Duramax oil leak

calgator73 · November 20, 2016

Noticed it passenger side rear on bell housing during my oil change yesterday. Not dripping but definitely some residue and I'm using about a quart over the entire oil change interval. I only started using oil after I switched it to T6. Thoughts?

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

AgDoctor · November 20, 2016

It is a common problem. My 2014 was doing the same, as were many others. I noticed mine at about 10,000 miles. I parked on concrete and never noticed much at all dripping, but definitely residue and some obvious oil accumulation there. The fix is not an easy one. I was told the problem stems from a combination of the gasket type and torque on the fasteners. I was told that they have to disconnect the transmission to tighten the top bolts that the tranny prevents access to. Tour GM dealer will do this under warranty, although I never let them do mine because it was a minor problem(a $60+K pickup with a leak from factory defect pisses me off). Im sure if I got some part of that wrong I will be swiftly corrected. I traded my Duramax with 58,000 miles and the drip.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

calgator73 · November 20, 2016

Thanks...someone told me today that it looked like i was burning a little oil on hard acceleration. Hmmm

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

Colossus · November 21, 2016

Naah. You're not burning oil, probably the DPF doing a regen. Mine will smoke quite noticeably when doing a regen if i take off from a stop or accelerate from very slow speeds. It put on quite a show a couple of days ago in 20 degree temps when the regen started. Heck if it weren't for it being white smoke, I would have thought I didn't have DPF on there. Strange though as I don't recall my 08 Dmax smoking like that when it did REGENs, but then again I never had issues with the DPF on that thing, just this 2012 with all kinds of DPF/DEF issues.

Colossus · November 21, 2016

Keep in mind also that it was quite common for the DMax's to have leaky tranny cooler lines too, not sure if they ever got that resolved or not but was very common with the 01-10 models. My 08 had it start up at 20,000 miles.

20Denali22 · November 23, 2016

Assembly lube from when they put it together. The RAM trucks are much worse. Mine had some and now it has stopped leaking out at 10k

calgator73 · November 23, 2016

Thanks for the info colossus. Just gotta schedule time to have the bell housing leak looked at.

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

65edward · November 27, 2016

I'm only gonna post this for only oily leaks on their 2015 chev. Duramax. Your only worst is at dealer. No way they can tell me they are told by gm people that could that problem. My fight would be only 6000 miles or less then. My truck is on 34000 and still leaks oil or trans.fluid on driveway every night. After 4 times at dealer, out of control. 10 days without a truck or a car(handicap) they think they put out?

Adamrg · November 27, 2016

I'm only gonna post this for only oily leaks on their 2015 chev. Duramax. Your only worst is at dealer. No way they can tell me they are told by gm people that could that problem. My fight would be only 6000 miles or less then. My truck is on 34000 and still leaks oil or trans.fluid on driveway every night. After 4 times at dealer, out of control. 10 days without a truck or a car(handicap) they think they put out?

My suggestion would be to try another dealer then. One that deals in large volume of trucks would be best. Not all dealers are the same.

EJCarter · November 27, 2016

I also noticed multiple spots on the driveway around 6,000 miles...crawled under and saw drips coming from the rear oil pan and what appeared to be oil blow-by pushed to the tranny cooler lines. There was a little residue on the bell housing too, but very little. After researching on multiple forums, it could be the rear oil pan (relatively easy fix), or the rear main up inside the bell housing between the motor and tranny (not an easy fix). I cleaned these areas and reinspected about a week later. Mine were definitely coming from the left rear area of the oil pan. I waited until my next oil change and had the dealer warranty it. Just had this fixed a couple weeks ago and the drips have stopped...

What I read on many forums is the same thing my dealer stated...GM simply either didn't put enough sealant, or they didn't let the sealant cure during the build process...they have seen quite a few pan leaks on 2014-2016 Duramax's...

65edward · November 28, 2016

I walked in to my dealer for the 4th time complaining about my oil leak within the rear main. The service worker again asked where I thought my leak was coming from. Finally they put dye into it to track the leak. When I returned with the truck, they FINALLY discovered the leaks. On September 6th I dropped off my truck for the repair. They said I would have the truck by the 9th. Since I am handicapped and need handicap equiptment, I was told there was no way they could get me a rental. However, they did not return my truck for 12 days! After driving my truck the next morning, I. noticed it was not running right, so when I got home I lifted the hood and checked the oil. There was no oil on the dipstick. I had obtained 4 quarts of oil and added it to my engine. As of this day, it still leaks.