Internet diagnostics

The truck is in another state, Friend of mine was driving and sent me these pictures. He noticed a bit of smoke (whatever mess this is, probably hit the exhaust) and when he stopped he saw a big mess. What do you guys think is going on? I am here and the truck is there. So I can only go by what I hear and what I can see in the photo's.
Any ideas? , Oil level is normal BTW.

I’d have him check the transmission oil level as well since it uses motor oil. If it’s coming from the wheels, disconnect the ctis as it’s blowing hub oil through the ctis seal.

Also check power steering... Are there any drips anywhere to determine color? Black oil = engine, Brown oil typically = transmission, steering or differential oil. Gear oil usually smells different.

it appears to be out both sides, and dripping from the middle. Could be an axle seal, but both at once? I dont see that oil making it to the middle/inside the frame rails though. The spread of the oil indicates to me something being slung from a front differential input shaft seal, or a front crankshaft seal. Or the oil is being delivered in a spray or into the airstream to be spread out like that. Are all the front case and oil pan bolts tight. Check the compressor and governor bolts. Check the governor oil feed pipe, but I think that would not really put oil out the passenger side...

good luck

From the first picture, it looks like it is higher up. There is liquid pooled on that metal line on the air compressor / power steering pump, so it's at least that high or higher. That eliminates transmission.

There are a bunch of potential culprits in that air compressor / power steering area. The air compressor / power steering unit can have a line come loose, or can come loose off it's brackets and crack the front end housing of the engine. There are also several other lines - fuel, oil, power steering fluid - that run through that area, and any one of those could be loose or broken.

Clean it off (e.g. a couple cans of brake cleaner), and then run it to see where it's leaking from. When the mess has been blown all around like that, you'll drive yourself nuts trying to imagine where the source is.

I will relay those suggestions. First it is important to find out what the fluid is and where it came from.
engine oil checked out to be at level. Next up is transmission and power steering fluid.
could it be hydraulic fluid from the cab lifter system?

My guess is oil pan leak. No oil will leak at idle so it's hard to spot. Engine oil can lose a quart and not show and a little goes a long way. The drip pattern on the ground looks just like mine when the left rear oil pan bolts backed out. That's in the area behind the starter.

Ask the driver if it looks like the oil pan has been resealed before, a strong hint.

I will ask him thank you, sir.
@Tennmogger, did you manage to seal the leak by tightening thr oil pan bolts?

Looks like the usual cracked timing gear case due to loose or missing bolts holding the air compressor.

319cssb said:

I will relay those suggestions. First it is important to find out what the fluid is and where it came from.
engine oil checked out to be at level. Next up is transmission and power steering fluid.
could it be hydraulic fluid from the cab lifter system?

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These trucks have large quantities of fluids in them. You can make quite a mess with a rather small quantity of fluid, so it can be tough to use "which one is low?" as a troubleshooting method. When I cracked a transmission cooler line, there was transmission fluid everywhere on the rear lower half of the truck, and it was pouring a thin steady stream for several miles, yet it was only about 1 gallon low - I was really surprised.

Leaking engine oil, transmission oil (if not converted to ATF), power steering fluid, and diesel all look fairly similar. The original military fluid in the cab lift hydraulic system is red, but I get the impression from posts that it's often refilled with whatever clear hydraulic fluid is readily available, so it might look similar too. I doubt it would be from the cab lift hydraulic system though, as it's not being actively pumped unless someone is pressing the button.

Now that people have suggested just about every possible thing as a leak source, you're just going to have to go clean it off and see where it is actually leaking from.

Is there a on-road fix for that?

Awesomeness said:

These trucks have large quantities of fluids in them. You can make quite a mess with a rather small quantity of fluid, so it can be tough to use "which one is low?" as a troubleshooting method. When I cracked a transmission cooler line, there was transmission fluid everywhere on the rear lower half of the truck, and it was pouring a thin steady stream for several miles, yet it was only about 1 gallon low - I was really surprised.

Now that people have suggested just about every possible thing as a leak source, you're just going to have to go clean it off and see where it is actually leaking from.

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I will relay that , thank you

319cssb said:

Is there a on-road fix for that?

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No, there isn't, and even the offline fix is a pain in the rear end (have to take all the stuff off the front of the engine). I wouldn't get too worked up about that being the cause yet, though. While your leak seems (from a couple poor photos) to be in a similar spot as you would get from a cracked front housing, it's also in the same area as you would get from a lot of other things leaking. That area has several gaskets and hoses for engine oil, power steering fluid, diesel fuel, and coolant, so I recommend cleaning it off and verifying what is leaking from where first.

319cssb said:

I will relay that , thank you

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I also posted this above, as an edit, but wanted to make sure you saw it...

"Leaking engine oil, transmission oil (if not converted to ATF), power steering fluid, and diesel all look fairly similar. The original military fluid in the cab lift hydraulic system is red, but I get the impression from posts that it's often refilled with whatever clear hydraulic fluid is readily available, so it might look similar too. I doubt it would be from the cab lift hydraulic system though, as it's not being actively pumped unless someone is pressing the button."

Awesomeness said:

I also posted this above, as an edit, but wanted to make sure you saw it...

"Leaking engine oil, transmission oil (if not converted to ATF), power steering fluid, and diesel all look fairly similar. The original military fluid in the cab lift hydraulic system is red, but I get the impression from posts that it's often refilled with whatever clear hydraulic fluid is readily available, so it might look similar too. I doubt it would be from the cab lift hydraulic system though, as it's not being actively pumped unless someone is pressing the button."

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Thank you, I was actually in the process of reading through all replies to see if I have missed or misread some replies.
I don't think it's the cab hydraulic either, it would be leaking behind the cab or I would see oil in the air tanks, if that would be the case (I believe so anyway)
So what we want to focus on is Engine Oil, Engine oil from transmission, Power steering fluid or differential oil.

Then to focus on the area once it is established what fluid it is. Yesterday the truck was hot and touching the various surfaces wasn't an option. Today we can have a look at all of that.
Then trying to figure out where the fluid came from. So this is still ongoing and I'll update with what will come to light.
Right now the truck is in Haughton LA and needs to to to SC

319cssb said:

I will ask him thank you, sir.
@Tennmogger, did you manage to seal the leak by tightening thr oil pan bolts?

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If he checks the pan bolts (quick to do if you have a 13mm socket, a long extension, and a flex joint) and finds them loose, just tighten. That will get him back on the road. Nothing will fix the leak permanently except removing the pan and using some good gasket sealer.

Yes, we are all guessing but you have a long list of possibilities now!

Well , the update is so far that it seems to be engine oil. The transmission is low on cold add mark . I am on stand by for pictures.
From what I hear is that there is a mess down by the transmission cooler and by the starter area.
photo's to follow

So I am posting these photo's as I am getting them, we are troubleshooting this real time and you see these photo's as I see them

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Here are more.

looks like it's definitely coming from the front area of the air compressor. Timing gear cover area. Some lose bolts there.
More photo's to come

319cssb said:

looks like it's definitely coming from the front area of the air compressor. Timing gear cover area. Some lose bolts there.
More photo's to come

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