Have a oil leak - appears to be becomming from the rear of block on drivers side behind the starter motor.WHta back there - its actually hard to see ?? I don't think its a head gasket (think its lower) ........ and don';t think its draining from the tappet cover as its too far forwad (and actually looks newish) ..... freeze plug or something ?? How hard to take off the starter motor ............. ? So I can get a better look at it Just disconnect batteries and 4 or 5 bolts etc ?? thx

Hey John, go look at Fuel Leak thread started by cummins-dodge and you can see the side and rear of motor that ISX posted.

the starter comes off pretty easy. 3 bolts, one is a little difficult the other two are easy. you could take your fuel filter cannister off and probably see just as well unless its real low. fuel canister is easy to move on my 02. not sure how differant the 01 is.

Hey John, go look at Fuel Leak thread started by cummins-dodge and you can see the side and rear of motor that ISX posted.

Yeah I remember that pic now ...... crap does the tappet cover run all th way to the rear of the block ?? I lost sight of it and thought it stopped ....... hmmmm Might do what dripley said and take off the fuel canister and see if I can see it better (and clean it off) -> and then watch for oil leaks. Its not bad - but I'd prefer to get it fixed ................ thx guys

Runs all the way to the back, here is with it taken off.

Hey John, now for the bad news, you got to pull vp to fix gasket on mechine hole.

Not too bad I've done one before... It about $25 bucks for the gasket... Just everything on that side of the engine has to come off and out of the way...

Hey John, now for the bad news, you got to pull vp to fix gasket on mechine hole.

Yeah ......... :banghead: Gonna have to clean this up and see how bad the leak is ........ Almost certain to be the tappet cover by looks of that pick I don't get any drips of oil on the floor ....... but I do get oil all over transfer case as I drive (not a LARGE amount - but enough over time) Again with the problem of nowhere to work on it .......... as I would be allocating myself 2 days for this (even tho isx would have it done in 3 hours). thx guys

Yeah ......... :banghead: Gonna have to clean this up and see how bad the leak is ........ Almost certain to be the tappet cover by looks of that pick I don't get any drips of oil on the floor ....... but I do get oil all over transfer case as I drive (not a LARGE amount - but enough over time) Again with the problem of nowhere to work on it .......... as I would be allocating myself 2 days for this (even tho isx would have it done in 3 hours). thx guys

The VP44 is half the size of my IP, you can do it by yourself in an hour

The VP44 is half the size of my IP, you can do it by yourself in an hour

haha - sure i could - with enough beer - she might not idle the same after tho !!!

Yeah ......... :banghead: Gonna have to clean this up and see how bad the leak is ........ Almost certain to be the tappet cover by looks of that pick I don't get any drips of oil on the floor ....... but I do get oil all over transfer case as I drive (not a LARGE amount - but enough over time) Again with the problem of nowhere to work on it .......... as I would be allocating myself 2 days for this (even tho isx would have it done in 3 hours). thx guys

nothing like living in a rv park when it comes time to work on your truck. if they would put a small garage at each one they could make a killing renting it out.

nothing like living in a rv park when it comes time to work on your truck. if they would put a small garage at each one they could make a killing renting it out.

yeah thats what I thought say to my wife too. Some RV parks won't even let you wash your car/rv. Last place was ok .... but not here ........... oh well ........ just need to get organised and find a car park. Problem is I don't want to be too far away from a parts store in case I need something .... have to make sure it is the tappet - so gonne have to get the fuel canister out the way nad clean stuff off and see where were at thx again

oktook off fuel canister filter. Still a bit hard to see - but it does look like tappet cover at back 1/3rd of block.so some more q's* Guessing it has to be that or the head - but guessing head would more likely leak coolant than oil * Not sure how bad the leak is. If I drive all day it make leak like a couple drops onto floor - but some more gets on tranny etc so hard to be specific - but doesn't seem big as I don't ever need to top up oil between oil changes. How serious is it ? Guessing its fine as long as leak doesn't get bigger ?? Main reason is I would want at least 2-3 days to do on my own ...... and not sure I could do it here ........ so could be 6 months before I could get to it. * Never done the vp44. I know I need to get a puller - but is it hard and what about keyway alignment after its already been installed - just keep it 'taped' ?? thx

Hey John, man I think you could do it in 1 1/2 days easy thats if you really took your time and being your first time. And dont worry about the vp it's not hard at all just take your time and take it easy not to dump the key way when your putting it back in. And it will take some dumping just dont slam it around, as far as the key way goes it probley wont move seeing it has been in the truck this long. When you go to bolt it up just take you some bright paint like orange or something, paint the keyway then take a small miror and check it when you have a couple nuts holding in place.

:iagree:the vp is not bad at all. took about 4.5 hours with a helper/gofer. like jw says just take your time. you might want to replace your cam sensor while you are in there, but you might have a crank sensor in an 01. i dont know. i got oil an my engine too and only see a few drops like you. if i go 8k on an oil change i am right at 1qt low. with every thing else i have had to deal with I am not worrying about that one yet.

Read the VP44 removal.Dont quite get the puller part.So its basically TDC on the crankcase (behind breather) ..... and then you pulling something off the shaft of the vp44 ?? After that you can unbolt the vp44 from the block ?

my pump came from blue chip diesel and he had some very good instructions. i was able to take it off with out removing all of the fuelines. the three on the rt side of the pump come off as an assembley and the other 3 stayon the engine, very time saving. as i remember i loosened the bolts, then pulled the gear loose. it came of very easily. you can down load his instructions right from his web site. i think mike has some good intructions here also. i just galnced in my haynes manual and they have you taking have the truck apart doing it. that is no bueno:cookoo: blue chip's worked great for me:thumb1:.

Dont worry about the timing issue, just watch the keyway when it gets at the top your good to go. Everybody likes the keyway at the top, heck put it at the bottom if you wont, I've dun it And you can leave the three lines on the eng againts the block. You just need to loosen them. It really is a peace of cake when your done.

John i had a leak around that same area and it turned out to be the gasket behind the factory lift pump bracket. just food for thought!

Hey HEavyThere's a different gasket there ?? :shrug:hmm .... so hard to see back there .....I can see most of the oil is right at the back of the block - but yeah the OEM lift pump is quite close to the oil alsoWhats that gasket for ? And why does it leak oil if its related to lift pump ? Might have to get the starter motor off after all ...... can't think of a better way to get a look at it without taking everything off the top

the bracket heavy is talking about is just behind and below the fuel canister, you should be able to see it without taking the starter off.