tappet cover leak?
 

kay i have this 2001 3500 cummins that just leaks so much damn oil.:argh: iv read up on some stuff and found it might be the VP seal or somthing like that around that area and i even took my fan off because it was blowing the oil to the back of the motor and making it look like its leaking out of the bell housing. but no i found that it leaks right out of the side of the block on the driver side, right behind a little tin cover. so help me out!

There are a few areas that can leak oil on these engines,the first thing to do is get a few cans of engine degreaser & clean the engine& engine bay top to bottom. start engine run it for a short time to see where the oil is comming from. It can be 1:vacum pump to power steering pump 2:injector pump to gearcase. 3oil pan gasket. 4 front seal. 5 venthose&baffle,needs to be very clean on inside. Most of these repairs are rather time consuming.Also check radiator to se if it is caked with oil dirt gerase around the fanoutline, if so it needsto be removed&degreased also

i found it! it is the tappet cover gasket... it really bad! i add about 2 quarts of oil a week... its very costly

That is a miserable item to reseal. If I remember correctly, the ECU and Injection pump need to come off to gain access.

I thinkyou're right it all has to come off power steerng/vacum pump also?

PS pump and Vac pump may make it easier. It all depends what you are willing to work around, or remove first. In the end, the time may be the same to work around something as it would be to remove it. The frustration level, either way, is a cost one has to weigh himself, or herself.

well no problem. i have large amounts of time to work on it.