Oil Leak

[Stan H]

High temp RTV sealant?

But seriously, we used that for header gaskets on our race cars. A nice thick bead around the port on the header, let it set after about 5-10min, then bolt it on. While we had the engine out a couple times a year, we never had an exhaust leak (but how could we tell at that volume? lol).

If you don't look, there isn't a problem, right? I haven't checked mine for leaks since I did the work in August, but my driveway is clean. I haven't put my decorative plastic back on, either. Another angry garage frisbee.

That is just too close to all that sensitive valves , etc. On the bottom of the high lift oil solenoid there is a screen . If it got plugged it would mess it up. . RTV respectively no way .

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[WILDHOBO]

We might as well come clean were OCD

I wasn’t hiding it. Just a second….

I had to lock and unlock my phone 8 times. All good now.

 

[Tim]

So, the weather finally looks good enough for me to tackle this project this weekend? Any last words of wisdom? @Stan H @Maximus Gladius

I've done a good bit of research, watched some videos, etc. Have all my parts, tools, torque specs, etc...

 

[Freems]

They’re dumb. I don’t like having oily valve covers.

I checked the oily covered valve covers option when I bought mine from the dealer.

 

[WILDHOBO]

I checked the oily covered valve covers option when I bought mine from the dealer.

That’s just good detail orientation. You want all the features you can get.

 

[Maximus Gladius]

So, the weather finally looks good enough for me to tackle this project this weekend? Any last words of wisdom? @Stan H @Maximus Gladius

I've done a good bit of research, watched some videos, etc. Have all my parts, tools, torque specs, etc...

Good luck on doing this job! I can probably add one small crumb of wisdom and that is don’t reuse your factory plenum gaskets or the metal EGR gasketsI’m hoping you got new OE ones. Quite a while ago on my 21 JTR @60k kms, I changed my spark plugs and was in at the dealership buying the plugs and stuff and the service manager just happened to walk by and I asked him if I should replace my plenum gaskets. He said ‘You don’t have too, we typically reuse those.’ So, I didn’t get new ones… mistake.

I did the spark plugs and put on another 60k kms and had an accident, writing off the truck. The truck was at my house for a month and I had time to look under the hood carefully and wouldn’t you know it, I saw oil seeping past the plenum and coating the side of the engine block. Wasn’t enough to drip on the ground but was enough for me to wish I had put new gaskets in.

Also, when taking off the EGR and undoing the metal tubing, you’ll see metal gaskets for the EGR, those are crush gaskets and they’re one time use.

Take pics and show us later how it went!

 

[WILDHOBO]

Good luck on doing this job! I can probably add one small crumb of wisdom and that is don’t reuse your factory plenum gaskets or the metal EGR gasketsI’m hoping you got new OE ones. Quite a while ago on my 21 JTR @60k kms, I changed my spark plugs and was in at the dealership buying the plugs and stuff and the service manager just happened to walk by and I asked him if I should replace my plenum gaskets. He said ‘You don’t have too, we typically reuse those.’ So, I didn’t get new ones… mistake.

I did the spark plugs and put on another 60k kms and had an accident, writing off the truck. The truck was at my house for a month and I had time to look under the hood carefully and wouldn’t you know it, I saw oil seeping past the plenum and coating the side of the engine block. Wasn’t enough to drip on the ground but was enough for me to wish I had put new gaskets in.

Also, when taking off the EGR and undoing the metal tubing, you’ll see metal gaskets for the EGR, those are crush gaskets and they’re one time use.

Take pics and show us later how it went!

I carefully taped mine with frog tape. They looked brand new. No issues since. It’s been off twice.

 

[Stan H]

@WILDHOBO gave me great advice use a small ¼ ratchet to tighten those small bolts most are around 9nm that is literally a hand snugness

 

[Stan H]

I carefully taped mine with frog tape. They looked brand new. No issues since. It’s been off twice.

Well mine were much older like 130 thousand . When placed against the new ones side by side they were mashed down more than the new ones.
I agree with @Maximus Gladius . New plenum seals and new egr gasket .
I purchased both new .glad I did too.

