Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Oil consumption

[FourBarR]

I remember on the early 98. 5 there were some trucks with the wrong dipsticks. could that be the problem? there is a service bulltin on it somewhere.

 

[Learguy]

I've got 130K on mine. No oil between changes. I use the 11 qts and it runs halfway between "ADD" and "SAFE"

 

[Nate]

Here is a short clip. I couldn't get the blowby to show up good on the video. I'll try again tomorrow or something.



First part is after first firing it up... normal?



http://98jeepzj.com/stuff/truck2. mpg

 

[Nate]

I put 11 quarts in when I filled it and I was in the safe zone. Next time I checked, I was at add. Same for the next time I checked. So in 5500 miles or so, I've got through about 2-2. 5 quarts. I've gotta do an oil change and I'll keep better track of it this time, but I know it's using oil.

I remember on the early 98. 5 there were some trucks with the wrong dipsticks. could that be the problem? there is a service bulltin on it somewhere.

 

[TJany]

does the truck smoke blue smoke? also, how bad does the oil look? is it extremely black? i've got about 90,000 on mine and the oil still has a goldish color to it when i change it. If your oil is extremely black, you could potentially have a blow by problem, with cylinder issues, ie: oil rings not doing their job and oil getting into the cylinder and being burnt.



My opinion, at 2-2. 5 quarts per oil change, i would not be overly concerned about it, top her off and keep driving it.



Side note: my 95 6. 5 Chevy would lose (assumingly burn cause no major leaks) about 5 quarts between oil changes (oil at 5000) and the oil was so black immediately on start up it was ridiculous, truck looked like i put the old oil back in. Each motor has its own tendencies, hard to believe, but true. Keep drivin it and don't worry about it.



Tim

 

[Jetson]

How is the water in the radiator? Bad head gaskets oftenl start letting oil blow into the water.

 

[Nate]

The only smoke I get is the white smoke in the video at startup. Antifreeze looks good. I changed it this summer and it still looks new.



Really I haven't seen anything abnormal, other than the blowby from the vent tube and loosing oil.



At this point, oil is cheaper than engine work, so I'm going to continue to run it. Who knows, it might last another 200,000 miles like this?

 

[Nate]

The only smoke I get is the white smoke in the video at startup. Antifreeze looks good. I changed it this summer and it still looks new.



Really I haven't seen anything abnormal, other than the blowby from the vent tube and loosing oil.

 

[obert]

11 vs 12 qt -- I remember the tsb, but not the part numbers. About 6 or 8 mo's of first production ISB for ram got the wrong dipstick (mine included) and 12 quarts is perfectly safe, per cummins. According to another bulliten if you point down too sharp an incline the timing gears will sling oil out the breather though, and I guess thats why they put a bottle on.....

As far as suspected oil consumption/power loss, If you have EVER used a fram oil filter, you may have a clogged piston nozzle and a cylender(s) getting scored. If you tow alot you would already know about this. I found out you only get about 1000 miles before your stuck on the side of the road... .

Unlikely at best, but the sinking feeling you just had was priceless :-laf

 

[Nate]

I've never used a Fram filter, but I didn't buy the truck new, so I can't say what the previous owners did. I know the guy I bought it from used Wix filters.



I wonder if I should look at doing a compression test, or if it's even worth it?



I've done some towing with it... probabably about 3000 miles pulling 6500-7000lbs.

 

[obert]

You should be fine. Diesels are oil burners, I would<should> be concerned for not using oil. Im at 157k and since it was broke in(the second time ) the dipstick is on add by next oil change, usualy 5 to 6 thousand miles.

 

[Nate]

I'm going to change the oil this weekend and keep an eye on the oil... check it at every fillup or whatever.



It's got decent power, though I find that pulling just the Jeep/trailer, it pulls fairly hard. A few of the passes in Washington/Oregon... such as Deadman's Pass, I was able to do 60mph, and that's about it. Basically wide open throttle in 3rd gear, 28lbs of boost... 1150* EGT.

Have a Superchip programmer, straight piped exhaust, 315/75/16 BFG M/T with 3. 55 gears. I haven't driven another truck with a similar setup, so it's hard to say if mine is comparable in power.



I'm kind of wondering if I should regear the axles to 4. 10s, which will bascially be the same as 3. 55s and stock tires in terms of RPMs... or should I spend money on the motor?

 

[Jetson]

One easy thing to check for oil consumption is the turbo. Pull the boots off and check for an oily film. That is probably not where it's going, but it's easy to check.



You may just have bad valve guides. It is apparently pretty common with the 24v heads.

 

[obert]

You may just have bad valve guides. It is apparently pretty common with the 24v heads.

News to me. Thats disturbing.

 

[obert]

well I just checked out your video clip( took about 200 years on my slow-*** conecton) A couple of questions:



It was chilly out cause I herd the grid heater kick on a few times. 1) what was the temp and 2) did you "wait to start"?



Looks normal to me. That smoke kinda burn your eyes right? Looks like unburned fuel from a cold diesel.



I'd have to look at mine to see if the draft tube vapors like that. I dont have the medeia recorses to put up a video, but I could describe it to you.

Your draft tube (vent, whatever) seems to have been relocated, and looks pretty clean. The stock '98 location makes a horrible mess and it seems a fair amount of "blowby" is to be expected from the ISB of this vintage.



Bud, relax. Your engine is fine. There may or may not be a variety of minor problems, but i would profesionally say that there is nothing worth the agrivation going on under your hood



From what ive seen/read, Id say the the biggest problem is that this engine wasnt rode hard enough to set the rings early on, and the cylenders might be a little shiny.

Is this a auto transmission, its easy to be easy on the engine that way.

 

[Nate]

It was about 40-45* when I took that video. I always wait on the wait to start light. It will smoke like that for a good 5-10 minutes. Once the motor is warmed up it goes away though.



Yeah I relocated the breather to that spot. It was making a nasty mess all over the engine and front axle, etc with it in the stock spot. I had it just past the control arm mounts at first, but then at a stop light with my window down I'd get Rotella fumes right blowing up in my face. So I put a longer hose, bascially past the cab.



Yeah it's an auto. (wish it wasn't!) It's hard to say how the truck was treated by the previous owners. I know it was used to pull a gooseneck livestock trailer at one point, as well as a 30' enclosed car hauler/mobile shop.

 

[obert]

Cheap Entertainment

In a crowded public parking lot, skip the WTS cycle and just start when its 35 or 40 out. Turns out not ervry one likes the smell of a diesel in the morning... or afternoon for that matter in the winter. :-laf :-laf