F350 leaks, is this bad?

[Saber7]

Hey all, first time poster here! I feel fortunate to find such a great resource.

Just looking into purchasing my first diesel truck and when I was looking the truck over after I test drive the truck and I spotted two leaks.

The first was coming from the seal where the drive shaft went into the rear differential. No problem I figured since I replaced them on gassers before...

Heres the pic since I am curious how common this is,




Now heres the one that worries me!

It appears to be leaking right above where the turbo pushes air into the right half of the engine.... Heres a pic for reference, and don't mine my horrible mS paint skills, the red is to show along the seal where the oil is leaking!



I know these engines leak some, but you can see where the bottom half of the engine has been gunked up with oil and dirt from this one and where the oil is coming out theres a fresh line of oil along the seal.

Thanks!

[jesilvas]

No engine is supposed to leak. Diesel aren't supposed to leak.
Yea looks like a pinion seal leaking. I think?
The air is sucked into the filter, down the tube, compressed at the turbo, pushed into the driver side intercooler tube, intercooled in the intercooler, exits and continues up the passenger side tube, back into the spider then into the heads. Just so ya know. On top of the driver side valve cover, there is a "doghouse", that has a tube leading into the intake tube. That is the crank case vent. Vapors vent into the intercooling system, oil condenses in the blue boots (orange boots clamped onto the heads) and drips. It's not a leak. I would (and have) rerouted the CCV (CCV mod), and removed all the intercooler tubes, boots, and intercooler and cleaned out all the oil and put back together. Not hard. Just take your time. Made me feel better. I also took the foil off the driver tube (foil delete mod) so the turbo whistles more . It is there for sound deadening.
Make sense?

http://www.dieselsite.com/73lpowerstroke.aspx
Replacement boots if yours are worn out.

[Buffalo444]

Check for play in that pinion. if there is any either walk away or plan on replacing that dif.

[Saber7]

Ok, thanks Buffalo and J!

In order to check for play in the pinion I would push on the axle and see if there is any play? or would I have to remove the axle?

[ttyR2]

Put the e-brake on, tranny in neutral with the engine off, and try to shake the pinion yoke up and down to check for play.

[Saber7]

tt, got it!


Also the oil I found coming from the engine appears to be coming from the header cover seal? not the Turbo intake and dripping down from there.



The guy wants 16k for the truck I am just trying to figure out if it is worth me even offering a price on it and how much it might cost to fix

[CassMori]

my f250 was leaking a bit from the valve cover gaskets when I got it, just needed the bolts snugged up, as they were a bit loose. Might be all that leak is. Could need new gaskets though, which are not inexpensive.

[jesilvas]

Little leaks like that? Not a big deal. Might need a new valve cover gasket.

[Saber7]

Gotcha, well thanks all, looks like the guy whos selling it has found a buyer who is unaware of the issues the truck has. Good luck to him

[jesilvas]

Meh There's still plenty of them out there that are pristine still. Just takes time to find them.