First Oil change. Found Oil Leak!

[UncaBuddha]

I am back at the dealer getting my first oil change at 9800 miles. The service guy came out and showed me I have a little oil leak (seepage) on the front of the engine. He recommended adding dye to the new oil so he can tell where the leak is and to come back after 3 months for them to check it. Pretty scary finding an oil seep on a 1 year old, 10000 mile engine. Comments?

 

[tom318]

I am back at the dealer getting my first oil change at 9800 miles. The service guy came out and showed me I have a little oil leak (seepage) on the front of the engine. He recommended adding dye to the new oil so he can tell where the leak is and to come back after 3 months for them to check it. Pretty scary finding an oil seep on a 1 year old, 10000 mile engine. Comments?

Mine has been good so far but I have read this could be a common problem. I think someone/dealer determined it was a timing cover with "machining marks" or a poorly machined surface.

Oil leak from top of motor

Well, this isn't good. There is an oil leak from somewhere up on the top of the motor. It is leaking so bad that there was a puddle under the truck this morning. The oil tracked all the way down the front of the engine and is dripping off just below the front part of the block. Can't see exactly...

5thgenrams.com

 

[UncaBuddha]

Mine has been good so far but I have read this could be a common problem. I think someone/dealer determined it was a timing cover with "machining marks" or a poorly machined surface.

Oil leak from top of motor

Well, this isn't good. There is an oil leak from somewhere up on the top of the motor. It is leaking so bad that there was a puddle under the truck this morning. The oil tracked all the way down the front of the engine and is dripping off just below the front part of the block. Can't see exactly...

5thgenrams.com

Thanks. That's a scary thread to read thru (one guy left his truck for 110 days for the repair!). Hopefully they find the leak fairly quickly. I was surprised they didn't just do a test drive and look underneath to find the leak with dye. After 3 months it seems to me the oil with dye will spread and won't indicate the leak's location. Sure, it's under warranty so I shouldn't care what's wrong since RAM will fix it. But I don't want to worry.
I love this truck. How it looks, how it rides, how it pulls, the mileage, the comfort. But I came out of a 16 year old Tundra that never gave me any trouble and didn't have a speck of rust so I'm getting a little antsy...

 

[NorthStar]

I am back at the dealer getting my first oil change at 9800 miles. The service guy came out and showed me I have a little oil leak (seepage) on the front of the engine. He recommended adding dye to the new oil so he can tell where the leak is and to come back after 3 months for them to check it. Pretty scary finding an oil seep on a 1 year old, 10000 mile engine. Comments?

What is the build date of your truck? Have they resolved the problem yet?

 

[UncaBuddha]

What is the build date of your truck? Have they resolved the problem yet?

Have to check the build date when I get home. Where is that located?

They want me to come back in 3 months to look for the dye so...

 

[NorthStar]

Look on your driver's side door jamb...there should be a sticker like below which indicates "built" date.

 

[c3k]

I am back at the dealer getting my first oil change at 9800 miles. The service guy came out and showed me I have a little oil leak (seepage) on the front of the engine. He recommended adding dye to the new oil so he can tell where the leak is and to come back after 3 months for them to check it. Pretty scary finding an oil seep on a 1 year old, 10000 mile engine. Comments?

What year is your truck?

AIUI, this was a flaw in some of the earlier gen3 engines.

 

[WXman]

9,800 miles for the FIRST oil change? Wheewww.. that's pushing it. You should have seen the metal shavings visible to the naked eye in my oil filter at 4,200 miles. Also, don't ever go 10,001 miles because I've seen a couple of guys get engine warranty voided on these EcoDiesels for doing that.

The leak you have is almost certainly the dreaded timing cover leak. Pretty common on these. My dealer fixed mine in a day or two, but getting the new timing cover with gasket took a full week.

 

[UncaBuddha]

9,800 miles for the FIRST oil change? Wheewww.. that's pushing it. You should have seen the metal shavings visible to the naked eye in my oil filter at 4,200 miles. Also, don't ever go 10,001 miles because I've seen a couple of guys get engine warranty voided on these EcoDiesels for doing that.

The leak you have is almost certainly the dreaded timing cover leak. Pretty common on these. My dealer fixed mine in a day or two, but getting the new timing cover with gasket took a full week.

Well, 10,000 is the recommended first change so.... They didn't seem concerned with 9800 but maybe that's their way of ensuring my diesel doesn't last!

 

[Drewster]

Well, 10,000 is the recommended first change so.... They didn't seem concerned with 9800 but maybe that's their way of ensuring my diesel doesn't last!

