New 5.7 engine leaking front crank seal

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

FirePower

Junior Member
Joined
Jul 20, 2017
Posts
23
Reaction score
2
Ram Year
2003
Engine
5.7 hemi
Hey guys, happy to be a new member.

Truck is a 2003 ram 1500 qc hemi.

A while back my 5.7 engine blew and I decided to go with a surefire reman from autozone because of the 3 year unlimited mileage warranty.

After only a little over 13k miles, I began to notice oil spots on my garage floor. After tirelessly looking under the car trying to find the oil leak, I finally took it to my mechanic after I couldn't locate it.

He takes some time to look it over, and tells me that the leak is coming from the front crankshaft seal. He says that with a brand new motor with that little of mileage, that there must be something wrong with the motor and how it was assembled, and that the most likely culprit is that the crankshaft is off somehow.

He said that while the seal is cheap and the labor to replace it is of moderate cost, the fact that a reman motor with such low mileage should not have a leaking crank seal for any reason, and that unless the problem is fixed which is causing it, putting in a new seal will only bandage the problem temporarily and the seal will begin to once again leak soon after because whatever is causing it to leak in the first place will persist.

Other people have told me it could be an issue with the harmonic balancer/crank pulley/front cover.

I just want to be sure of what it is because if the crankshaft is poorly assembled and I need a new motor, I don't want to bandaid the problem with a new seal like the crook warranty company is trying to get to do and then the seal goes bad once again after my warranty is up because the actual problem is persisting.

I just wanted to come here and sign up for a forum for the first time to see of any of you guys have any insight or advice. Perhaps someone has had this experience before. I looked up countless posts on other forums for multiple cars utilizing the 5.7 motor and found quite a few posts about the crank seal leaking, but they were all about how to install a new one. I didn't find any that actually explained WHY it might be happening.

The truck is not modded, boosted or driven hard whatsoever. I never go over 3.5k rpms.


Thanks in advance for any input
 

fastf

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 8, 2017
Posts
590
Reaction score
230
Location
Georgia
Ram Year
2005 Ram 1500 Quad Cab SLT Thunder road
Engine
4.7
5.7 leaking

No more miles you have on that engine Autozone is responsible.The biggest problem is pulling the motor out the cost you have to suffer because they are not going to pay for that.This is my personal opinion I would went with Jasper rebuilt engines.We have a Autozone some things are good some so so.That crap really sucks man I feel bad for you hope you can get this settled.Drive Safe And May God Bless.
 

SYKRAMMAN

Banned
Joined
Jul 10, 2017
Posts
2,401
Reaction score
1,640
Location
Jersey shore
Ram Year
06 Mega
Engine
5.7
Fastf means don't drive it anymore and pulling the engine is not going to be covered in the warranty so you will have to pay labor, imho I would get my loot back from az and find someone that can get and install a jasper crate engine.
 
OP
OP
F

FirePower

Junior Member
Joined
Jul 20, 2017
Posts
23
Reaction score
2
Ram Year
2003
Engine
5.7 hemi
Fastf means don't drive it anymore and pulling the engine is not going to be covered in the warranty so you will have to pay labor, imho I would get my loot back from az and find someone that can get and install a jasper crate engine.

Any ideas on how to accomplish that?


I've already asked the store manager at autozone about getting my money back and he's saying that they can't do anything because its been 2 years.

The warranty through surefire is 3 years, and they are like an insurance company. Looking for any way they can to weasel out of covering it.

Saying they won't cover this and that. That it could be all of these different things.
 

RonJon '06

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2014
Posts
3,372
Reaction score
1,183
Location
Southern Minnesota
Ram Year
2014, 1985
Engine
6.7, 360
I think you're fine just replacing the seal. Having replaced mine I can tell you it's partly made of soft rubber and requires some force to get it to seat. It seems more likely to me that the seal was either installed improperly or was damaged during installation and that there's nothing wrong with the engine internally. Just my ¢2.
 

fastf

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 8, 2017
Posts
590
Reaction score
230
Location
Georgia
Ram Year
2005 Ram 1500 Quad Cab SLT Thunder road
Engine
4.7
It doesn't matter they are trying to prorate that engine like a battery.Look at your warranty and see if they will refund your money if they don't the engine company will have to make it right most likely another engine .But the cost of removing the engine and putting the new engine is going to be on you unless you can find a way for them to cover everything.
 
OP
OP
F

FirePower

Junior Member
Joined
Jul 20, 2017
Posts
23
Reaction score
2
Ram Year
2003
Engine
5.7 hemi
It doesn't matter they are trying to prorate that engine like a battery.Look at your warranty and see if they will refund your money if they don't the engine company will have to make it right most likely another engine .But the cost of removing the engine and putting the new engine is going to be on you unless you can find a way for them to cover everything.

