What is this called?

It appears this thing is leaking. Nothing else is dripping on it. It's on the steering shaft halfway between the firewall and the steering rack. I know it spins as you turn the wheel. Someone called it a pinion, but the best I can find on the lousy diagram is it might be the intermediate shaft assembly? It's not on the steering rack but like a foot above it.

 

There is really nothing in the steering shaft to leak that bad.

Oil cooler leak ?? Looks like it has had a slight leak for some time

 

I've jacked it up and taken the wheel off before to inspect through the wheel well and try to locate the oil cooler a couple times before when people keep suggesting it's an oil cooler leak, and I still have no idea where the oil cooler is or what it looks like. I don't see anything that looks like the pic here. I could look again I guess. The oil filter isn't leaking.

 

Is your brake reservoir above that?

 

Your engine might not have an oil cooler.

It is attached to the block by a nipple should be inline with the oil filter towards the rear of the engine. It is round maybe 2' thick

There will be a coolant hose from the oil cooler that attaches to the thermostat housing on the left side of the engine.

Valve cover gaskets leaking and running down do you smell burning oil when you park??

 

That's a rag joint on the steering intermediate shaft, a rubber pad between two metal plates to allow for some misalignment and vibration damping. No fluid in there.

 

Exactly what @3JOH22A said.

Its either on the receiving end of a nasty driver side VCG leak, the steering rack is regurgitating all over it or oil filter/oil pump potentially leaking.

But yeah, this is exactly what OP is looking at.

 

What has me puzzled is this. WTH is that?

 

Its that round looking thing on the side of the engine

 

Valve cover gaskets aren't leaking. I did that whole job and nothing is leaking from up there.
I can't smell.

Is this it, dead center of pic? It's the only thing I see by crawling around the tire and looking towards the front. If so, it's just about the only thing around that's dry, if not clean.

 

Since you corrected the VCG leak, I'd clean up all that residue including the gunk on the steering shaft coupling assembly and then monitor. Clean up that oil pan and make sure that isn't where the issue is coming from.

 

Thanks for confirming that's the oil cooler! So I can rule that out.

I've actually degreased the area several times over the last two years. It just ends up like this again. I think the oil pan gasket is leaking, but that's too low to get onto the steering shaft. Everything from the exhaust manifold on up is dry as far as I can find.

 

It doesn’t look to be a fast leak, but the area looks like the oil cooler location. Weird you’re missing the oil cooler, haven’t seen many trucks without one, but still might be leaking from the thing that’s in its place. I bet it’s the same gasket on the bolt and o ring that makes contact at the block, parts are cheap and it’s an easy fix

 

Somebody spilled their oil changes every time?

There's really nothing above there. Oil cooler in that pic looks like it's seeping. Or its the pan gasket

 

Is that EGR?

 

At this point I think it was an old oil spill. Nothing is leaking above it.

The last pic, yes, that's the pipe from the exhaust to EGR valve.

 

I had an oil leak somewhere and only way I was able to find it was using the green dye kit. Found out my oil cooler was leaking (never knew I had an oil cooler until then!). I replaced the 2 o rings and not more leak. Be careful to clamp off your coolant hoses before you remove. The banjo bolt has 1 o ring and there is a larger o ring between the cooler and the cap.