Howdy. Nice forum you have here!

I have an '88 F250 7.3 IDI with a Banks kit on it. Just bought the truck and there's a decent sized oil leak running down both sides of the bell housing from somewhere on top of the motor. Might find a dozen or 20 drops under the truck anywhere it has been parked a while.

Just looking at all that aftermarket stuff jammed up against the firewall gives me a headache. I can see the supply line in braided stainless and it's not the problem. I suspect that the return lime might be leaking but have no idea where to start or how much stuff I have to take off to inspect it.

Any help on this would be appreciated.

 

First, what style banks kit do you have? it there a huge big rectangular box on it or does it look like this It sounds to me that the oil return line is leaking by the drain grommet. What you need to do is reseal the connection. If you say what kind of kit you have, I can give you the steps.

 

Thanks for the quick reply!

It looks exactly like the one in that picture except the filter housing for the air filter is missing and there's a cone filter there.

Appreciate the help!

 

Oil leaks can drive you insane trying to chase them down and will be all guesses unless you get a dye kit and go after it properly. You need to get some UV dye for oil, it takes 2 small bottles for an engine this size and then a UV light and glasses set ( all parts stores carry them, they are with the AC stuff for finding AC leaks, a cheap set can be had for around $15, obviously better ones will have better lights and make finding the leak easier, I love my snap on set ) you pour the dye in where you put your oil and then fire it up and let it run a while. Then run it up on ramps and shut it down and go after it with the UV light and glasses. It will leave a bright yellow glowing trail leading directly to the point of the leak. Zero guesswork and no unneeded repairs involved . If a glow trail doesn't show up at first, just fire it up again and let it run a bit longer and check again. Oil leaks have a real interesting habit of travelling all over the engine so there is really no way of knowing where it's coming from without a proper test.

 

FIRST: make sure this is what is leaking. If it is then proceed with......

Ok, remove the filter, weird shaped hat that says sidewinder, the turbo intake elbow w/cdr on it, unscrew the oil sending line, unplug the oil pressure sender, remove the 4 mounting bolts that the turbo is held on by. once it is loose, pull it up and remove the turbo with the drain tube attached. Then look and see how the drain tube goes into the valley pan. There is a grommet there that needs to be resealed. take the grommet out, clean it off and spray it with brake cleaner. Then spray the area down so there is no oil residue. Use copper RTV on the grommet and then slip the grommet back in. Make sure you wipe the area and smear some more rtv around the grommet so it gets a good seal. Then take the drain tube and spray it down too. Put rtv around the drain tube bottom and sit it in side the grommet. Then mount the turbo back on and attach the drain tube to the turbo. Put everything else on and be done!

I say some stuff nonchalantly but it is alot of work. Attaching the drain tube to the turbo is a pain, as well as mounting the turbo.

Use copper spray on the turbo flange for a leak free seal.

Ask questions if you need to.

Pics for reference...

DRAIN TUBE GROMMET:




TURBO FLANGE:




EXHAUST FLANGE:

 

I'm installing a banks kit on my truck and the drain tube does not line up with the turbo. The directions say to go behind the wire loom and throttle cables. If I do that I can not get the oil return line to bolt to the turbo. Can i run the oil return between the cables and the intake or does it get too hot?

Thanks

 

Fiona,

take a good look at this connection, I had identical symptoms and lucked out on finding it. It could have easily cost me my motor!

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-disaster.html

Good luck,

Mac.

 

Thanks for that. How weird. I haven't logged in here in about a year, and there's your message from yesterday! I still haven't fixed, or even found my leak yet. Truck probably hasn't gone 1200 miles in the last 12 months so I just keep an eye on the dipstick and add as necessary.

 

Have you checked your rocker covers ... They are notorious for coming loose and leaking.

-Enjoy
fh : )_~