 

[WILDHOBO]

Well mine were much older like 130 thousand . When placed against the new ones side by side they were mashed down more than the new ones.
I agree with @Maximus Gladius . New plenum seals and new egr gasket .
I purchased both new .glad I did too.

Next time it comes apart I definitely will.

 

[Tim]

Sooooo... I tackled this on Saturday. My truck has 96,600 miles on it so I also took advantage of the situation to take care of a few other things. I replaced my lower oil pan, which was corroding badly, spark plugs, coils, fuel injectors, and PCV valve. It took a lot longer than I anticipated. I didn't run into any major problems, per se, but there were a few hiccups. I had a hell of a time getting to the petcock valve to drain coolant from the radiator. I ended up removing my winch so I could reach it through the front bumper. My next hiccup was the upper intake bracket. I wasn't aware of how limited access to the lower T40 bolt is. Of course, I ended up removing the fender to get to it. Other than that, I took my time with all the electrical connectors to take care and not break any of them. After nearly 100k miles of heat cycling, some of them sure seem fragile. Even trying to be gentle, I ended up breaking the blue locking tab on the fuel line connector where it mates to the fuel rail. That was super brittle, I imagine from all the heat cycling being so close to the engine, as it broke with barely any force at all. I still had the pieces and was able to get the part that interferes with the grey push tab back in place and retained temporarily. I ordered a replacement that will be installed when it arrives this week. One of the boots on one of my coils broke during removal. Not really a big deal as I had a replacement set of coils on hand to go back in. Removing the boot was a bit of faff but I got it out. I also learned that my spark plug socket has a lot more friction with the spark plugs than it does with my extension. So, after the first plug installation turned into a bit of a situation I ended up going to Harbor Freight and picked up some locking extensions and another spark plug socket. After that it was pretty much smooth sailing, albeit slow, as I took care to get everything back together properly. I had all the proper torque sequences and specs, etc., and it all went back together smoothly. Heeding the advice of a few of you I bought an in-lb torque wrench prior to this project, which was clutch. As stated, 9nm/80 in-lbs isn't much.

When it was all done, I topped off the coolant and started it up. Of course, there were a shit ton of DTCs and a CEL from "running out of gas" as I pulled the fuel pump fuse and ran it until it died in an attempt to minimize fuel pressure prior to starting the project. I cleared those and all was good, so I took it on a 30-minute drive and the oil pressure, oil temperature, and coolant temperature are all good and there are no obvious leaks. Overall, it took me about 12.5 hours (including the trip to the store), but it was a success.

Sorry, I didn't get any pictures as the teardown was somewhat trying, and I needed to get it back together before the weather got shitty again yesterday.

A few takeaways:
-While my original oil pan was very corroded, that steel is thick. I didn't need to replace it, yet.
-The inside of the oil pan was very clean. No sludge, metal or gunk. The oil pickup tube was also squeaky clean.
-My lower intake manifold gaskets were smushed. I replaced those with the new Mopar ones I had on hand. The upper intake manifold gaskets looked perfect. I reused those. I still have the full Dorman set, should I ever need to take this apart again.
-I probably should have had a set of actual hose clamp pliers. I was able to slide the clamp that holds the coolant hose to the oil cooler with vice grips, but it was tough to get in that tight space.
-The failure point of the stock oil cooler was not obvious to me as once I pulled it the remaining oil and coolant that came out made it tough to discern. If I was to make an educated guess, I would say it leaked from the gasket where it mates to the block towards the back of the cooler (not the o-ring directly under the filter housing.) Honestly, there was no obvious smoking gun other than the housing/cooler being oil soaked.
- If I had to do it all again, I think it would take me a few hours less time. If I was simply doing the oil cooler, I think it would be maybe a 4 or 5 hour job (or less), knowing what I know now.

TLDR: Took longer than I anticipated but I got it done.

