Hello all. My wife recently took her Ex (2001 V10 Lmtd 140k) to get the oil changed. The shop did it since I'm currently deployed to Afghanistan and there were no problems reported. She then stopped by another shop that had done some brake work for her because the truck had been pulling to one side for a while and the problem had not been resolved even after they worked on it. The mechanics at that shop took it for one test drive around the parking lot and back to the shop. After that another mechanic took it out again, but this time went out on the streets for a longer more thorough test drive. When he returned to the shop he said he noticed an oil burning smell. This guy claims the rear main is leaking and that it had been for some time. I find this hard to believe because there hasn't been any oil spots in the driveway at our house and the shop that did the oil change barely 30 minutes before this didn't say anything. There also weren't any oil spots on the ground at the second shop's parking lot prior to the 2nd test drive.

My question I guess is could the rear main have gone bad that quickly? I really wish I could give more info but since I'm out of the country it's hard. Any help is greatly appreciated. I asked my wife to take it to yet another shop to get it looked at by someone who hasn't looked at it yet.

 

They don't go bad rapidly and rarely go bad unless there is tons of miles on it. Usually the oil comes from up above and everybody says it's the rear main. To diagnose it you need to remove the converter cover, clean the area below and above at a quarter car wash. and take a close look with a light. The brakes probably pull because the slide pins are stuck on one side of the truck.

 

Thanks Exv10. This is one of the things I hate about being gone; not being able to fix somthing on my own truck. Hopefully she can get it looked at by another shop soon.