According to the dealership, it "has never happened." So to quote a Seinfeld episode, "it was a one in a million shot doc."

 

that dealership is not being truthful....

and you can google that yourself and find the truth.... forums are magical...

 

It may be the truth for them... which I am sure that is who they were speaking for.

BTW, it is a complete engine replacement. They will reuse the water pump, alt, etc- but the heads/block will be new.

 

So we have 14K on the new motor and everything is going OK... well sort of. Shortly after getting the H# back I changed the fluids in the Difs and TC, while I was performing fat-boy-origami I noticed the bottom of the bell housing had oil on it. It was a 4 inch strip (side to side) seeping back towards the back of the truck. It was not dripping but it was damp with oil. I assumed that the rear main seal had failed when the engine died so I was guessing that the oil was remnants of that. I cleaned off the oil and went about my business. I changed the oil two weeks ago and noticed that the oil was now covering the bottom half of the bell housing. Again, it is not dripping, my engine oil levels were fine it is not trany fluid- the oil is only on the bell housing and the seal b/w the engine and trany. I took it to the dealer, they pressure washed the bottom and added dye to the oil. They took it on two test drives but no oil showed up. Whatever is leaking is a slow leak because it took two oil changes to make a big difference (I go about 4-5K b/w OCs) and the stain is wet but not dripping. i have been driving for two weeks and do not see oil. I have two questions. The first is what you think it might be? I am very concerned that I have a rear main seal leak but I question if they just did a half @ss job on the install and the oil is residual. The second, what is the best way to have a paper trail in case there is a future failure? Was taking it to the dealership enough?

 

For what it's worth, my '08 Alpha had oil stains as well. Turned out to be a bad/poorly installed oil pan gasket. Dealer replaced, and no problem since.

 

You put 14K on a new engine since July. I thought I put alot on mine.

 

if its a "new" engine they didnt mess with the seal.the builder did.
it aint residual after a pressure wash. it should be dusty dry unless there is a leak.
if you wipe it dry,clean, and next week there is a trace of oil,ITS A LEAK!! stop the denial,and insist that they do to.

i did a long block replacement years ago and had to put my oil pan on the rebuild so? it could be they did too and its the pan seal,,,you hope!

later another ford van leaked at the gasket,got it fixed,later the new one leaked,it was just bad gaskets that ford sxhould have eaten,,,but no,i did. those gaskets would split between bolts at one point and slide out because they had metal rings in them for each bolt.i loosened some pan bolts near leak,tucked in the loose rubber and added a metal strip to hold it in. was ok yrs later when i sold it.

 

Yes, I do put a lot of miles on cars, usually 20-30K/year. Most of my cars last into the 175+K range and several have gone $250+ before I got sick of chasing electrical shorts. I have a 72 daily commute that is supposed to be shared with the MINIs as we convinced ourselves that we were buying the H3 for bad weather (I work at a hospital)... we enjoy the car so much it is driven way more even though our MINIs are loaded. I am 2 weeks out from the cleaning and need to check for oil. I haven't check in a week. If the oil pan gasket is leaking, it is only out the back b/c everything is bone dry... except of course where the oil drips onto the support when removing the filer (I HATE THAT).

 

So I finally got the 3 back to the dealer with oil all over the pan and bell housing, much more than before. The leak was a "kinked" valve cover gasket. So they did a half @ss job on the install.