Archived need help bad

[GLynn]

So here it is I have a 97 CTD and it seems like whenever I go 70 mph or higher i lose oil. I mean a serious amount of oil not like a quart or two I lose at least a gallon or more when traveling at these speeds for an extended period of time. I live in NY but go to school in OH and i make the trip back and forth some weekends and I'm tired of losing so much oil. Does anyone have any ideas on what might be causing this or how to fix it.

 

[hammersley]

Is it burning it -

or leaking???? I mean that much oil leaking would be noticed on the driceway or under the rig.

 

[GLynn]

no, it's blowing the oil out the breather tube under the truck. It all appears on the undercarriage and tailgate

 

[Joe Mc]

How many miles on rig?

 

[GLynn]

105000 miles on truck

 

[GAmes]

Is there oil from the front of the engine back, or does it start where the breather tube comes down? Have you got under it while someone revs it up to 2500 rpm to verify it is coming from the tube?

 

[RGuzzo]

I have heard of this happening and it wasnt from engine wear. I just dont remember what the cause was. I also have a 97 and either by coincedence or just happens to be just that I read somewhere and kept it in the back of my mind cause it was a 97anyway I do remember the fix wasnt anything major if that puts your mind at ease. I DONT LIKE GUESSING SO i WONT. i will do some research to see If I can come up with something

 

[GLynn]

well i havent gone under it with it at 2500 rpms but i know its coming from the breather because it drips on the front drive shaft and sprays all over the rest of the undercarriage and it is dry from the breather forward. But when i go home this weekend i will take a look at the breather with the truck reved up thanks for the advice. I talked to my teacher at school and he said that it could be the turbo boosting down the oil return line into the crankcase. Has anyone ever experienced this before?

 

[Joe Mc]

Not many miles at all. As far as the turbo boosting down the oil return . . . I don't know, You're really not pushing a great deal of boost at a cruise. Only thing that comes to mind is blow by, but that doesn't make sense as your miles are so low. Is it possible some of the oil retuns to the pan from the timing gear area are restricted and when at constant speed the oil doesn't retun as much to the pan so it has no other recourse then to follow the vent out?? This is an interesting one - be sure to keep us posted. Good luck.

 

[Mundgyver]

You might want to do a compression check of each cylinder just to be on the safe side for the blow-by theory, piece of mind would be the reason here.

 

[GLynn]

where is the best place to get a compression tester that will work for my engine, and also how big of a gauge would I need as far as psi rating?

 

[Joe Mc]

GLynn - My thoughts exactly and where does the tester get screwed into the combustion chamber in order to take readings?

 

[CPjMech]

I have changed a few turbos on CAT's that were boosting down the drain line. No oil out exh pipe or in the comp side of the turbo. Cust complaint was a lot of blow-by and oil coming from the breather tube. We found the problem by removing the drain line and fab'd up a hose to put on the drain of the turbo and letting it run into a bucket, all the "blow-by" or boost came out the drain hose instead of the breather tube. I was a little easier to T/S because we had it on the dyno. One other thing, if it is a piston prob more than likely the blow-by coming out the breather tube will have a "woofing" or pulseing effect to it, where as a turbo problem will have a constant flow coming out.

 

[FourBarR]

what about the kdp. could be running down the outside of the tube making you think its coming out the tube. make sure you dont have a cracked front cover etc.

 

[SCeslow]

I would check the oil capacity to be sure it's not overfull. This would blow oil out the vent tube. Also make sure you are using oil rated for your Cummins diesel. I use Amsoil 15W40 synthetic and in the past, Shell Rotella T 15W40 w/o any problems.

 

[capt steve]

have you emptied the blow by bottle. i once had a detroit generator on a tug that had a blocked blow by and caused back pressure in the crank case which caused oil to blow by the oil rings. just a thought.

 

[Smokey96]

My truck used to do the exact same thing. It would blow oil all over the tailgate and undercarrige. I fixed my problem by not adding oil to the engine after it blows it out. Once it gets on the "S" for safe on the dip stick IT DOES'NT USE A DROP!!!! After it gets down to the "S" DON'T ADD ANYMORE OIL. I am about 90% sure that it's from at least one broken ring.