Oil Leak

JeffButcher

New member
I just bought a 2003 2500 with 57K and I am trying to ready it for hauling my hotel guests in Alaska. I will be flat towing it behind a 36' Diesel Pusher after doing a custom welded receiver on the front to mate with the Blue Ox towbar. It seems that by disconnecting the driveshaft and unlocking the steering, this should work. Anyhow, there seems to be oil leaking around the oil filter cap. There is oil sprayed around on this part of the engine but is obvious around the cap. I am doing an oil change tomorrow and I am hoping that it is just an overtightened or misaligned seal on the cap. I just wanted to check and see if anyone else had a similar issue. I didn't find any similar problems while cruising this site.

Any help would be appreciated. Also, this site is awesome, thanks for all who contribute.

Jeff
 

Altered Sprinter

Happy Little Vegemite
Jeff: Check that the 701cap is actually locked on, and not cross threaded.If not it will throw oil off the timing chain,and force fluids out of the non sealed cap.
May pay to lift your injector cover and see what's up there with leaks,in saying so Black death may be evident.
Richard
 
Jeff,

I tow my Class B Sprinter motorhome behind my Class A motorhome all the time.

Couple of things to watch for:

Make sure the tow bar and hitch is rated for 10,000 lbs. Even though your weight is a lot less than that, anything less than 10,000 lbs. maybe promblematic.

Also the Sprinter frame is built differently than most truck frames. The bolts that go though the baseplate into the Sprinter's frame are very hard to torque properly. The boxing frame crushes slightly. Use locktite and be sure to carry the proper sized sockets, ratchet and backup wrench so you can re-tighten them. Check the bolts often.

After unlocking the steering wheel, tie a white rag on it so you can see the wheel moving in your backup camera. This will double check that it is truely unlocked.

I have a cable operated drive line disconnect. For just a one time tow, disconnecting the driveshaft will work OK. Be careful not to let the van run over you when you drop the driveshaft.
 
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Altered Sprinter

Happy Little Vegemite
Adding a helpful hint, where a hitch is applied to a 2500 frame if not factory! One must weld a Tube into the fame east west,for the bolt to be placed inside of the tube. Thus you will have no problems of torquing the bolts, or crushing the frame like a Coke can under over torquing techniques.
Richard
 

JeffButcher

New member
Great tips from all. Just a few notes, I took the cover off to look for black death and it was absolutely spotless underneath. Big sigh of relief. If this is just an oil cap issue, I will be a happy camper.

With the towing, I am having some custom pieces welded to the front frame, I was unable to find a blue ox baseplate for a 2500. The towbar is rated at 7500#, I will hope for the best.. The vehicle is only 5500 dry, should work okay.
 
When I bought my baseplate, Roadmaster was the only one who made it.

Don't know if will help, but I have attached photos of the Roadmaster baseplate.(could not get a photo of the top to bottom bolt)

It is two heavy plates that bolt to the inside of the frame and to the top of the frame, with a heavy tube welded between the two plates. Note that each plate has two bolts into the frame running side to side and another bolt that runs top to bottom though the frame.
 

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