For those of you who have been following my frustrations with a massive oil leak from my 2000 4wd, 1 tn, auto, flatbed Ram, you will be happy to know that I finally got the problem solved.  As the problem and its solution are, I believe, somewhat unique, I thought that I should post  my experiences here on the Forum for all of you to get a chuckle. 

My problem developed a couple of months ago as when returning from a cross country trip the truck started losing massive amounts of oil.  The entire under carriage of the Ram and even the car trailer I was towing was covered in oil.  I was using about a gallon of oil every 100 miles.  Anyway I pulled into a diesel shop in Kingman, AZ and got the diagnosis of a leaking tappet cover gasket.  They said that they were too busy to get to the job for at least a week, but if I endeavored to keep oil in the truck on the 1200 miles (12 gallons of oil) remaining, I shouldn't do any damage to the engine.  With a grin the mechanic also commented that at least I wouldn't have to worry about any rust in the near future.

To make a long story short, I limped home putting oil in the truck every 100 miles.  When home I went to the local diesel mechanic who said that he couldn't get the job for at least two weeks.  So with the help of Mopar1973Man and others,  I took on the job myself and finally got it done.  Anyway, a week after my tappet gasket replacement, I needed to take a 1000 mile round-trip to the East Coat to pick up some parts I had purchased.  I had not gotten 50 miles down the road when it became apparent that I had not stopped the oil leak.  As I had no choice. I again pulled into the local Walmart, bought them out of diesel oil, and continued on my trip.  When I got back home, I went to a different diesel mechanic and asked for a diagnosis of my problem.  He crawled under the truck and informed me that I had a significant pan gasket leak.  When I asked him to fix the problem, he informed me that he was booked up for at least 3 weeks.  So again with help from members of this forum, I undertook the job of replacing the pan gasket.  While replacing the pan gasket, as the truck motor was jacked up and partially torn apart, I took this opportunity to also add a "big line kit" to my VP44 inlet, replace the solenoids and accessible sensors in the transmission, and add "A column" gauges of fuel pressure, boost, and exhaust temperature. While doing all this work I discovered a badly deteriorated engine mount bushing ( from being soaked in oil ) which is now on my to do list.  To be able to more easily work in and around the pan and transmission, I also cleaned the entire undercarriage of the truck.  You can imagine that I was quite proud of my completed work.

I had no more than completed the gasket replacement when I got a call from a friend near Chicago (450 miles from me) who said that he had found a Ford Falcon camper van for me to buy at a ridiculous low price.  As he knew I had wanted a Class B R/V,  I immediately took off in my Ram and car trailer to pick up the motorhome.  Heck, what could go wrong after a pan gasket replacement and a few new gauges?

Again, I had gotten no more than 50 miles from my home when I nearly ran out of oil.  Now I was really pxxxxsed off!  With again no choice, I stopped at the local Walmart and bought 12 gallons of oil.  Along the way I stopped at two diesel repair shops and got diagnosis for my problem of a leaking rear main seal and a failed head gasket.  In both cases they were too busy to get to my problem for at least 10 days.

When I arrived in Morris, IL, I explained my problem to my friend who suggested that I should take my truck to a local repair shop where he had had good results.  Anyway I called them, explained my problem. and they took pity on the poor out-of-town traveler and agreed to see me the next morning.

The next morning I arrive at D&R Racing before they opened.  After hearing my sad story the D&R Manager informed me, that as they had recently hired a mechanic who used to work for Cummins, they would put him on it right away.  The mechanic took about 10 minutes inspecting my engine above and below with a flashlight and turned to me with grin on his face.  His only comment was "that oil seems to be coming from a strange place."   He next got out his tools and removed the bolts holding the diesel filter in place.  As I had recently put a rubber big line kit between the VP44 and the filter, replacing the metal fuel line, it was easy for him to move the filter completely out of the way without removing it.  He had no more than moved the filter when he called out to the other mechanics, " Hey guys, come over here, you gotta see this!"  When they all departed chuckling, he called me over and explained.  "The Cummins 5.9 block and been cast for many years and used in many different applications without much in the way of changes to the basic configuration.  Early 5.9's and some nonautomotive applications had even used a mechanical fuel pump to provide fuel to the engine.  Anyway as a provision for a mechanic fuel pump the basic block had a hole in its side allowing the pump lifter arm to ride on a lobe of the cam shaft. In normal and later applications  this hole was covered by a gasket and a cover plate which was held in place by two bot holes machined into the block to secure the mechanical fuel pump.  In my case someone had removed the plate, or never installed it originally, and attempted to close the hole with simply gasket material covered in RTV and held in place by the two retaining bolts- only one of which was still screwed into my block."  The mechanic comment that in 30 years of working on 5.9's he had never seen this.

