Opinions on this video - 2008 LC for sale at BAT

[MRego]

Looking for a quick opinion on this video sent by a Seller. It is for sale at BAT - 2008 Texas truck its whole life. Maintenance papers say back in December 2025 previous owner took it for maintenance at a dealership and was recommended an "Engine Leak Diag." fix. They passed on that. The current seller at BAT says the PO has passed and his widow has no idea of what that was about and sent the video below showing parts of the engine, where I suspect evidence of leaking would show if there was one. There are additional videos of the LC in their website. Looks like a pretty mint grocery getter, but that leak observation casts a shadow.

Thoughts? Was the dealership trying to make a fast buck?

 

[bloc]

Someone was looking for something on that engine. In the passenger side wheel well there are supposed to be two plastic splash shields that bridge the gap between the frame and inner fender. The rear one has had the upper plastic clips broken and I can't tell if the front is there at all, or also had the clips broken and fell down.

Those things usually don't break by themselves.

My concern for a "leak" would be a valley plate, and possibly low coolant and overheat event. That leak wouldn't be visible with the above video.. if someone could get a bore scope in under the intake manifold to verify it's not present that would help a lot.

The other pretty common leak is an oil leak at the top outside edge of the front timing cover.. but that's just a very slow oil leak. Usually not a risk of damage to the engine.. just annoying when it starts to hit the garage floor.

Otherwise this thing looks pristine.

 

[MRego]

Someone was looking for something on that engine. In the passenger side wheel well there are supposed to be two plastic splash shields that bridge the gap between the frame and inner fender. The rear one has had the upper plastic clips broken and I can't tell if the front is there at all, or also had the clips broken and fell down.

Those things usually don't break by themselves.

My concern for a "leak" would be a valley plate, and possibly low coolant and overheat event. That leak wouldn't be visible with the above video.. if someone could get a bore scope in under the intake manifold to verify it's not present that would help a lot.

The other pretty common leak is an oil leak at the top outside edge of the front timing cover.. but that's just a very slow oil leak. Usually not a risk of damage to the engine.. just annoying when it starts to hit the garage floor.

Otherwise this thing looks pristine.

Thanks. Probably safe to budget around $4k to $5k to fix one of these potential leaks?

 

[bloc]

Thanks. Probably safe to budget around $4k to $5k to fix one of these potential leaks?

You can search for the cost to do a valley plate, but I don’t think it’s nearly that high.

The problem, as I see it, is a valley plate is a really sneaky leak and for some rigs it allows the coolant to get low enough that they get hot and that can do other engine damage.

If I knew the leak they were chasing was related to motor oil, yes it could be expensive to fix the leak but shouldn’t indicate other more severe damage.

If it turns out the leak they were chasing was a valley plate or other coolant leak.. I’d really want to dig deeper.. maybe contact the dealer service dept and see if they can provide clarity from the notes.

 

[Sandroad]

Hmmm….engine leak diagnosed, vehicle shows up on BAT 3 months later, owner is claimed to have died so no info available, provided video does not show areas of known potential coolant or oil leaks…..I would proceed cautiously on this one, if at all.

 

[MRego]

Hmmm….engine leak diagnosed, vehicle shows up on BAT 3 months later, owner is claimed to have died so no info available, provided video does not show areas of known potential coolant or oil leaks…..I would proceed cautiously on this one, if at all.

Yeah. I did not follow through with it. Really a gamble with that engine leak mark.

 

[hickuptruck]

There are piles of garbage being sold on BAT these days. Tread caution.