Fuel or oil dripping from vent hose 2009 Tour

[ouraydog]

We have a 2009 Tour and today after a short drive of 75 miles I noticed something that looks like fuel drips on the rear flap and on the front of our truck. Closer inspections showed that the drips were coming from a rubber hose that hangs down beside the radiator (drivers side). I cannot see where the hose goes to after it passes by the intercooler pipe.

The hose is about 5/8" outside diameter and 3/8" inside diameter and made of black rubber. It looks like a vent hose of some sort, and with the engine running there was no air pulsing out of the hose.

Any ideas would be appreciated, normally there is not a drop of anything on the back of the coach. No recent service and the oil level is exactly at the full mark.

Thanks, Bill Barton

[DRBARBER001]

Most likley it is your crankcase vent tube

[bellsharbor]

What he said!

[Jerry J]

Radiator overflow hose?

[ouraydog]

This is definitely some kind of oil or fuel drip. The radiator tank is on the passenger side of the radiator. The hose I am talking about is on the forward side of the radiator fan housing on the driver side.

Regards, Bill

[Mad Dog 98]

I had the same drip (only 1). I typed in this forum's search engine "oil from tube" and there were a whole bunch of threads talking about a "slobber tube", which I think is a crankcase breather of some type. I am pretty sure that is what mine is and it sounds like yours.

[AFChap]

Most diesels get some "fuel spots" on the toad when towing ...if it is excessive, you may be over-full on oil OR have one of the rigs that tends to put excess oil out the slobber tube. Cummins does have a slobber tube kit, or some folks have created their own with a soda bottle, etc. If you have a rear radiator, the same "slobber" will eventually clog the radiator with dirt/crud, basically the reason a rear radiator must be cleaned regularly ...and why I don't want one...

[SoIlBoy]

I don't think it is a slobber tube issue. I believe starting 2007 the Cummins engines were a closed crankcase system, so there isn't a slobber tube. I think that hose you see running along the radiator is the coolant overflow tube. The coolant overflow hose on my Freightliner is also on the driver side, and the overflow tank is on the passenger side.

[Jerry J]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoIlBoy I don't think it is a slobber tube issue. I believe starting 2007 the Cummins engines were a closed crankcase system, so there isn't a slobber tube. I think that hose you see running along the radiator is the coolant overflow tube. The coolant overflow hose on my Freightliner is also on the driver side, and the overflow tank is on the passenger side.

Same here. We had engine oil being forced into the coolant and after having the oil cooler replaced, still had the problem. The block was next replaced under warranty. My wife followed me once to a campground and saw spurts of water being forced out the back left. Coolant from overflow tank looked like sticking your finger in the crankcase.

[ouraydog]

I did some more looking and confirmed that the rubber tube is coolant overflow tube just as SoIlboy and Jerry J said. By squirting water in the top of the tube at the coolant tank, I could see that it drained out the rubber tube I have been looking at.

The folks at Freightliner confirmed by phone that my engine has the closed crankcase system.

The coolant was checked and it is clean and at the proper level. I took a good work light and inspected the underside of engine bay and it is amazingly clean and oil free. The only oily spot was in the area of the overflow tube and on the power steering fluid hoses that pass near by. I check the power steering reservoir and the fluid is at the correct level, also noted that it is bright red, which is not what what I saw down below.

I'm starting to think that maybe I ran over an oil container on the freeway and it bounced up and broke open. It's kind of a wild guess, but that is about all I have left at this point. My next destination is the Freightliner shop in Mt. Vernon WA, about 75 miles away. I will stop a couple of times to see if any more oil has accumulated.

Thanks for the help.

Regards, Bill

[ouraydog]

First I would like to thank everyone for their help on the dripping tube problem. Here is the story!

The dripping tube was the coolant tank overflow tube. The coolant was dripping down on things that were coated with 20K miles of road grime and the mix of the coolant and grime looked just like an oil leak. It even had an oily feel due to the glycol in the coolant.

The problem turned out to be a leaking radiator cap, which allowed the coolant vapors to escape and condense in the overflow tube, then drip out the bottom.

We drove 200 miles today and the overflow tube was bone dry.

Thanks, Bill Barton

[Jerry J]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ouraydog First I would like to thank everyone for their help on the dripping tube problem. Here is the story! The dripping tube was the coolant tank overflow tube. The coolant was dripping down on things that were coated with 20K miles of road grime and the mix of the coolant and grime looked just like an oil leak. It even had an oily feel due to the glycol in the coolant. The problem turned out to be a leaking radiator cap, which allowed the coolant vapors to escape and condense in the overflow tube, then drip out the bottom. We drove 200 miles today and the overflow tube was bone dry. Thanks, Bill Barton

Great to hear the problem was minor and not costly. The hardest part can sometimes be just finding what the problem really is. Thanks for letting us know what you found.