7.3 oil leak on front of motor

[cman962]

I searched the forums for a thread on a oil leak in this area and came up with nothing. My 2000 PSD has a leak on the front of the motor somplace. It has 206,000 miles on it. The oil is getting on the damper pulley and throwing it everywhere. looks like it is coming from someplace above the damper pulley but I am not sure. Are there any problem areas I should look at closely?
I plan to degrease it and try to figure out exactly where it is coming from but I have the starter off right now. Replacing it with a high torque unit.
I have a leak in the rear too that appears to be coming from the rear side of the right side head where it bolt onto the block. Is a head gasket a typical oil leak area on the PSD?
Thanks

[jc82chevyman]

the oil leak on the back is most likely coming from the drain hole in the valley so you probably have some turbo o-rings leaking or some hpop o-rings leaking as far as the front Im stilling looking for that leak myself

[optx002]

check the hpop.

[cman962]

Thanks for the replies.
There is barely any oil in the valley, it takes a while for it to show up at all. I have de-greased the motor several times looking for leaks in the rear. The oil looks to be coming from the base of the right rear head. I am thinking about re-torquing the head bolts to see if that helps. The oil runs down on the starter.

Will the HPOP cause a leak on the front of the motor or just in the valley?
The leak in the front is fairly new but it makes twice the mess as the rear leak because the damper pulley throws it everywhere on the front. I thought I saw something in a post a while back about a somewhat common spot for a leak on the front of the motor.
Do the front seals leak on these motors. I have read the rear seal hardly ever leaks. This motor does have 206,000 miles on it.

[tristanlee85]

I have the exact same leak as you describe I believe (on the front). I've sprayed the engine down with brake cleaner a number of times. I've noticed it will run down to the pulley and will fling its way to the radiator hose among many other places. I've laid under the truck after cleaning it long enough to start to see where it seaps from and to me it looks like the front main seal. I've also searched, but don't know this to be a common problem. Probably just something typical for 200k miles.

[tonypagnano]

i will almost gaurantee you guys it is a cracked or dry o-ring for the cam sensor. i had the same problem on my old 99 7.3 looked just like front main seal, the front of the motor would be wet with oul and all over the dampner after time and drip down on the crossover tube and leave a quarter sized spot in the driveway over night.... went out and bought a front main seal, tore apart the whole front end and turned out to be the cam sensor, could have been a 5 minute fix but i turned it into a whole sunday afternoon!!

[Michael707]

my dads truck has like 85000 miles on it and hes got a leak up front to. i guess a shop in town qupted my dad 852 bucks for an hpop and like 3 bucks for labor lol. i would have told them to suck my dick theres no way in hell ill let him do that

[lkessler]

Check the dipstick to pan o ring. The easiest way to see it is with the motor running and you can see it leak

[cman962]

Thanks for all the replies. I will look at all the suggestions tomorrow.
I'm going to be under it replacing the starter because the old one wouldn't engage the bendix some times. I'm replacing it with a high torque model.

I did have the cam sensor replaced on the recall earlier this summer, so I would hope they replaced the o-ring. You never know though. The leak is in that general area.

The leak is way in front of the dipstick pan o-ring. I do think I have a small leak there too.

I'm pretty sure it is coming from above the damper pulley?? It is hard to see in that area to pin point it, especially when it is running and the fan and belts are flying in front of your face.... lol.

Thanks again guys!

[tonypagnano]

yes, haha my leak started after the dealer did the recall cam sensor. The tech also snapped the bolt that holds it in place and had to drill it out, ad after all that he decided to tear the o-ring around the sensor, causing what turned into a huge mess!!! should have just done it myself!!!