First ride in truck today- Did not turn out good

[deleted user 89485]

I took the truck out today for its first trip. I went to get fuel. When I got back to the house I noticed that I had gone from 40psi oil pressure at the start to almost nothing on the gauge. There was a lot of white smoke coming out of he tube under the left side of the engine and oil had sprayed out somewhere on the left side. I can see it trickled all around the truck. It is a 2006 with the C7. Anyone have any ideas where to start? I am waiting to let it cool down.

 

[coachgeo]

turbo oil drain or turbo oil feed tube? Where is turbo on c7... left or right? I forget which tube is on these CATs. Maybe both. There has been reports on the 3116 I believe of this tube cracking..... not sure about the c7..... but it is a place to start.

 

[redman333]

Clean off the engine. Refill the oil and run the engine in your yard and then look for where the oil is coming from.


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[319cssb]

40psi at start is too low, it should be 60psi. Did you check your fluids before taking off? Was there a check engine light on?
have a look at the air compressor and see if it has lose bolts. Post some pictures of what you can see.
And dont start the engine without knowing what the source of the leak is.

 

[NDT]

Cat in bad shape, smoke from draft tube never simple fix

 

[Ronmar]

Yea, lot of smoke from the CC vent is not a good sign... How much oil was still in the engine? What does that oil look like(is it contaminated/milky)? I would answer those questions before I added any oil for a test run.

 

[deleted user 89485]

UPDATE- Before I read any of these comments I went back down to the truck to check it out now that it is cold. I checked the oil level and it I was within normal range. I started the truck and I immediately had 40psi oil pressure. No check engine or dash lights. No smoke coming from the vent tube. If the engine was too full of oil...which it was originally over the fill line...could that have caused the issue? I only ran it for about 2 minutes to verify oil pressure and see if there was smoke. If there is a problem shouldn’t I get white smoke from the vent all the time? Or just when the engine is hot? Thanks.

 

[deleted user 89485]

Oil looked clean but was a little full before I took it out.

 

[deleted user 89485]

C7 turbo is on the right side.

 

[Awesomeness]

You're only real bet is to clean it off and run it. Anything else is just guessing, and you're going to get 100 different opinions.

These trucks have a ton of fluid capacity, so you can lose quite a bit before it hurts anything. A small amount also makes a huge mess, so it's hard to tell how much you've lost.

40PSI at idle is normal for my truck (3116, not C7, but 40PSI is not "low"). And no, unless it was crazy over-full (e.g. gallons) there would have been little/no noticeable change (e.g. smoke, leaking, etc.).

 

[deleted user 89485]

I want to thank you all so much for the replies. Anything you can add will surely be appreciated.

 

[Awesomeness]

Be sure to skim through the Common Issues / Fixes document here in my signature. Many new owners come into the forums with the same problems, asking the same questions. You can get a jump on what you need to know by reading it.

 

[319cssb]

40 psi IS low on start up and cold oil. It should be 60psi. There is either something wrong with the oil pump or the oil is contaminated with diesel.
Now if the engine starts of with 60psi and goes down to 40psi as the oil is at operating temperature, that is normal.

But dont take my word or anyones word for it. Do your own research. Because noone here will buy you a new engine if you fire it up and poke a hole in it. Google specific pdf files for c-7 or at least 3126 engines.

A better idea than to skim through anyones list of opinions is to download the engines manual and read through that.

 

[redman333]

40 psi IS low on start up and cold oil. It should be 60psi. There is either something wrong with the oil pump or the oil is contaminated with diesel

A better idea than to skim through anyones list of opinions is to download the engines manual and read through that.

Thanks for your opinion


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[319cssb]

Thanks for your opinion


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I addressed it to the OP, but you're welcome anyway.
Maybe your should update your post, as i edited it while you responded.

 

[redman333]

I addressed it to the OP, but you're welcome anyway.
Maybe your should update your post, as i edited it while you responded.

Nah but again thanks for your opinion


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[Coffey1]

I have a 3116 it starts off at 60psi cold.
I over filled oil and it puked it out no smoke or nothing strange just puked and made a mess.

 

[dmetalmiki]

Sometimes the "little things" mentioned help a LOT...Its the..Support (and encouragement)..that ..counts.
just my '1/2'..p.

 

[Ronmar]

Well you would need a viscometer to accurately check for lube oil dilution, but sometimes your nose can give you a good clue about diesel in the oil.

Since it was your first drive, it could be that you finally got it warm enough to drive out moisture in the oil, or it has a high diesel content that was vaporising and causing the “smoke”.

The nearly no oil pressure near the end of your drive dosnt sound good though. I think the A1 is like the A0 in that it also has a low oil pressure switch/circuit that lights a warning light in the annunciator panel on the dash(it also controls alternator excitation). That light should come on when power is applied and should extinguish when the oil pressure climbs past 15 PSI immediately after start. Since it is a separate circuit from the gauge sender, if the oil pressure gauge read lower than 15PSI and that light didnt come on, this may be a poorly timed instrunmentation issue.

How was the engine temp?

An inexpensive mechanical pressure gauge for testing and an infra-red thermometer can go a long way in helping you confirm actual conditions and instrunment accuracy.

Best not to take anything for granted. I started test driving mine last weekend, It pulls to the left when braking. The pneumatic actuator appears to be working but the wedge actuator on ter right side is not forcing the plungers apart. While troubleshooting and comparing sides, I noticed that 3 of the 4 front brake shoes are installed backwards...

 

[Awesomeness]

40 psi IS low on start up and cold oil. It should be 60psi. There is either something wrong with the oil pump or the oil is contaminated with diesel.
Now if the engine starts of with 60psi and goes down to 40psi as the oil is at operating temperature, that is normal.
But dont take my word or anyones word for it. Do your own research. Because noone here will buy you a new engine if you fire it up and poke a hole in it. Google specific pdf files for c-7 or at least 3126 engines.
A better idea than to skim through anyones list of opinions is to download the engines manual and read through that.

40PSI is a perfectly acceptable oil pressure at a low idle, still cool after just having started up. 40PSI is plenty of pressure to lubricate everything, and is not severe enough to be indicative of anything wrong with the oil pump or there being diesel in the oil. Yes, as the oil heats it thins, and pressure will drop some. There is also a good chance on these trucks that a low oil pressure would be the result of a bad gauge or sender, before the mechanical pump should be suspected of having problems.

I went and double checked the manuals, and they confirm. Both the military manuals and CAT manuals say minimum acceptable oil pressure at low idle is 15PSI. Minimum oil pressure for running under load is 36PSI. So even if some people say 40PSI is abnormal, it is acceptable, and sufficient to lubricate the engine.

As for the comment about not skimming through my document, this engine oil pressure question isn't in there, and that's not what I was alluding to. There are however sections about the air compressor brackets and oil tubes coming loose, cracking the front housing, etc., which are common sources of oil leaks for these trucks. That's why I was pointing him to it.