Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) '97 losing burning oil

[firemanmarc]

My friend's truck is burning about 1-2 quarts of oil in about 2hours of driving... What could be the problem? He told me the turbo seals seem to be fine. . Can the valve's cause that kind of oil usage??? Just curious if there is a common problem that is causing this. Also, the antifreeze is clean he said... Thank you, Marc

 

[bmoeller]

Head gasket puking out oil? My 6. 9L did that. Can leak oil, and not contaminate the coolant.

There is a cover on the drivers side of the block, and it could have a bad gasket.

Get bit by the KDP?

 

[GAmes]

I can't believe he is burning that much oil. I'd look underneath to see how much is dripping off the frame. Sounds like a really bad leak, as in KDP.

 

[fest3er]

One possibility is engine seals and gaskets. But they would have to be completely shot, not just 'failing'.

Another possibility is bad rings, losing compression into the crankcase. My '98 was using a quart every 500-1000 miles due to blow-by. The oil is pumped to the top of the engine. Crankcase pressure gets high enough (because the vent tube is too small) to prevent the oil from draining back to the pan, so it 'leaks' out wherever it can. Have him remove the oil filler cap (and cover the opening with a piece of cloth to keep dirt out). If this makes a difference, then you know part of the problem; he can install some PVC to make a new, large vent tube. But this will tend to rust-proof a large portion of the engine, frame and body.

But, as Moeller said, it could well be the side gasket. If this has blown out, a *lot* of oil will be lost.

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Could just be a vacuum pump problem or vacuum leak. It exhausts into the crankcase and if it's pumping lots of air in there it carries enough oil out the blowby tube to cause very high consumption.

My '96 did a weird thing about 2-1/2 years ago, it went through a phase for a few months where it would use 2-3 quarts of oil in just a few hundred miles, and I had oil all over the tailgate and coating the bottom of the truck. I ended up changing the oil and using a good dose of engine flush. After that oil consumption went down dramatically. Never really figured out what was up. I had about 365k on it then. Now at 405,000 it uses about 1 quart every 1000 miles, and doesn't blow much out the tube.

 

[arthr31]

Hi Vaughn,
What kinda oil are you using in your 12-valves? I have a similar problem, used 2qts in last 900-1100 miles but can't find the leak. I'm using amsoil 15w-40 for the last two years and this problem started in the last 2 or less months.

I'm thinking about switching to rotella 15w-40 to see if it slows down the consumption or stays the same. Thoughts on that? Can an oil type accelerate or slow down usuage?

Also, if it's 60*F or less (or so) i get a fair amount of bluish smoke at startup, if that matters...