I have a very slight oil leak on the lower oil hose to the oil cooler. Not enough to drip on the ground. Seems to be coming from the metal-to-rubber compression fitting at the oil cooler end. Just a little oil running down the metal line and onto the cooler fitting. Should I be concerned about this? They don't normally "catastrophically fail" do they? Thanks, RT

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When all else fails, vote from the rooftops!
84' Mercedes Benz 300D Anthracite/black, 171K
03' Volkswagen Jetta TDI blue/black, 93K
93' Chevrolet C2500HD ExCab 6.5TD, Two-tone blue, 252K

If it has only started to 'sweat' you have some time (unles you lose a belt, which is a very good point, but hopefully will never happen). I drove my car for 15-20k with my upper hose doing the exact same thing, before I decided to change it. I could have left it for longer, but had it in the shop, so got it done.

I used 15wt dino oil... not sure what synth might do to these hoses, but I know that in my ZR2, which is notorious for seeping oil cooler hoses at the same spot, when I went from penzoil to mobil 1 5w-30, the hose started seeping, and has since... (and my truck was ok from when new, and it still seeps for the last 15k)

JMH

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Current Diesels:
1981 240D (73K)
1982 300CD (169k)
1985 190D (169k)
1991 350SD (113k)
1991 350SD (206k)
1991 300D (228k)
1993 300SD (291k)
1993 300D 2.5T (338k)
1996 Dodge Ram CTD (442k)
1996 Dodge Ram CTD (265k)

Past Diesels:
1983 300D (228K)
1985 300D (233K)