9,800 miles for the FIRST oil change? Wheewww.. that's pushing it. You should have seen the metal shavings visible to the naked eye in my oil filter at 4,200 miles. Also, don't ever go 10,001 miles because I've seen a couple of guys get engine warranty voided on these EcoDiesels for doing that.

The leak you have is almost certainly the dreaded timing cover leak. Pretty common on these. My dealer fixed mine in a day or two, but getting the new timing cover with gasket took a full week.

You guys know the truck has a built in oil life monitor, right? Oil doesn't degrade like clockwork, it depends on how hard you drive. The on-board oil indicator keeps track of load, etc. so if you just pick up groceries with your truck it may even go 10k, but if you tow/ haul a lot, it may be 5k. The manual also specifies to do maintenance off of the indicator system.

 

[WXman]

Actually, what the manual specifically says is to NEVER under any circumstances exceed 10,000 miles on an oil cycle. This clearly implies that you should be changing the oil BEFORE 10,000 miles. "Never exceed" is not the same thing as "we recommend".

The oil life monitor in my Ram and Jeep with the Gen 3 EcoDiesel both would get to 0% in <8,000 miles and while I do tow with my trucks, I don't tow heavily or frequently. Maybe once a week or less.

 

[Richard320]

I was surprised they didn't just do a test drive and look underneath to find the leak with dye. After 3 months it seems to me the oil with dye will spread and won't indicate the leak's location.

If it's under pressure, the leak will show up fast. If it's in an area that just sees splash, it will take a long time for dye to make its way through. A long, long time. You've gone almost 10,000 miles and it hadn't leaked enough to hit the driveway, right? That's a pretty small leak.

 

[392DCGC]

You guys know the truck has a built in oil life monitor, right? Oil doesn't degrade like clockwork, it depends on how hard you drive. The on-board oil indicator keeps track of load, etc. so if you just pick up groceries with your truck it may even go past 10k, but if you tow/ haul a lot, it may be 5k. The manual also specifies to do maintenance off of the indicator system.

The oil life monitor will never go over 10K... why would they program it to do that when they specifically state 10K is the longest you are allowed to go between changes? I have consistently seen my % tick down consistent with a 10K change interval. It is when you are running it hard and idling a lot that it will reduce the oil life quicker than 10K.

 

[Drewster]

The oil life monitor will never go over 10K... why would they program it to do that when they specifically state 10K is the longest you are allowed to go between changes? I have consistently seen my % tick down consistent with a 10K change interval. It is when you are running it hard and idling a lot that it will reduce the oil life quicker than 10K.

Yeah that's not my point - I'm saying you should relax and change the oil when the truck tells you to change the oil. Not "4,200" because bob on the internet said there would be metal, not 5,000 because that's what daddy always did, but when the *truck* says, because that's when it's designed to be changed.

Actually, what the manual specifically says is to NEVER under any circumstances exceed 10,000 miles on an oil cycle. This clearly implies that you should be changing the oil BEFORE 10,000 miles. "Never exceed" is not the same thing as "we recommend".

The oil life monitor in my Ram and Jeep with the Gen 3 EcoDiesel both would get to 0% in <8,000 miles and while I do tow with my trucks, I don't tow heavily or frequently. Maybe once a week or less.

Wait, what happened to "metal shavings after 4,200 miles"?

 

[UncaBuddha]

Forum wars about when to oil change and what type are as numerous and sand grains on the beach!!! <G>

I was at above 9,900 miles and my oil monitor showed 2% left. I don't do much towing (statistically about zero percent) and never exceed 75 mph and don't run errands in the truck (I have a little Mazda3 go cart for that). I don't keep my manual at my desk so I can't quote but I read the service interval numerous times hoping it would say to change the oil (especially the FIRST time!) at, say 6,000. But it doesn't. So I didn't.

I haven't seen any drips. And I don't see any dye where the service guy said to look.

So I soldier on... Thanks for all the good info fellas!

 

[stronbl]

I am back at the dealer getting my first oil change at 9800 miles. The service guy came out and showed me I have a little oil leak (seepage) on the front of the engine. He recommended adding dye to the new oil so he can tell where the leak is and to come back after 3 months for them to check it. Pretty scary finding an oil seep on a 1 year old, 10000 mile engine. Comments?

IMHO I'd say you are very fortunate with the service folks. It's rare to see that type of proactive response. Good for you and for them!

