Mystery Oil Leak

[dhamp]

I changed oil back in June, and noticed a small accumulation of oil on my tranny cooler lines. It's kinda below the starter. I looked up, and there's not direct line of sight to the engine. I thought maybe it was leaking elsewhere and tracking along the line to a low point, then dripping. But the lines are both bone dry going in both directions. It's a very tiny leak, but my anal retention wants be to try and figure out what it is. Any suggestions??

This is the accumulation before I wiped it.

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This is looking toward the front. I would think it it were coming from the front and traveling along the lines, it would drive where it drops down to go around the starter, not where it turns back up to go to the tranny as it is.

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The one little spot in the middle of the pic is what's dripped since June. It hasn't been moved until yesterday. It's not much....yet.

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I know I need VC gaskets because I've got the dirty black residue where the covers meet the heads, and it stays parked on a hill where everything leans to the back. I can't really see the back of the VCG w/out moving a few things around, but I saw nothing looking up from the ground, and I don't see how it could be from that because there's no line of site.

Any ideas???

 

[89Suburban]

Keep using that camera to trace it. Stick it behind the heads and take a pic ob the back of the motor and valve covers with a flash.

 

[89Suburban]

It's not coming from the tranny where the lines go in?

 

[dhamp]

It's not coming from the tranny where the lines go in?

No, when I ran my hand along the lines going in each direction, the lines are dry. It's just that spot where the drip is. I'm thinking about parking it facing down hill and check it again this weekend. I took those pics w/my phone. I'll use the camera and shoot some picks up there there. When I lay under it and look up, the starter is above it and there's no oil on the starter.

 

[89Suburban]

Are you sure it is motor oil and not something else? That camera is a great tool for figuring **** out you can;t see, that's how I found my valve cover leaking in the back but you couldn't see it looking in there by eye. I jammed my camera back against the fiewall and took a few shots and saw it.

However seeing that starter is so dry makes it a bit intriguing.

 

[WHEELMAN]

here is my two cents-oil-red or black..red-trans-black-i would say oil and dirt-leaks are a bitch..engine hot and cold.can do strange things..oil could be.coming out some where.when the engine starts cooling..

oil from valve covers.can run down the engine.most times..a small leak.looks bigger.when it hits the ground..i took my digital camera.and took photos of the back of my motor.

oil every where..back of intakes.usually leaks a little.mind is loaded up with.sealer.you can all ways.pull that starter.see what is over and in front of it.moving parts.

flex plate.starter.can throw oil around and around..i run my engine.with out the bottom..plastic cover.if it is not enough.of a leak.too show up on the dip stick.i could live with that..

if i was going.to go for a leak.i would just pull the motor and seal up every thing.save some grief.in the long run

 

[crazy4offroad]

A brake fluid leak I had a while back that appeared to be right where a front flex line attaches to the frame was actually from the master cylinder rear seal. I was watching the place where I thought it was leaking, and a friggin drip from the mc hit exactly on the place I was looking at. If the line isn't developing a pinhole, I would assume it is one of those 1 in a million drips that lands EXACTLY on that line.

 

[dhamp]

Well, I'll turn it around tomorrow, then check it again this weekend. If the accumulation moves forward, that would indicate that there is actually a leak from the engine that has miraculous accuracy to keep hitting the little metal line repeatedly. If it's still in the same place, I'll assume I've got some really dirty tranny fluid and a pinhole in that line. I'll double check the dipstick to confirm.

 

[dhamp]

I think I have solved the mystery. While I was changing the starter last week, I noticed that the dipstick tube (right behind the starter) was darker and gunkier than anything else around it. I think that's where the oil was seeping from. Do the tubes just screw in? Is there a gasket where it's attached?

 

[HotRodPC]

Nope, normally they are just pressed or pushed in. It will be a bitch to get out behind the exhaust manifold. You might have to take the manifold off to work it out even. You could pull it out and replace it, or pull it and put some silicone on it and put it back it in.

 

[dhamp]

Is there a flat spot between the two pieces like a flange? Or does the tube slide inside like a PVC pipe coupling?

 

[HotRodPC]

Is there a flat spot between the two pieces like a flange? Or does the tube slide inside like a PVC pipe coupling?

There is like a bump in the tube to used as a stop, but otherwise there is nothing else that I recall. It just slides into the block by about an inch maybe a little longer. There is no seal, o ring on anything on it.

 

[dhamp]

There is like a bump in the tube to used as a stop, but otherwise there is nothing else that I recall. It just slides into the block by about an inch maybe a little longer. There is no seal, o ring on anything on it.

And the oil level is below the hole so no oil spills out when I pull it? Or do I need to drain it first?

 

[HotRodPC]

And the oil level is below the hole so no oil spills out when I pull it? Or do I need to drain it first?

Its well above the oil level so no need to drain the oil. Only time oil is getting up to the dipstick, it when the motor is running and the crank throws and counterweights are slining oil up to that area. Go for it. Work it out, clean it, put some RTV on the tube and push it back in. That should fix the issue. You might want to let it set up an hour or so before you drive the truck so it doesn't get oil on the RTV before it has a chance to dry and fill in any gaps.

 

[dhamp]

Will do. I'll probably go under there and Gunk the area too to make sure I get as much of that caked on crap out of the way before I work the tube out.