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I'm going to refer to my VP44 post for the first part here. So you should be to this point if you have done all the work on the link above. So we'll continue to remove the tappet cover and replace the tappet cover gasket on the driver side of the engine. On my truck, the leak is very minor but I want to get this resolved before it gets worse. Being I'm already replacing a VP44 it just a good time to do the tappet cover gasket and fix that oil leak. You need to remove the two 15mm bolts for the rear hoist ring. This is so you can gain access to the #6 injection line nut at the rear of the head. Now you need to remove the two 10mm bolts holding the 3,5,6 injection rails. This is so you can remove the 3,5,6 from the intake. Now there is a 8mm bolt holding the dipstick tube. This caught me off guard so don't forget to remove this 8mm bolt for the dipstick tube. Now loosen the 3,5,6 injection line from the head. Lift the 3,5,6 injection lines from the engine. Place them somewhere clean. Take the two 10mm bolts out holding the fuel filter housing. Then lay the fuel filter over out of the way. This might require removing the fuel lines if you still have hard lines yet. Now remove the three 10mm bolts holding the ECM to the tappet cover. Lay it over as well toward the driver side fender. Now you need to remove the 10mm bolt on the rear most holding the return line. Then there are three 16mm standoffs bolts you need to remove. Then three 10mm bolts. You may need to lightly pry on the cover to break the seal loose from the block. Be careful not to drop or break the rubber seal into the engine while doing this. It should lift out. Now take some brake cleaner and a rag and wash down the tappet cover and clean the edge. I use a gasket tack for the edge of the cover. I had to quickly put the gasket on so it would tack it together to prevent it from slipping off. Make sure the large tab is in the front and the flat side of the tab is point outwards. The thicker side should be towards the engine. Also watch for the FRONT mark on the tappet cover. Install. Make sure to put the right bolt in the right spots. I did not use any sealants on the face of the gasket. I highly do not suggest using RTV or gasket sealant on the mating face of the tappet cover gasket. This will most likely cause issues in the future. Just reverse the process to assemble. View full Cummins article

I've been leaking oil from the drivers side of the motor and my fear was the tappet cover which I just replace..... But turns out the oil is coming from a port in the block just below the motor mount. (see picture). My question.... Is this threaded? or was there a plug or something in the hole that maybe blow out? And how do I keep this from happening again?

Last weekend I replaced the crankshaft seal on my front cover as well as installing a wear sleeve. I followed the procedures that were on the Thoroughbred Diesel YouTube Channel. I used the wear sleeve installation tool and the crank seal installation tool. Used Permatex to seal the front cover after installation. I've started to notice fresh oil on my sway bar and steering components after driving. The bottom front bolts of the oil pan had small amounts of oil on them as well. I can't seem to tell if the leak is coming from the oil pan and that the gasket needs to be replaced or if its coming from somewhere else. The tappet cover looks good from what I can see and I retorqed the bolts to 18ft/lbs on the oil pan. Still no luck! Any thoughts or ideas on where else I should check? I cleaned everything up real good but can't seem to stop this leak. It never leaked from this spot before until after I changed the crankseal.

Replaced the power steering pump an all the pressure lines, Now my vacuum pump is dripping steadily. looks like I have to pull it all over again. Any helpfull tips

So I'm installing a new exhaust manifold (you'd be surprised how many issues you can run into doing this simple job) and this is what I find. Is this enough oil for me to be concerned?

has new gasket but it seems as if the bottom side closest to trans is leaking out of corner ? maybe they didn't clean surfaces good enough! any advice helps just seeking help thanks

bout a year ago when i bought the truck i redid the timmin and the KDP and i noticed a few days later it started leakin oil and now its leaken so bad bascally everytime i turn around i gotta put oil in it i got a few idea's or hints right where my AFC housin starts to back of the engine its caked on with oil so i took off the AFC housin and got some silicone and put on it got everythang back together and took it for a drive came back and its still leakin oil i think its commin from the bottom of the pump or behind the pump thats the cover for the anitfreeze passages if im thinkin right but correct me if im wrong then also too my steerin pump and steerin gear is leakin too i know mopar1973man said a few thangs but im gettin ready to take out the pump and i may take the VP and take all the hoses off and inspect and clean but is there any adjustments on the steerin gear bc i got alot of play in the steerin and just hope it aint out of round? but holler back and see what yall think!

so at first i thought it was a leak! i have never had blow-by this bad EVER! so while i was snapping pics for the fuel/water sep i noticed this vac line...take a look at the pics...http://forum.mopar1973man.com/album.php?albumid=34 opinions please bryan

I have some oil leaks in some usual places such as the tappet cover, vacuum pump, and maybe the front cover and /or the front main seal. The other day I noticed some oil coming around from the rear of the engine. I thought it was from the valve cover but upon further inspection it appears that it is coming from between the head and the block. I looked at it with a mirror and can see the joint between the two has a wet oily line. the oil is migrating down and onto the block. About 4 months ago I blew my radiator climbing the mountain and briefly overheated the engine(my fault), could this be a by product of the incident and I almost blew my head gasket or could there be a simpler explanation? No coolant in the oil and no oil in the coolant.

