HELP!! Unknown Oil Leak

[LDS7.3man]

Hey guys! Well, the 7.3 is finally giving me a hard time now. I have a oil leak. Its not a small oil leak too. After like 3 minutes of being parked there were two small frisbee sized puddles of oil underneath my truck. I started the truck and the oil was just dripping underneath like crazy! What could be the cause of this? I installed the HPX line and there is a little oil coming out from it, but not nearly this amount. So thats not the cause. Im just wondering what the most common points of failure are that would cause a oil leak? What are the signs of a blown turbo seal? There is oil in the valley of the engine under the turbo. Im gonna have to drive my dads 6.4 until i get this fixed! haha. any help would be much appreciated. Thanks!

[swalker332]

turbo pedestal o-rings and the the actuator for the butterfly for the exhaust on the turbo can do that. or the hpop o-rings on the fittings to the heads go out also. both no hard to do. just clean the oil in the valley and see with area the puddle in the valley form. the back turbo pedestal, the front hpop o-rings on the fittings

[jesilvas]

Yep. HPO system will put out a lot of oil. I lost 7 qts doing 70mph up a hill in just a few seconds.

[LDS7.3man]

There is nothing on the front of the valley of the engine. So it must be the o-rings. But im just surprised at the the amount of oil that is coming out! I lied, there are actually three puddles. I guess ill take the turbo out tomorrow and check the o-rings

[swalker332]

you have 2 o-rings connected the turbo and pedestal, than 2 connecting the pedestal to the engine

[01clj]

Mine just did the same thing and it was actuator for the exhaust back preassure valve but you should replace the turbo pedistal o-rings when you got the turbo off. I gutted out the actuator and plugged the hole with a bolt and some silicon, I also pulled out the butterfly valve in the exhaust side of the turbo. I am willing to bet that the actuator is what is leaking on yours look at the bottom of the turbo and follow the rod back into the turbo pedistal and see if there is oil coming out of that hole. This is a very easy repair to do it just takes some time it only cost me about $25 to fix.

[jesilvas]

There are also HPO lines that attach to the HPO rails at the center of the valley. Just fyi.

[LDS7.3man]

Thanks so much guys! Ill pull the turbo tomorrow and see what failed. The engine is way to hot to do it now. Do you know the size of the bolt to plug the actuator? Im so glad I have a 7.3 thats easy to work on and not a 6.0 or especially a 6.4!

[LDS7.3man]

The turbo is being a pain in the a** to get off!! Do you guys know a trick to get the v-band clamp off where the exhaust connects to the turbine? Because there is like no room

[01clj]

I bent a straight blade screwdriver so I could get in in there and tap the bands loose with a small hammer. You are right that band sucks to get off but it goes on a lot better be patient it will come loose with enough tapping and wiggling.