Hi, I just bought my first Ram 1500. Specs are as follows: 98 ext cab 4x4 5.2L V8 Magnum. I absolutely love this truck, but it seems there is oil accumulating where the tranny connects to the engine, there's also a "V" there. It almost looks like someone took a flat head and wedged it in there then turned it. I'm thinking rear main seal or oil pan gasket but I can't tell visually. Any way to know for sure?

 

Pics may help. Is there any oil running down from the block?

 

Pic should be attached. There's no oil running down the block that I can see. This leak is incredibly slow but I want to address it nonetheless. As you can see in the pic, it almost looks like the bell housing of the transmission has been pried on. There's no obvious source, I felt around the sending unit and found nothing. Doesn't appear to be any seepage from the valve cover or oil pan either. All that's really happened is there's a very very small amount of oil sometimes accumulating near that "V".

 

I think that is supposed to be there, to drain anything that happens to accumulate in the bellhousing.....

Might be rear main, might be leaking intake/valve cover, and the oil is finding it's way down there via some other route. Need to see just where it is coming from in order to fix it.

 

Yeah, that should be there. I would run tracer dye through it for awhile and pick up a black light to investigate before throwing parts at it. Speaking from experience I tried the latter method for the same problem and probably shouldn't have. Oil can potentially come from the intake manifold gasket, dizzy housing, oil pressure sensor, valve covers and down lower the oil filter, rear main or oil pan. It may be creeping down from the top and you may not be seeing it, hence why going at it with tracer dye might be a better bet. I've basically replaced everything I've mentioned and have slowed it down a lot but still have a very slow leak from somewhere; good enough for me. I believe the manifold gasket was causing the largest leak in my case.

 

For me, that was a leaking valley gasket at the back of the keg.
But as noted above, it could be any one of a number of things.