I've asked if they will refund my money and it keeps coming back to "you have to have a shop demonstrate to the inspector that the issue is X otherwise we can't cover it".

They are just like an insurance company. All smiles and promises when you still have your money in your hand, but once they have separated you from it, "OH YOU SNEEZED ON IT, CAN'T COVER IT".

But yes, if there was a problem with the engine, I'd have to partially cover the cost of removal and installation. If that wasn't already BS, the engine company will only cover 50 dollars per hour labor up to 800 dollars. When was the last time a shop charged 50 an hour?? Before I was born, that's when. It cost me around 1400 to have it installed, so no matter what I do, I am getting screwed.
 
OP
OP
F

FirePower

Junior Member
Joined
Jul 20, 2017
Posts
23
Reaction score
2
Ram Year
2003
Engine
5.7 hemi
I think you're fine just replacing the seal. Having replaced mine I can tell you it's partly made of soft rubber and requires some force to get it to seat. It seems more likely to me that the seal was either installed improperly or was damaged during installation and that there's nothing wrong with the engine internally. Just my ¢2.

Thanks for your personal experience.

What exactly happened in your situation? Could you give me more details?

Did you notice that there was oil in your driveway and then upon further inspection underneath you found oil slung everywhere? There's oil everywhere under my truck, it's getting slung around by that pulley.

When you took it apart was it overly apparent that the seal was bad and it wasn't something else? Are you sure that your seal was simply faulty and that it wasn't something else? And how long ago did this happen? As in how many miles have you put on her since replacing that seal?

I'm just asking a lot of questions because I want to be sure of what this is. Hell, I'd rather it be something simple like this. I don't want to pay all this extra for another motor. But I don't want to bandaid the problem with a new seal, it lasts another year or two - my warranty running out in another year - and then I discover it actually was something more serious, and now I have to cover the entire bill wishing I had the warranty covering me 800 of it..
 

RonJon '06

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2014
Posts
3,372
Reaction score
1,183
Location
Southern Minnesota
Ram Year
2014, 1985
Engine
6.7, 360
My original front seal never leaked, I spun a rod bearing and replaced both the front and rear seal's when I rebuilt the engine. If you're worried about the condition of the engine then maybe getting the front seal replaced under warranty and trading it in would be the way to go.
 
OP
OP
F

FirePower

Junior Member
Joined
Jul 20, 2017
Posts
23
Reaction score
2
Ram Year
2003
Engine
5.7 hemi
My original front seal never leaked, I spun a rod bearing and replaced both the front and rear seal's when I rebuilt the engine. If you're worried about the condition of the engine then maybe getting the front seal replaced under warranty and trading it in would be the way to go.

Trading the truck in?
 

G-Ride990

Administrator
Staff member
Administrator
Supporting Member
Joined
Jul 17, 2017
Posts
2,463
Reaction score
3,200
Location
Chandler, AZ
Ram Year
2016
Engine
5.7
What could be wrong with the engine assembly that would cause this issue? Can you pull the seal and inspect the sealing surface of the crank without voiding that warranty?

I would just put a new seal in it and call it good, unless there's a huge groove on the crankshaft.
 
OP
OP
F

FirePower

Junior Member
Joined
Jul 20, 2017
Posts
23
Reaction score
2
Ram Year
2003
Engine
5.7 hemi
What could be wrong with the engine assembly that would cause this issue? Can you pull the seal and inspect the sealing surface of the crank without voiding that warranty?

I would just put a new seal in it and call it good, unless there's a huge groove on the crankshaft.

One set of mechanics were basically saying that since the seal is right where the crankshafts end is, that there is some play in the crankshaft causing the seal to come loose, warp or go bad.

I mean, why would a new seal go bad like this so quickly? Only 15k miles

Idk if it'd void the warranty or not but I'm sure they'd love to do that and weasel their way out.
 
OP
OP
F

FirePower

Junior Member
Joined
Jul 20, 2017
Posts
23
Reaction score
2
Ram Year
2003
Engine
5.7 hemi
Yeah, but if it were me I'd just replace the seal.

Yea I'm definitely trying to fix it. A 03 ram isn't worth half a damn in the eyes of KBB. I'd get nothing on a trade in. My truck has a private sale value of around 3000 lol.

I'm better off trying to fix my investment and drive it until the wheels fall off.

I'd have to try and get my money's worth on craigslist from someone who understands a clean truck that hasn't been mudded and abused can't be evaluated by kbb or nada, especially if they need it for a certain purpose.

Just funny thinking about it. The money I'm going to spend lifting it on 38s will be more than kbb thinks she's worth lol.
 
Top