pan down a little bit. Just enough so you can come up with the timing cover and not sliding it in horizontial. Putting it in any other way will just smear the FIPG all over. Don't seperate it too much or you will be dropping the oil pan to reseal that.

I agree that is the hardest part of doing a TC R&R, without removing the head, is the seal bewteen the bottom of the head and the timing cover.

Philbert

iTrader: (2)

Thanks Snobdds for the tip - that makes sense. I did drop the pan last time I did the timing cover. I used FIPG to seal it up and it has been great. How exactly would I drop part of the pan without breaking the seal? How many bolts would I need to take out? It may be best just to drop the whole damn thing again, to ensure this thing is sealed up for good....sigh.