I have a 99 5.9 I have oil leaking out the breather hose. I know most of these trucks leak a little bit but mine will leave a puddle every now and then, but it only dose it when I am pulling a load or running it hard pulling a lot of boost dose not seem to do it with normal day to day driving. I rebuilt the vacuum pump over the summer because it was leaking and I have checked all the vacuum line. I really and stumped anybody got any ideas.

oil leak coming from behind plastic cover. I suspect stamped-metal side cover is leaking. Any thoughts? Can i buy gasket at NAPA(cummins part number?) or need to special order from dealer?I thank you in advance for your feedback

it have to really shorten a story here. pulled my rv for the first time in a while. pulled it over the bluridge mountains at 22,700 total. notice on filllup that i had oil on the rv and the under carridge of the truck. check my oil and i have an extra quart in the crank case. figure i have a leaky injector or 2. been wanting some rv 275's for a while and ordered a set from DAP. GREAT PRICE AT $269 + $100 core. drove to my daughters house to install and sprung a coolant leak just before arriving. spent the day installing the rv's and then dealt with the coolant leak. from the best i could tell it was coming from the water pump. could not see it well enough to tell for sure, but it appeared to be streaming from the pulley on the water pump. got a new water pump and installed it. the leak was reduced but still there. every time i tightened the bolts a little more it got smaller. but i felt i was overtightening the bolts big time. it is late and i gave up on fixxing the leak tonight but wanted to drive the truck and see how the new injectors were working. so i put another gallon of water in her and took her for a spin. i mile out and one mile back. parked the truck and no water leak.temp is now at 180+, it has apparently stopped. and i cant make it leak now.have i missed something or do you have to drive the truck to seat the gasket? it was rubber and fit into a groove on the pump. does it take operation af the vehicle to seat this gasket?:shrug:

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

Hello! I need some help. I had a bad oil leak on my 2001 Dodge Ram 3500. I've changed the pushrod cover gasket and put everything back as it was. After that, as I was little to lazy to start it proper way with bleeding injector lines ... I just used ether. Vehicle started and I thought, it was ok ... and it is while it's idling. Problem starts when press the gas. Huge white smoke is comming out of the pipe. Seams to me, like it smells like a diesel ... so all I can think of ... timing got screwed up. Anybody has any idea how to set the timing in VP44? I just put back everything as it was ... but there was no smoke before the procedure.Thanks

Hey all,I have had my oil filter head leaking for awhile all over the side of the block, so it is time to pull it off and replace the gaskets. I looked in the FSM for some guidance on what to do, but no luck. Is there anything special I need to be aware of besides draining the coolant? I bought 2 paper gaskets from cummins (the parts guy advised me that is all I should need). I figure the proper torque on the bolts should be 18ftlbs based on the size of the fasteners.Thanks,Chris

Ok fellas! I'm replacing the side tappit cover gasket! I'm 3/4 of the way into tear down an like a dummy I forgot to take pictures! I'm fixing to start taking some pictures of what I have done so far! An I will take pictures of reassembly if you want me to post them I will! I will write a summary on the teardown and reassembly if anyone else ever has to do this!

It took a while, but it's done. I initially took it in to have the front seal replaced, find the "thumping" in the front end and to "time the CP3". I thought for sure it was the front seal, as there was oil all over the front cover and looked to be coming from the crankshaft seal. They replaced it, and while in there they did the CP3 timing thing. The thumping was worn out stabilizer bar bushings!! The axle U-joints were also toast.......greasables too!!!!Anyhow, I get the truck back..............sounds super quiet now..........that CP3 timing thing really does work!! Drive around to do some errands and guess what?????? I've still got the oil spots under the truck at each stop!!!! It's a similar pattern to prior, but definitely different. I call the shop up and tell them I'm bringing back in Monday AM as it was Saturday mid afternoon now.Bring it back on Monday. Get a call on Wednesday telling me they found the leak, but that it requires major truck/engine dissassembly!!!! It's a gasket that goes between the block and a machined "spacer" that the front cover bolts to. The bolts from the front cover actually go through this part and into the block. This piece is what makes space for all the gears behind the front cover.Well to replace this, you need to essentially pull the front of the truck off, pull the valve cover, pushrods, cam, etc.........!!!!!!! They're good mechanics over there, but the owner is buds with a Cummins tech and was getting info from him how to do this more efficiently.Long story short, I'm out more $$$$ than I wanted to be having to take it in twice, but the truck is brand new quiet now. The CP3 timing thing and the valve lash adjustment because of having to pull the rockers, pushrods etc. have made my truck so quiet, and so smoothly powerful now, it's almost scary. Pat, the owner of the shop even drove it around for a day to make sure there wasn't any leaks. He asked me when I picked the truck up if I had a chip in her. I said no, I have a Smarty on her!!!!

Go about washing my truck when I've got a front seal leak that is essentially covering my truck with oil?????? I cannot get it into the shop for at least a 2-3 weeks. to get it repaired. I've washed my truck now for 3 days in a row. Not that it needed it, but to try to get the oil/dirt stains off the white paint. Today I used "straight" concentrated car wash soap. It helped, but didn't clean completely. HELP!!!