I have had the infamous bell housing leak since new....may 2003..now3 it is acually leaving a oil mark on my driveway.....

Has Ford arrived at a solution???Is there a NEW gasket?

what say ye??? thanks


steven rupp
williams lake, b.c CANADA
2003 king ranch 6/0 crew cab

 

Hi Steve..

It seems that more than a few 03's and 04's "alike" have had Rear Main leaks.. Mine leaked from about 200 miles, (1/03 build) and has had 3 replacements.. "DRY" for now!! (4800 miles) First replacement seeped "some" from the RM seal, but Ford had pulled the Rear Engine Cover as a "precaution" for a complete fix, or "just in case" and replaced/re-sealed the cover gasket seal, and it ended up leaking at a later point/replacement. It did leak again though, but it wasn't from the RM seal.. I looked topside to see if anything was leaking, but all was fine.. The leak was actually coming from the "replacement" engine cover gasket and was collecting oil on the nose of the starter then traveling on down the right of the bellhousing.. If they had just installed a new seal, (or two) it probably wouldn't have needed as many seal attemps.. The problem, according to some techs, was that the original seals weren't probably installed straight at the factory.. Our tech, said mine was in correclty but still leaked.. Or maybe it's just design.. The replacement seals, and later engine builds, have a wear sleeve incorperated in the assy, and "may" be a better seal, and do seem to have less leaks.. Who knows, but some forum members have had a fix or two with no improvement, others with success.. There are other possibilities for a leak that can appear as a RM leak.. Have it checked out.. Make sure your servicing dealer has a good diesel tech..

 

I've had a leak off the front of my 05/03 motor since new. It's been fixed twice but is leaking again. I did my 2nd oil change yesterday (10k miles) and noticed there's oil coming off the back of the motor/bell housing now. So I'm leaking on both ends of my motor.

 

This is my concern with the 6.0.

Nearly 2 years later and many people still have the same problems, even on the 04 motors.

 

My 2003 F350 ,build date jan 03, has leaked oil from day one. Dealer is aware of the problem, dye in the oil etc, but I haven't pressed them to fix it yet because of the down time. Wondering how long the dealer typically takes to fix the rear main seal?

 

Mines going in on monday for the rear main seal, service said they would need truck for a day and a half at most. I am also going to have them drain and check out water separator. the light came on yesterday, I tried to loosen drain plug but it felt like the 6mm hex wrench was going to slip and strip out so I stopped and will let them deal with what I am begining to think was a mistake to plunk down $40,000.00 for. Seems with these trucks you hear what has happened to others and you just keep driving till the problems happen to yours. I'm starting to dread the thought of pulling the cattle trailer this summer and fall to the fairs, will I get stranded In
BUM F$#% NO FORD DEALERVILLE with the family and a trailer full of angus? WAY to many indentical problems are happening with these vehicles, FORD should be able to fix them since there are so many to work on. This is really starting to SUCK, John

 

Has anyone had any success with the dealer fixes to the oil leak? Mine has been leaking since new(bought it nov 03). I took it to the dealer for an oil change at 3000 miles and showed them the leak. They said it was assembly lube and it would stop soon. I now have 8000 miles on my truck and "assembly lube" all over my new driveway.

 

I have had the RMS replaced twice. So far, so good. It took about four hours. If they told you day and a half, they are hedging their bet incase they find it is not the RMS.

I wouldn't buy the assembly lube if it drips on the driveway. Take a picture of it and show it to them.

 

Thanks SBV, I bet they are to. My service consultant has been pretty straight forward with me as far as I can tell, I used Lukes legal terms on the work order last time and the consultant wrote in big red letters "do not flash" on the work order. So I feel pretty secure in what he tells me, but I'll keep an eye out for anything that seems funny, thanks again. Take care, John

 

When I had my truck RMS replaced both times took them less than four hours. I took it in, they took me to work and called by noon and said it was done. They are a big shop with at least two diesel techs.

 

Here is what I've discovered. I installed a Autometer oil pressure gage after discovering that the stock oil pressure gage reads in the middle when above 7 psi and 0 below 7psi.
When I started the engine I discovered that with cold 15W40 Motorcraft, I had 90 PSI at idle. When I drove it the pressure jumped off the gage, in excess of 120 PSI. Any old timer truck mechanic like me will tell you that pressure in excess of 90 psi will blow past any main seal and eventually work on the gaskets too.
I changed my oil to 5W40 Mibil Delvac 1 (same as Mobil 1 Truck/SUV oil at Walmart) and the pressure dropped to 70 cold idle and 100 at 2200 RPM cold.
I now try to warm up before I drive off.
All this and the bell housing is slightly wet. No drips on the drive. 14,000 miles.

 

Choctaw bob, did you have the drips before changing to a lighter oil?

 

Yes I did. there was a lot of oil on the bell housing. I had the habit of starting the truck and roaring off cold. I'm sure the oil has made the difference.

 

Thanks!
I'll try that on my next oil change.

 

I bought Mobil 1 5W40 Truck/SUV oil at Walmart today for $4.77/qt. It meets CI-4 and CH-4 both and is cheaper than Delvac 1 by $20 per oil change.