I have a 2004 dodge ram 2500 with the 5.9 Cummins. I noticed a drop or two of oil on the ground under the truck when leaving work. I looked under the truck and saw a black hose that hangs to the rear of the engine, drivers side. It had a pretty good amount of what looked like steam coming from it. I just changed the oil and added a bottle of blue devil rear main sealer to it because I saw it dripping oil from between the rear of the engine and the bell housing. I don’t believe in miracle cures but thought it wouldn’t hurt to try it. Now I have this stuff pouring out of this tube. What the heck is it????

 

Part of the PCV system??

 

Does that seem normal with it being cold out? There’s no pressure around the cap or dipstick nor any oil present in those areas. Trucks fires right off and runs great but I kinda panicked when I saw that coming out of that hose thinking it was blow by. Prolly cause it’s freezing out and can’t see it when it’s warm out.

 

Try plugging that line, and see if you get pressure at the oil fill.

 

What does it smell like?

 

It smells like a sweet pungent smell like burnt tranny fluid. Might sound silly but that’s what it smells like to me.

 

It smells like a sweet pungent smell like burnt tranny fluid. Might sound silly but that’s what it smells like to me.

 

Crank case vent tube. It's likely supposed to go somewhere, and not just vent into the atmosphere.

 

Follow the hose and see where the other end attaches.

 

that is blowby from the engine...

You can try hot shots stiction eliminator in the engine oil to see if the blowby is related to stuck piston rings. You'd see a difference in about 300~500 miles. Use 1 quart.

I learned this about 3~4 years back, engine was consuming approx 4 qts of oil in 6~7k miles on a 10K OCI. Used 1 qt initially and saw the bleeding stop, then on next oil change continued and oil usage went back to the expected 1~1.5 qts over the 10k OCI.