Severe oil leak...ahh sh*** here we go again

[Waterloo]

Gear housing? Front of the motor? Behind the big fan? Or at the turbo? Wash the motor off and find the leak, if you have trouble finding it, go to NAPA and get around 8 bottles of the Oil UV Dye, they are normally sold in 1 or 1.5 ounce bottles. Pour those in your motor and run the truck, clean the motor first, run it around 30 or 40 miles, use a black light and those special UV glasses to find the leak. NAPA will sell that kit too, as do O'Reily and Autozone.

When you find it, you need to figure out why it is leaking. Is the motor building to much internal pressure, like say from a clogged up Crankcase Breather Filter? Has that been changed out? Possible turbo issues? Have you removed the plumbing and inspected the turbo for oil, along with the CAC for pooling oil in it internally? Maybe a bad air compressor leaking off into the oil system? Is the air compressor working normally? Just off the top of my head...

If it is a front cover leak, the gaskets run around $50 and the rest is labor removing the cover. I used red RTV (tube of gasket maker/sealer) on my front top cover, torque to spec. No leaks since I repaired.

If it is the front main seal, the seal is inexpensive, but a special tool is needed to seat it properly. No clue on labor for that, some shops want to remove the entire front structure, that can get very expensive if you let a shop do that job. On my ProStar, it is a simple as removing the damper and front cover.

Others will chime in...