Yesterday I had my oil changed and afterwards crawled underneath to make sure that all was tight w/ no leaks. As I was looking I noticed that - what I think is the front seal - appears to be oily/saturated & dirty. It is not dripping and my truck drips no fluids except for A/C condensate.

My question, on a '96 7.3 PowerStroke with 94,000 miles, should I expect some oil saturation around the seals throughout the enigine - both front and rear? At what point in the lifecycle of a 7.3 does this issue become critical and what is the average pricetag for having seals replaced?

Thanks.

Jim

 

Have you always changed your own oil? Couls it be an old oil spill. Clean it off and see how long it takes for it to appear again. I had the same leak on my 2002 and I cleaned it. It has not appeared again.

 

Not sure about the oil changes prior to buying the truck. This latest change was done at a local shop. Since my initial post, I have not left behind a single drop of oil in my garage.

I guess my real question is if it is normal to see some oil seepage around the gaskets - specifically the front seal - on older diesel engines?

Thanks.

 

Had this issue looked at. The area I was looking at was the front of the oil pan. Mechanic said that the gasket was buldging thru but there was no leak, only a little bit of oil buildup which we wiped off.

Should I be concerned here? and is this normal? Does this condition warrant dropping the pan and replacing the gasket?

Thanks

 

I would just keep an eye on it for now. If the gasket or seals start to leak you should see it quickly.

Is that the black "rubber like" gasket? Somtimes those leak brand new if warped or not installed correctly on the pan.