well, I dont really know where to start on this one. I dont have the tools or the know-how tbh, to pull the motor/ tranny and check on it, so thought I'd ask for a few suggestions.

I was under the truck investigating a strange rattling sound, that occurs while turning. This just recently started, so I was down there yankin on the axles and trying to find any loose ujoints or anything. I didn't find anything, so that's a different issue. Although I notice it makes the noise when turning slowly, and in reverse. It's a metal on metal, not grinding, but clanking kinda sound. Pounded on the cat too, nothing rattling in there, but it sounds more like aluminum than heavy steel clanking together, but not sure.

Anyways while under there, I noticed what I think is oil, not dripping, but it was fresh on the bottom where the tranny connects to the motor. It has no redish color to it like tranny fluid, and to me, it looks alot like oil. But I dont know why it'd be coming from there. I posted a pic. I'm just asking for some suggestions on what I oughta do next, or if I pull it into a shop, some things I can ask the mechanic to check out. It's a 5 speed and I haven't had any problems with shifting or anything. appreciate y'alls thoughts on this.

an oil leak at the rear of the engine is most likely the rear main seal. its fairly easy to replace, but does require a torque wrench to retorque the main caps. the seal is a 2 piece seal, and is changed by removing the starter, oil pan, oil pump, rear-most main cap, and loosening the other main caps. since you have to remove the oil pump, if you can afford the $50 for new oil pump, you might as well put on a new one. rear main seal is only about $15. if you do replace the oil pump, put in a melling high volume.
http://www.pavementsucks.com/tech-article-31.html

clanking noise from the front on a 4wd is most likely axle u-joints. check them by grabbing the inner axle and rotating back and forth against the outer... see pavementsucks for a how to.
http://www.pavementsucks.com/tech-article-5.html

edit - also check front wheel bearings by grabbing the top of the tire and shaking it in/out with all your might. there should be no play. any play or clunking could be wheel bearings or ball joints.

well, that was really one of the things i was hoping noone would say. I read thru the entire pavement sucks article on replacing the rear main seal, and I fear that is above my skill level. I think I could probably do it, as I have the tools for it...but it looks like it may be a mechanics job, to be safe. says on their walk thru estimated 6 hours. lol. i can only laugh at that. Would take me an entire weekend im sure. guess i'll just go buy the parts, and take it a buddy that has a shop...sigh. maybe he'll work for beer again, like he did when i had him replace the wifes intrepid starter. :P

i find it interesting though, that this only started after switching to synthetic a couple of oil changes ago. suppose i'll switch back, and see what happens. hope it dont blow up :P

switching back to regular oil might? seal it back up.

a buddy with a shop is a nice thing to have.... provided he knows more than you, and knows what he's doing.

but - i'd never changed one either until i changed mine... it doesn't matter how long it takes. my favorite saying is 'what's time to a hog'.

wifey asked - are you going to be able to put all this **** back together ?
me - i sure hope so. it'd be a shame for this big truck to sit here in the driveway for the rest of eternity.

i'll tell you something funny about the pavementsucks threads. after i bought this dodge i found that site and began looking through those tech threads, especially the u-joints, seals, bearings, ball joints, etc. and thought - OMG what have I bought; i don't want to have to do any of that. 5 years later - i've done almost all of them. welcome to dodgevillle.

Actually, doing the rear main isn't that bad of a job. Six hours gives lots of time for things like cleaning all the parts, etc. The second time I did my oil pump, start to finish was under two hours. Doing the rear main is another 15 to 20 minutes. So long as you pay attention to what you are doing, and retorque things to the correct values, in the correct order, its easy. Just a buttload of bolts.

If you have done a tuneup, you can do this. If you have all the tools, that's all you need. (aside from the parts....) Replacing the oil pump while you are there is good advice. Be sure to prime it before installation. (basically, dump oil into the top, till it is full.... and then install it, without pouring it into your face......)

hmm, well y'all make it sound manageable, but my buddy with the shop and vehicle lift, is possibly shutting down the shop for the time being due to flooding. As I'll likely be moving soon as well. corp of engineers predicts 2-6 ft of water in my lil neighborhood, so hope the rear main can hold out a few weeks, as i'll likely be busy.

Spent the day up in the dakota dunes, on the missouri river, loading up a guys furniture into a semi-trailer, that was going to flood. All the neighbors in the neighborhood of mansions were building sandbag walls. Was nice to see all the 2nd gens from the surrounding areas, coming in to help haul trailers loaded with sandbags. sure,there were others, but the dodges sounded the best of course.

Amazing to see the devastation so far, and the communities of people stickin' it out with eachother and lending a helping hand wherever they could. Almost restored my faith in humanity again. These people need some prayers and some help, as their lives are being washed away in the mighty missouri river.

i drove through Paducah KY about a month ago and saw the flooding there. the ohio river was up to the edge of I-24 at over a mile away from the river. it was heartbreaking to see water up in people's houses.

put the dodges to work and good luck to everyone.

I had some oil dripping from the same area and all that was wrong is loose valve cover bolts. Torqued them down and I don't leak a bit of oil. I torque them ever oil change now. Whoever the SOB engineer is that thought it was a good idea to put those bolts way back in the back can kiss my but.

well...im not going to rule out the rear main seal, as I just dont see the oil coming from anywhere except right out from behind that aluminum plate. (dont remember what it was called) that is between the motor there and the tranny. I mean, it is oil stained only there at the bottom where i took the pic. But considering how long it took me to find my coolant leak, I can see the possibility of it being the valve covers....strange things happen under these hoods. lol

But I have also ran across a few loose valve cover bolts recently, and tightened the ones i could. But I didn't ever tighten the back ones down, because i couldn't access them that day. kinda a PITA to get back there. anyone know the torque measurement, off the top of their head for the valve cover bolts? It can't be much, because i'm pretty sure i may have stripped one on my driver side.

Hopefully, sooner or later, i'll be buying those HS 1.7 RR's and I already have a new set of valve cover gaskets, im just waiting to swap out. So I'll find out then if i stripped it. Sure hope not, because i think those are the Heads they bolt into correct??

Been reading far too much for my wallet to handle, but I'd love to do a cam, heads, 1.7 RR's, LT headers, and duals.

The leak you are describing as well as the location of the oil stain on the transmission dust cover is exactly where mine was. I thought it was the rear main seal as well. I looked all over for the exact specs and never found anything. The pros here told me to just torque them down w/ a wrench and you probably wouldn't be able to torque them too much because of having to lay on the engine to do it. Definitely check to see if that bolt is stripped. If so you will be leaking oil all over. Also, FWIW, the valve cover gaskets are "supposedly" reusable, but I'm very wary of that.