Cummins 6BTA (370 HP) Oil leak

[Doug]

My engine has developed an oil leak. It appears to be on the port side (1997 32+2), and the oil seems to be mostly on the bottom side of the tube that I beleive is the turbocharger oil drain tube.
This is about a 1" tube that comes from the turbocharger and goes back into the engine near the oil filter.
I checked the filter and it is tight and does not show any signs of leaking. The engine has around 900 hours on it.

Any Suggestions?

Thanks,
Doug

[Mariner]

I don't want to sound like a know-it-all, but I would suggest removing the tube, checking for cracks or pinches, replacing any gaskets and re-installing it.

I have know specific knowledge of this engine or part, so this is just general advice.

[Doug]

The tube is going to be very hard to remove because of all the other things surrounding it. If it turns out to have a crack, I may have to JB Weld or do something else like that in order to fix it.

A friend of mine looked at it and found the oil dip stick was not completely seated. He was able to push it in about a half inch.

We cleaned all the oil off the engine, flushed the bilge, took the boat out and ran it for about 20 minutes and there is no sign of a leak, so I still do not know what is causing it.

Doug

[jleonard]

You very well could have solved it by re seating the dipstick tube.
There is a lot of internal pressure with a turbochrged diesel...my Dodge truck Cummins pushes some oily mist out thru the dipstick from time to time if I run it hard...it has to go somewhere if the vent system can't handle it all.