ok....I've got a 97 12v auto 4x4 380,000 miles. On our nice little family trip...including dog...we get about 25 miles from home. Everything seems fine...turn a corner accelerate and BlAAAAaaahhh...the 'ol girl starts to loose power and there is quite a tick. We manage to pull of the road into a coffee shop. The truck will not stay running on its own. It will if you press on the accelerator but very rough and little power. There is no white smoke. The tick was loud but I could not isolate it. Almost sounded like IP. I figure we have a $100 ride home on a flat deck. My little girl says "Daddy...let's just go get a drink and lt it cool down.....Yeah right...the 9 yr old techie...
After 20 minutes I went back to the truck, where it has puked a nice puddle of oil. Looks like it came from front seal. I then hit the start key and it fired right up....No problems. Right back to normal. Everyone just jumped in and we headed back to home. And...yes...my little techie....she is convinced she's gifted!
Any ideas????

 

shes like the Cummins whisperer.

 

seriously thats pretty strange.

 

Yes very strange indeed. I would just like to hear from somebody else that may have had the same problem. It seems to me that what ever was the initial "ghost in the machine" caused the oil pressure inside the pan to get very high, which seemed to cause the oil to spill out the front seal.

 

Are you sucking air from anywhere? That will make her run like poo, if not at all.

 

Sucking air into the fuel system?

 

Yes. When my lift pump went it did the same thing. I also know if you have any kind of leak on the engine it will make the breather tube leak more.

 

Ok thanks. I'll check the fuel lines. She was a little hard to start when it was cooler but it seemed to clear up that problem when it got warm.

 

Sounds like some air. Check the supply and return lines that go from the lift pump and Injection pump to the tank. This is a very common problem on the 12valve trucks. Look at the liftpump and you will see the lines, they go on top of the trans/bellhousing, and a pain to change. Just get some diesel rated fuel hose and run them to the steel lines on the frame. You will have to cut the steel lines by the tank (2' in front of) and hose clamp the rubber hose there, this is a very common replacement here. You will need about 12' of hose and 4 hose clamps and some zip ties.
Do a search on here for "fuel hose" and "air in fuel system" in the 12 valve section. There will be a drawing/schematic on where the lines run.
Also, get another fuel cap and put a air hose quickconnect in the handle and pressurize the sytem with 10psi of shop air. It will tell you where your leaks are at, and it also helps when you need to bleed the air out of the system when doing a fuell filter change.

 

Nice!!!!!!
I will for sure try that out! Thank you for all your time to write all this down for me.

 

Thats what the forums are for. Everyone here has gone through the same problems.
Let us know if you need anything else.