Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) Burping oil

[Alphacowboy]

ok, I picked up a 12v from a friend (finally, its only been 6 months since i bought it from him) anyway, when pulled it was running, but puking oil out the dip stick. It had a knock, but I didnt hear it, so I dont know if it was lower end knock or not. My question is this, there is NO oil residue on the exhaust side of the turbo, there is NO oil in the exhaust manifold. There was oil however on the compressor side, and some in the I/C as well. I havent torn into it yet, but hopefully this next week I will crack it open. What ya'll think? think its a piston, head gasket, or do you think it might have just blown the turbo seals and sucked a bunch of oil in through the intake? I guess we will see... kinda anxious to see if its bad or not, sure hope not. I think I got a good deal on it, but well find out.

 

[CumminsPower98]

The turbo ring on the compressor side is bad if you have any oil there. This could also let boost pressure into the crankcase through the turbo oil drain causing it to puke oil.

 

[Alphacowboy]

well, pulled the valve covers last night. When i turned the engine over by hand (pulled the injectors) all the valves move and seem to work ok. Also, really good news, I can crank the engine over and feel no metal grinding, non clunking indications of a rod or crank bearing beaing bad. Very smooth to turn over, AND I can hear compression in each and every cylinder when tunring them over through the injector holes. Going to pull the head next week, as this weekend is busy (1 year anniversary ) but hopefully the cylinder walls are all good.

 

[tp0d]

Check all your vacuum lines for any cracks or open tubing. Might want to just take the hose off the vac pump and cap it, then run the truck and see if it still pukes. Might not have brakes without vacuum though, so just be aware. .



-j

 

[bmoeller]

May want to do a compression check before and after pulling the head. Out of curiosity, more than anything.

 

[Alphacowboy]

tpod, dont worry, engine is sitting on my garage floor, dont think I need to worry about stopping... . :-laf



where can I get an adaptor for my compression gauge that fits in the injector holes?

 

[tp0d]

Ahh ic. . I didnt read your post well enough i guess



good luck running down that excess pressure. . compression test is a very good idea. .



-j

 

[WDaniels]

Alphacowboy,

Do a monometer check on the crank case. Most times when you blow oil out your dipstick means that you have blowby on the pistons rings. It is an easy check to do. Thats one thing I always do when buying a diesel. Hope this helps.

WD

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Huh, so you're saying it was worse than just a bad turbo Alphacowboy?

 

[Alphacowboy]

dont know yet... whats a monometer?



I ended up working really late tonight, so I didnt get to dig into it like I wanted too... later this week I guess...

 

[tp0d]

I think he meant a "manometer" which is a gauge for reading pressure in inches of water column. You may have a bit more pressure than the standard manometer can handle though (most read to 1psi max). Cheap manometers are the slack tube type with the pink fluid in them (u-tube shape). ( I know this cus I use a 400$ digital manometer everyday to check gas pressure on the large waterheaters and boilers I work on)



I`d do the compression check first before worrying about the blowby issue. If you have a cylinder thats low, then you possibly have a blowby problem from wore rings. But thats only possible if the oil wasnt changed regularly, air contamination, or very high mileage (300k+)



good luck



-j

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Alpha I was assuming you checked out the turbo and it wasn't the cause of your problem so that's why you pulled the motor. . . items like turbos and vacuum pumps can make a motor act like it's sicker than it is. Mine went through phases where it was using a lot of oil, puking blue smoke but swapping out the turbo really helped. Not doing bad at 392,000 mi.



Vaughn

 

[Alphacowboy]

Ok, so I pulled the head on this beast finally, found a few things. Head gasket was blown on Cyl 5, not that big of a deal, BUT cyl 6 got HOT! its pitted really bad, to the point where part of the piston looks like its been erroded away. Valves look ok, very little contact marks on #6 valves, but the piston is BAD. Plus, the cylinder wall on 6 has alot of scaring, and looks like some of the aluminum has melted on to the walls. 1-5 are all very smooth and look pretty damn good. So my question is this, what do I do? How much would this cost to fix? I want to use this engine for a trail/offroad prodject, so its not going to be driven daily, hell probably only every now and then, no more than maybe once a month. BUT, I dont want to skimp on fixing it either! Thinking I might build it duel purpose, trail rig, and light pulling truck, but the pulling would be down the road as I dont have money to burn on this project. Pictures are below...



#6 piston

#ad




Another of #6

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Cyl #6 Bore

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Another of Cyl #6

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Valves on 6

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5 & 6 head

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close up of the head on 6 (thats not a crack, is a flake of carbon)

#ad

 

[Alphacowboy]

Head

#ad




Block

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Blown head gasket

#ad




Lastly, just out of curiousity, what is this for on the bottom of the intake half of the head?

#ad

 

[bgilbert]

Sorry I can't help you with the piston and any other ideas, but I will answer your curiousity question. That is a fuel filter mount for engines with a rotary injection pump, such as a 1st gen. Thanks for the pics btw.

 

[Alphacowboy]

in all honesty, what am I looking at to get the block machined, heads gone over, new pistons and bearings? I would be doing the tear down and rebuild, but the machine work and parts is what I would have to pay for.

 

[tp0d]

well im far from an expert, but #6 looks horrible. If you want this motor to be at all reliable where ever you plan to use it, I think you need to tear it down and start fresh. Mebe mic #6 and see how much damage to the walls, but the rings are prolly toasty. .



I would tear it all down. . dunno a cost but i think 1500 could cover it.



good luck



-j