Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) YIKES! and a big mess!

[R Butts]

I'll try to keep this short... Last Thursday night I was driving around Columbus, OH when I suddenly noticed what appeared to be smoke coming from behind my truck. I could see it coming from around the trailer I was pulling in the head lights of the car following me (my wife and mother-in-law). So my first thought was a brake had locked up or was running hot... as I began to look at my brake controller to see if it was stuck or something... I notice the red oil can on my tach!!!



A quick check of the oil pressure gauge confirms, NO OIL PRESSURE! YIKES. As quickly as I could I got it into neutral and shut down the engine. I would guess from the time I saw the smoke to shutdown to be maybe 10-15 seconds. I don't know when the oil light came on. I managed to get through traffic and over to the breakdown lane with no problems. Upon exiting the vehicle, we discovered the entire passenger side was covered with oil. And once I got under the hood, I found that one of my bypass filter lines (Amsoil Dual Remote system) had broken.



I was able to remove the adaptor plate and replace it with a FRAM filter and Rotella oil after a quick trip to walmart (complete with some arm twisting to let us in, since they were closing. )



So my question is this... what do you all think the damage would be? There is nothing too obvious at this point. So far all I have noticed is a little different sound when I shutdown the engine (almost like it doesn't have the same compression... ). But otherwise all seems good? Any suggestions on what to look for?

 

[SRadke]

Check the turbo shaft for wobble or endplay. Any endplay is bad but you can expect some side to side so long as you can't make the compressor fins rub the housing. The turbo bushings are virtually always the fisrt to go in a no oil pressure situation.



-Scott

 

[Bobcat698]

I had this happen with a trans cooler line. . Didn't realize I had oil EVERYWHERE all over the truck until the trans started slipping and not holding gears. . I fixed the line and added SIX quarts of fluid. .

The trans is still alive!

 

[Andy Redmond]

What happened never prolongs the engine/component life, but it might be ok.



If you have good oil pressure (if you don't then maybe some bearing scoring on the crank/rod), consider getting a diesel shop to perform a manometer test (tests for piston ring/combustion blowby). Your FSM will tell you the minimum and maximum ranges and the lo/hi oil psi specs.



An oil analysis would show any major bearing wear etc. You might have to perform a second analysis shortly after the first one to get a base line. Hint use the same brand of oil.



I had the same thing happen to one of my customers on a trip to Alaska last summer. They drove several miles before they noticed something was up. A passerby referred them to a diesel shop about three miles in the opposite directions. So after it cooled down they drove it there, presumably with little oil.



A TDR member (stationed in the military) responded to the travel companion request and had new lines made up, changed engine oil and filter and they have put about 15000 miles on the truck since.



Maybe two people will get lucky!



Andy

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

This is a perfect example of why I'm uncomfortable installing a bypass system on my truck. I know it's not common for this to happen but I don't like the idea of my engine's precious lifeblood circulating away from the engine (other than the turbo) because of how fast you can loose oil if a hose leaks or fails.



Vaughn

 

[Evil Otto]

i had this happen 2 times. first time wasted over heated and wasted head gasket. eng smokes a little now. i installed an auto meter warning light because you don't see the factory one. the second time some how the sender spade broke off and i was saying to my self i need to replace it before i need it. and then i heard the turbo making noise looked down and once again no oil pressure. took out the hx 40 but the cummins still going strong.

do your self a favor get rid of the by pass. no matter how good you install it it will vibrate and cause problems.



ED