 

[WILDHOBO]

Sooooo... I tackled this on Saturday. My truck has 96,600 miles on it so I also took advantage of the situation to take care of a few other things. I replaced my lower oil pan, which was corroding badly, spark plugs, coils, fuel injectors, and PCV valve. It took a lot longer than I anticipated. I didn't run into any major problems, per se, but there were a few hiccups. I had a hell of a time getting to the petcock valve to drain coolant from the radiator. I ended up removing my winch so I could reach it through the front bumper. My next hiccup was the upper intake bracket. I wasn't aware of how limited access to the lower T40 bolt is. Of course, I ended up removing the fender to get to it. Other than that, I took my time with all the electrical connectors to take care and not break any of them. After nearly 100k miles of heat cycling, some of them sure seem fragile. Even trying to be gentle, I ended up breaking the blue locking tab on the fuel line connector where it mates to the fuel rail. That was super brittle, I imagine from all the heat cycling being so close to the engine, as it broke with barely any force at all. I still had the pieces and was able to get the part that interferes with the grey push tab back in place and retained temporarily. I ordered a replacement that will be installed when it arrives this week. One of the boots on one of my coils broke during removal. Not really a big deal as I had a replacement set of coils on hand to go back in. Removing the boot was a bit of faff but I got it out. I also learned that my spark plug socket has a lot more friction with the spark plugs than it does with my extension. So, after the first plug installation turned into a bit of a situation I ended up going to Harbor Freight and picked up some locking extensions and another spark plug socket. After that it was pretty much smooth sailing, albeit slow, as I took care to get everything back together properly. I had all the proper torque sequences and specs, etc., and it all went back together smoothly. Heeding the advice of a few of you I bought an in-lb torque wrench prior to this project, which was clutch. As stated, 9nm/80 in-lbs isn't much.

When it was all done, I topped off the coolant and started it up. Of course, there were a shit ton of DTCs and a CEL from "running out of gas" as I pulled the fuel pump fuse and ran it until it died in an attempt to minimize fuel pressure prior to starting the project. I cleared those and all was good, so I took it on a 30-minute drive and the oil pressure, oil temperature, and coolant temperature are all good and there are no obvious leaks. Overall, it took me about 12.5 hours (including the trip to the store), but it was a success.

Sorry, I didn't get any pictures as the teardown was somewhat trying, and I needed to get it back together before the weather got shitty again yesterday.

A few takeaways:
-While my original oil pan was very corroded, that steel is thick. I didn't need to replace it, yet.
-The inside of the oil pan was very clean. No sludge, metal or gunk. The oil pickup tube was also squeaky clean.
-My lower intake manifold gaskets were smushed. I replaced those with the new Mopar ones I had on hand. The upper intake manifold gaskets looked perfect. I reused those. I still have the full Dorman set, should I ever need to take this apart again.
-I probably should have had a set of actual hose clamp pliers. I was able to slide the clamp that holds the coolant hose to the oil cooler with vice grips, but it was tough to get in that tight space.
-The failure point of the stock oil cooler was not obvious to me as once I pulled it the remaining oil and coolant that came out made it tough to discern. If I was to make an educated guess, I would say it leaked from the gasket where it mates to the block towards the back of the cooler (not the o-ring directly under the filter housing.) Honestly, there was no obvious smoking gun other than the housing/cooler being oil soaked.
- If I had to do it all again, I think it would take me a few hours less time. If I was simply doing the oil cooler, I think it would be maybe a 4 or 5 hour job (or less), knowing what I know now.

TLDR: Took longer than I anticipated but I got it done.

Sounds like a totally appropriate amount of time to do that work carefully. Great job.

 

[Stan H]