I may have mixed up his explanation a bit, but sure enough, while I was watching, he started the motor and oil was pouring out of a 1/2 inch diameter hole only partially covered with torn gasket material.  As I had purchased the truck with 175K, and I had never tampered with this area on the block, and as it now has 330K on it, it has taken at least 155K miles for the gasket material patch to break through. Heck, the mechanic said with a grin, " They may have forgotten to add the cover plate at the factory." 

With a 1/2 hour of labor, a new manufactured cover plate, and some new gasket material and RTV, I was back on the road.  It turns out that all the gasket repair work I did was unnecessary.  Hundreds of, if not thousands of, dollars for oil and replacement parts were spent when only a 2x3 inch plate and some gasket material would have solved the problem.  I don't usually mention diesel repair shop names, but under the circumstances, having gone to 5 other diesel mechanics and gotten erroneous diagnosis, I would recommend now that if any of you are in the Morris, IL area (about 50 miles south of Chicago) and need diesel repair help, you know my experience with R&N Racing.

The final chapter to my story is that during the nearly 500 mile return trip home, I did not use a quart of oil!  Only thing remaining is to get back under the truck now and again remove all the slimy undercoat - aw heck, I might just leave it as a rust preventative.  Oh, by the way, I am having a garage sale this weekend,  the featured item being a really good price on 12 gallons of unused diesel motor oil.

PS.  For all you 5.9 owners, you might should get out a flash light and a mirror and look behind your fuel filter, you never know!!

 

Well what a story. I am glad you have it fixed. It is odd for someone to plug that hole like that. That hole is on all the 2nd 24v. The 12v 2nd gents had a mechanical pump mounted there. On the 24v Dodge mounted an electric pump in the same location. The plate that it mounted to sealed off the hole. So the cover was factory just like mine. Evidently someone put an after market fuel system it and maybe lost the factory one. Blows my mind someone would seal it with RTV. You can an after market plate for that purpose. You just never know PO's do to their trucks. 

It never dawned on me to suggest that hole. Probably The first time I have ever heard of this happening to someone. 

 

4 hours ago, Tbird9140 said:

I am having a garage sale this weekend,  the featured item being a really good price on 12 gallons of unused diesel motor oil.

 12 gallons is 3 oil changes so hold on to that oil.  It has a shelf life of 5 years before the additive package goes bad and the price of oil is only going to go up.

 

Glade for you that it got sorted out. If anything, you got intimate with your truck, did some major work along with rust prevention and found 5 out of 6 mechanics can't diagnose an oil leak.     

34 minutes ago, IBMobile said:

 12 gallons is 3 oil changes so hold on to that oil.  It has a shelf life of 5 years before the additive package goes bad and the price of oil is only going to go up.

 

Glade for you that it got sorted out. If anything, you got intimate with your truck, did some major work along with rust prevention and found 5 out of 6 mechanics can't diagnose an oil leak.     

Wish I could laugh at this and like it. 

 What a story! Glad you got it figured out though. Luckily that shop had just hired a mechanic familiar with Cummins engines. Perfect timing. Now you have fresh rocker cover gaskets, pan gasket a new gauge trio and soon to have new motor mounts and a completely rust proof truck, at least for a year or so. 

 Thanks for sharing!

Wish the author would of been near me I would of fixed it the first time. I've seen this before as well when people ditch the old pump mount not knowing it a open hole to the block.