1986 f250 6.9. Been restoring this truck after my grandfather passed away. Had a lot of oil leaking down the back of the engine. I went diving in today and its coming from the backside of the valve covers. Hopefully that's not a terrible job..? I've never pulled any before. And hopefully that's the only place its coming from.

Anyway while under there leak searching I found this line spraying some fluid. I have no idea what line it is since I'm just starting to learn my way around this motor (or diesels in general).

Laying on my back, feet out the passenger side looking up. Its right above the starter. I lost my sense of smell in the Marine Corps from chemical exposure so I couldn't tell you what it smelled like. I dont know what that line is so I dont now if that is pressurized fuel or oil blowback.

*Edit* I'm attaching a video link to it and a picture. (video might be loud. Sorry)

http://webm.land/media/ZEID.webm




Line

 

If your truck has an auto could be pipe to/from the oil cooler otherwise??

 

What the heck is that? ?

road draft tube maybe ??

Mine don't have one of these .. so it's either a broken something or other or a rdt ..

Oil is probably leaking from the valve cover gasket. .. replace them with the rubber type & check the fuel return hoses and o rings as they are commonly brittle cracked and leaky if it hasn't seen recent maitanance .. the head gskets do usually start lifting in the back so that may be something too .. but i would try new valve cover gaskets and see if that's all it is .. probably. .. also check the oil pressure sending unit as it's back there also ..

 

Should be able to pull off your valve covers and put new gaskets on. They are rubber. I would check the bolts first though and make sure they are all tight

 

i would try tightening the valve covers before pulling them off, it may just stop the leak. or at least slow it down. i dropped from 1 quart every 100 mile to 1 quart every 1000 miles simply be tightening the bolts most took two turns.

that looks like the block heater leaking behind the starter that you are shining the flashlight on.

 

Gotta be this. Leroy, you and I and any other manual tranny owner wouldn't have them. Hmm, not seeing them on RockAuto or AutoNation Ford.

 

Thanks for the replies gents. I haven't had a chance to get back under there yet. I do have an automatic transmission so should I look for that line to head back that way?

And for the head gaskets lifting, would that mean they have to be replaced? I'm not getting any signs of a bad head gasket. No white smoke and my fluids aren't mixed. I've been meticulously looking for that cause the oil cooler o-rings were disintegrated when I got it and there was some bad fluid contamination. I flushed both systems thoroughly and have done and oil change and coolant change since then (after 600 mile trip back to my house) and they were both clean.

 

It's probably not the head gasket ..

There's alot of places it can leak out ..

When i got my truck the valve cover gaskets were leaking pretty good and fuel return lines ..

That makes sense if u got an auto that's why i don't see that thing there on my truck...

Sorry didn't mean to worry u about the HG probly not it .. just rambling on ..

 

Video didn't work for me but in the pic it looks like the oil dipstick tube is pretty much center frame. Is that what you're talking about?

 

Is that where the oil dipstick tube goes in? I thought that came down the back. I'm pronanly going to have to pull the wheel well panel to get a good look at it. Its been raining all day so I probably wont be able to get out there until tomorrow.

 

Didn't see the video previously. I'm not seeing any spray, but the smoke looks like crankcase blow-by, and that is def. the dipstick tube adapter. The fact that it's cyclic suggests this, too. If it were tranny fluid spraying from one of the cooler lines, it would be a more steady stream, not pulsating like the video shows.

There's a rather spendy fix for it, from one of the diesel/truck accessory providers. Someone will chime in and remind us who it is. Not cheap, but the alternative is to PULL the engine and drop the oil pan.

 

I guess it would make the most sense if that's the oil dipstick. That I can deal with. But like I said I'm still learning. I'll check it tomorrow. But thanks for all the answers everyone.

 

Definitely the Oil Dip Stick Tube. The 87 Shop Manual shows it at approximately the 3rd oil pan bolt from the back which matches your photo.

Looks like if you drop the starter you'll have easy access. I would assume that it just has an o-ring that needs to be replaced but I have never removed one from a 6.9L.

Re: Oil Leak: I don't know if the valley pan grommet for the CDR can leak as much oil as you are seeing - you can remove the air cleaner to see it at the back of the intake AND it would be a very good idea to service it now - remove it and clean it out. You can find instructions on that (as well as testing if it's good) with a search - if I'm not mistaken gasoline can be used to safely clean it.(verify). This is something that I keep forgetting to do and it is VERY IMPORTANT maintenance. I might do it today.

Finding the right grommet for the CDR if the grommet is deteriorated: Not sure if the part is available anywhere but I think I've read that some have found a PCV valve grommet that works (not certain about that) but something should work if yours is deteriorated.

This is what the CDR looks like with removal/installation instructions below the image:



Crankcase Depression Regulator (CDR)

Removal
1. Open hood on F-250-F-350. Remove engine
cover on E-'250-E-350.
2. Remove air cleaner and install Intake Manifold
Cover T83T-9424-A, or equivalent, on intake
manifold opening. (my note: In other words, cover the intake so dirt doesn't get in).
3. . Remove two bolts attaching CDR valve to intake
manifold and remove valve.

Installation
1. Install new seal ring, backup ring and, o-rings on
CDR valve and install valve in crankcase vent tube
(Fig. 46).
2. Install two attaching bolts in intake manifold and tighten to 51 Nm (38 ft-Ib).
3. Install air cleaner and tighten to 51 Nm (38 ft-lb).
4. Close hood or install engine cover as required.

 

Thanks Fixnstuff for the info. As its been an ongoing restoration, Cleaning the CDR is one of the things I had to do to get it running. Also though, with the Banks Turbo I have the CDR is relocated to the driver side of the airbox for the turbo. So its right in plain sight and I had to replace the seal ring about 10 days ago.

But on another note, I looked real good at the valve covers and oh man were they leaking. The bolts weren't even finger tight. I could finger turn them back and forth and there was oil all over under them.




Hard to see in the photo but fresh oil from the back.

Its such a mess under there I'll have to clean it before I can say if its coming from anywhere else. I got some Gunk Heavy Duty Degreaser. Haven't used it yet as it was raining all day again today but In a light pause I was able to go out and tighten things down and take some pics.