I have quite a bit of experience with engine oil leaks / seeps, etc, unfortunately for me. I have a 2013 Porsche Cayenne diesel, which is a fantastic vehicle, but it too developed an oil leak after the first oil change. (5000 miles on the clock) Back then I did my own oil changes so I found it. Very minor and since Porsche seals the under carriage no drips on the garage floor, but the plastic undercarriage panels did have oil in them,. I took it to the dealer. The service manage is a friend so he agreed there was a leak. They decided against the dye because it might take too long. Porsche has a policy where they will not worry about seeps but they will fix leaks. Their definition of a leak is the oil drops to the ground, or in this case onto the undercarriage panels. Since I had already cleaned it all up there was no evidence of a leak, only a seep. So we agreed I'd come back in about 500 miles to check for a leak. Cutting to the end of the story - after we tried several leak fixes, none of which really worked, they just replaced the motor - they figured it cracked somehow in manufacturing (it's a cast iron block) . A hundred thousand miles and 7 years later I'm still leak free, but I still check it every oil change just to make sure.

Good luck with your truck, hopefully it will be a findable and fixable leak for you.

 

[WXman]

The oil life monitor will never go over 10K... why would they program it to do that when they specifically state 10K is the longest you are allowed to go between changes? I have consistently seen my % tick down consistent with a 10K change interval. It is when you are running it hard and idling a lot that it will reduce the oil life quicker than 10K.

Do people watch the odometer and then plan to be at the dealership on the very morning it goes to 10,000 miles? Of course not. So even if the oil life monitor went to 10k and stopped that would be pointless. I view the OLM as a guide and nothing else. Fact is, we should all be changing the oil well before that.

Yeah that's not my point - I'm saying you should relax and change the oil when the truck tells you to change the oil. Not "4,200" because bob on the internet said there would be metal, not 5,000 because that's what daddy always did, but when the *truck* says, because that's when it's designed to be changed.

Wait, what happened to "metal shavings after 4,200 miles"?

What does the fact that my oil life monitor never makes it beyond 8,000 miles have to do with the fact that at 4,200 miles on the odometer my filter was full of metal shavings and my oil analysis from that sample showed very high wear? Answer: absolutely nothing.

You do, after all, change the oil more than once during the life a vehicle. You understand that, right?

Multiple guys have submitted multiple oil analysis samples from at least two different labs on this forum as well as the other Ram EcoDiesel forum, and also on the Gen 3 EcoDiesel owners groups on FB. What we've seen is that these engines are producing higher than average iron and aluminum contamination after every oil change, not just the first one. If you want to be one of those guys who says "just do what the truck tells you to do" go right ahead....we'll be there when you post your "blown engine" thread one day.

 

[tom318]

Do people watch the odometer and then plan to be at the dealership on the very morning it goes to 10,000 miles? Of course not. So even if the oil life monitor went to 10k and stopped that would be pointless. I view the OLM as a guide and nothing else. Fact is, we should all be changing the oil well before that.



What does the fact that my oil life monitor never makes it beyond 8,000 miles have to do with the fact that at 4,200 miles on the odometer my filter was full of metal shavings and my oil analysis from that sample showed very high wear? Answer: absolutely nothing.

You do, after all, change the oil more than once during the life a vehicle. You understand that, right?

Multiple guys have submitted multiple oil analysis samples from at least two different labs on this forum as well as the other Ram EcoDiesel forum, and also on the Gen 3 EcoDiesel owners groups on FB. What we've seen is that these engines are producing higher than average iron and aluminum contamination after every oil change, not just the first one. If you want to be one of those guys who says "just do what the truck tells you to do" go right ahead....we'll be there when you post your "blown engine" thread one day.

I’ve been sticking to changes at 7500mi intervals. I’ve done 2 oil samples through Blackstone (3 changes total) and both had high levels of aluminum. Oil viscosity and TBN (7.8) was good so it seems to me the oil still has life in it. I’ll have another oil change at the end of the month and roughly 30k on the truck. Hoping the aluminum goes down on that sample. I’ll be using 1 more round of Pennzoil at 30k then moving to Quaker state after that. We will see. At each of my changes I had exactly 25% oil life left regardless of driving style or towing. I don’t tow often so that may be why. 1k miles of towing per each interval maybe.

 

[Drewster]

It's always entertaining when internet warriors feel they know more than the engineers who built the truck and programmed the oil life monitor

 

[AdamChandler]

I'm changing mine when the oil life monitor tells me to OR by the book and buying the Chrysler 125,000 mile, 8 year warranty. Whatever happens between today at 6,000 miles and 125,000 miles is on RAM to figure out.