Oil loss / use.

[corelokt]

I don't where, but my oil drops when I drive it.. I laid under it for nearly a half hour and no leaks. I put cardboard under it and revved it, no leaks. I drive it around the block, about 3 miles, lots of hills, lots of turbo boosting, come home, down a pint. Any ideas?

 

[Bighorn]

I don't where, but my oil drops when I drive it.. I laid under it for nearly a half hour and no leaks. I put cardboard under it and revved it, no leaks. I drive it around the block, about 3 miles, lots of hills, lots of turbo boosting, come home, down a pint. Any ideas?

#1 You are burning it in your cylinders due to bad or worn rings.
You should see this as a lot of blowby out the crank case breather or blue smoke even when not on the throttle.

#2 leaking oil past intake valve stems due to loose tolerance or bad valve stem seals or both.

That is a lot of oil to lose in 3 miles.
If it isn't leaking or going into the radiator via the oil cooler, it must be being burned up.
If it were a blown head gasket you would know it and most likely rather than burn oil it would be dead on one or more cylinders.

My 400 sbc uses 1 quart every 500 miles and that is considered quite high.
Culprit in my case; Sloppy valve stem guides/ clearance beyond what the stem seals can control.
Mine burns a lot of oil on a long downhill due to high vacuum in the intake.

Of course a diesel doesn't generate vacuum in the intake and in your case you even have pressure in your intake due to the turbo.

#3 Hey, could the turbo be leaking oil into your intake?
That would be another possibility.
In fact, in your case, this might be a very strong possibility because you mention "lots of boost".
Maybe pull and inspect that turbo.

 

[corelokt]

Turbo is new and smoke is grey. I can't figure it out. If it was feeding into the turbo that much, wouldn't it go runaway? The heads we're spot on when I pulled them and put studs in. Is it possible it is only leaking under boost? I don't see how, as the coolant is fine.

 

[Drock]

Have you changed or moved your CDR valve?

 

[Bighorn]

I have been reading on the web.
White smoke is the major symptom of a turbo leaking oil into the exhaust side.
If it is leaking oil into the exhaust impeller cavity then the idle would not change nor would the engine go run-away.
You would just be burning it up in the exhaust and emitting white smoke.

 

[Chaski]

Blocked drain from the turbo and blown seals maybe?

 

[corelokt]

I'll check the turbo drain, good to know. Doesn't do it all the time. My air intake is homemade and the newerish CDR runs to the suction side of the turbo air feed, post filter. Turbo is new, offshore manufacture. The old one had some leakage too. I'll pull the drain hose.

 

[Drock]

Can you post some pics? The CDR valve is very temperamental. If you've installed it backwards or unlevel it will suck oil into the motor QUICKLY! Also they can fill up pretty quick normally, like 10,000 miles. You can clean it out with diesel fuel.

 

[corelokt]

How do you mean not level. It plugs into the valve cover on mine. No choice on it's angle. Do you mean where the outlet points?

 

[Barrman]

The CDR is supposed to be hooked up before the filter.

There are several versions of the CDR. 2 versions that bolted on somewhere and then 2 versions that fit in the valve cover on the 1988 and newer engines. The valve cover versions are turbo and non turbo. There is a difference.

There are ways to test the operation of the CDR but basically with the engine running and the oil dipstick out. You should have just a bit of blow by at idle. Raise the rpm a bit and there should now be a very, very small suction at the oil dipstick tube.

If you have suction at idle, then your CDR is failed and or, your air filter is dirty and the engine is breathing off the blow by instead of outside air.

 

[Drock]

How do you mean not level. It plugs into the valve cover on mine. No choice on it's angle. Do you mean where the outlet points?

Well yours mounts different then. On the original CUCV 6.2 motors, when installing a Banks turbo you have to relocate the CDR valve. They are basically like a little oil bath air filter, like vehicles from the 50's had. The hose is supposed to go from the engine, into the bottom of the CDR, out the side of it, to the filter housing. If you have it tilted to one side the oil it catches will spill inside of it. And can cause a suction, causing a siphon affect, pulling oil out of the engine. Also I agree with Barrman it needs to be plumbed *BEFORE* the filter. Otherwise siphoning can occur this way as well. Also just under (normal circumstances in stock form), the way you know they need cleaning or replacing is you start using a bunch of oil. Like I said, CDR valves can be temperamental.

 

[corelokt]

Something else occurred to me. With the air filter such a restriction as it has been, maxing out the suction gauge I installed. It must have been pulling on the CDR like an s.o.b.

 

[Bighorn]

Something else occurred to me. With the air filter such a restriction as it has been, maxing out the suction gauge I installed. It must have been pulling on the CDR like an s.o.b.

So you've been driving around with a restricted air cleaner; gauge in the red, and you are surprised to have problems?
I don't understand.

 

[Drock]

Something else occurred to me. With the air filter such a restriction as it has been, maxing out the suction gauge I installed. It must have been pulling on the CDR like an s.o.b.

Okay where do you have the CDR plumbed into, And where is the boost gauge probe? Some pics would really help also!

 

[corelokt]

It's a new air cleaner installed at the same time as the turbo and injection pump. Between all that and the power steering, I missed it.
Both are in silicone elbows post filter, pre turbo.

 

[Drock]

 

[corelokt]

Tomorrow, the good Lord willing, I'm on my to Virginia with a 10k trailer in tow. Even with the weight hitch it squats the truck a bit. The 4l80 was built heavy and is working fine. Charged the breakaway battery, dual sway controls, class 5 hitch, 14 ply tires. If the engine and the parts bolted to it hold, it'll do it.

 

[corelokt]

I never have luck posting pics here. I post on another, truck stop, 6.5 performance site tho.

 

[The FLU farm]

Tomorrow, the good Lord willing, I'm on my to Virginia with a 10k trailer in tow.

I hope that's a trailer full of oil.

 

[Bighorn]

Tomorrow, the good Lord willing, I'm on my to Virginia with a 10k trailer in tow. Even with the weight hitch it squats the truck a bit. The 4l80 was built heavy and is working fine. Charged the breakaway battery, dual sway controls, class 5 hitch, 14 ply tires. If the engine and the parts bolted to it hold, it'll do it.

You said you're burning a pint of oil per 3 miles.
Driving from New York to Virginia pulling a 5 ton trailer.
Thats about 500 miles.
Divided by 3 equals 166 pints of oil burnt.
2 pints to a quart thats 83 quarts.
4 quarts a gallon thats 20.8 gallons of engine oil burnt to make Virginia.
Well, at least you'll save money on diesel fuel by burning that much out of the crankcase.

You'll be a quart low every 6-10 minutes.
Probably best to get one of those hand pumps and duct tape the line right into the crank case fill and the 20 gallon oil containers in the cab next to you.
That way you can pump oil into the engine as you drive.

Good Luck.