Sooooo... I tackled this on Saturday. My truck has 96,600 miles on it so I also took advantage of the situation to take care of a few other things. I replaced my lower oil pan, which was corroding badly, spark plugs, coils, fuel injectors, and PCV valve. It took a lot longer than I anticipated. I didn't run into any major problems, per se, but there were a few hiccups. I had a hell of a time getting to the petcock valve to drain coolant from the radiator. I ended up removing my winch so I could reach it through the front bumper. My next hiccup was the upper intake bracket. I wasn't aware of how limited access to the lower T40 bolt is. Of course, I ended up removing the fender to get to it. Other than that, I took my time with all the electrical connectors to take care and not break any of them. After nearly 100k miles of heat cycling, some of them sure seem fragile. Even trying to be gentle, I ended up breaking the blue locking tab on the fuel line connector where it mates to the fuel rail. That was super brittle, I imagine from all the heat cycling being so close to the engine, as it broke with barely any force at all. I still had the pieces and was able to get the part that interferes with the grey push tab back in place and retained temporarily. I ordered a replacement that will be installed when it arrives this week. One of the boots on one of my coils broke during removal. Not really a big deal as I had a replacement set of coils on hand to go back in. Removing the boot was a bit of faff but I got it out. I also learned that my spark plug socket has a lot more friction with the spark plugs than it does with my extension. So, after the first plug installation turned into a bit of a situation I ended up going to Harbor Freight and picked up some locking extensions and another spark plug socket. After that it was pretty much smooth sailing, albeit slow, as I took care to get everything back together properly. I had all the proper torque sequences and specs, etc., and it all went back together smoothly. Heeding the advice of a few of you I bought an in-lb torque wrench prior to this project, which was clutch. As stated, 9nm/80 in-lbs isn't much.

When it was all done, I topped off the coolant and started it up. Of course, there were a shit ton of DTCs and a CEL from "running out of gas" as I pulled the fuel pump fuse and ran it until it died in an attempt to minimize fuel pressure prior to starting the project. I cleared those and all was good, so I took it on a 30-minute drive and the oil pressure, oil temperature, and coolant temperature are all good and there are no obvious leaks. Overall, it took me about 12.5 hours (including the trip to the store), but it was a success.

Sorry, I didn't get any pictures as the teardown was somewhat trying, and I needed to get it back together before the weather got shitty again yesterday.

A few takeaways:
-While my original oil pan was very corroded, that steel is thick. I didn't need to replace it, yet.
-The inside of the oil pan was very clean. No sludge, metal or gunk. The oil pickup tube was also squeaky clean.
-My lower intake manifold gaskets were smushed. I replaced those with the new Mopar ones I had on hand. The upper intake manifold gaskets looked perfect. I reused those. I still have the full Dorman set, should I ever need to take this apart again.
-I probably should have had a set of actual hose clamp pliers. I was able to slide the clamp that holds the coolant hose to the oil cooler with vice grips, but it was tough to get in that tight space.
-The failure point of the stock oil cooler was not obvious to me as once I pulled it the remaining oil and coolant that came out made it tough to discern. If I was to make an educated guess, I would say it leaked from the gasket where it mates to the block towards the back of the cooler (not the o-ring directly under the filter housing.) Honestly, there was no obvious smoking gun other than the housing/cooler being oil soaked.
- If I had to do it all again, I think it would take me a few hours less time. If I was simply doing the oil cooler, I think it would be maybe a 4 or 5 hour job (or less), knowing what I know now.

TLDR: Took longer than I anticipated but I got it done.

I did all the same stuff minus removing the fender I just stood on blocks of wood and I am 6'5" so I was able to get in to everything. It took me about 8hrs.

 

[Tim]

I did all the same stuff minus removing the fender I just stood on blocks of wood and I am 6'5" so I was able to get in to everything. It took me about 8hrs.

I'm genuinely impressed and still curious as to how you got on the upper intake support bracket bolt from above. I couldn't even see it from above standing on a small ladder or sitting on the front of the engine bay. That area is so congested with vacuum lines, coolant lines, wires, engine computer, brake lines, etc. I guess that's the difference between a competent mechanic and a mechanically inclined "enthusiast."

Also, there is a 3d print file available for the locking clip/tab on the fuel line to fuel rail connector. I printed a couple to see if they fit....

 

[WILDHOBO]

I'm genuinely impressed and still curious as to how you got on the upper intake support bracket bolt from above. I couldn't even see it from above standing on a small ladder or sitting on the front of the engine bay. That area is so congested with vacuum lines, coolant lines, wires, engine computer, brake lines, etc. I guess that's the difference between a competent mechanic and a mechanically inclined "enthusiast."

Also, there is a 3d print file available for the locking clip/tab on the fuel line to fuel rail connector. I printed a couple to see if they fit....

It’s hard, but can be done from above on the driver side.

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