Stuck on the side of the road! Blew a ton of oil out, not sure where from

[seanwmurph]

Please help me out! Just 40 minutes of driving on the freeway (it's about 95deg out) and when I stopped for fuel I noticed a lot of oil on the frame and leaf springs of the truck (1994 M1081, CAT 3116). Dipstick reads extremely low, below cold fill. I did find a loose bolt on the front of the block that seems suspect. There's no oil at the usual line of death (haven't yet replaced that).

Oil pressure has been reading hi, around 60-70 psi. I haven't checked with a mechanical gauge but I ignored it since that's inside normal range.

And ideas? I'm in a safe spot thankfully, hoping I can fix it in place and drive home. Oh, and my cab tilt hydraulics decided to quit on me

 

[NDT]

I would fill the engine with oil, crank it up, rev the engine with the hand throttle, and climb underneath to see what is dripping.

 

[Ronmar]

Crack in the timing case? Are the compressor mount and support bracket bolts tight? Are all those timing case cover bolts tight?

 

[seanwmurph]

Crack in the timing case? Are the compressor mount and support bracket bolts tight? Are all those timing case cover brackets tight>

I see one bolt miraculously is entirely backed out on the timing case. Hard to see in the photo. It seems like there's too much oil for it to all be from that one... But tightening that, adding oil, and looking underneath is a good plan

 

[simp5782]

Where are you stranded at so maybe another member can lend a hand that is near by.

 

[wheelspinner]

Make sure your dip stick is in and screwed tight

 

[coachgeo]

Make sure your dip stick is in and screwed tight

what side of the engine is this?

search "Oil Line of Death" in here.

 

[Mario]

what side of the engine is this?

search "Oil Line of Death" in here.

He said he checked it and that part was clean and dry.

 

[coachgeo]

He said he checked it and that part was clean and dry.

phewwwwww.... happy for him!!!

 

[seanwmurph]

Update:
It appears as though there's no cracks or blown lines, just the compressor mount bolts loosened while driving, allowing oil to flow out fast enough to be scary looking, but probably lost less than a gallon. Percentage wise, that's not so bad! I'm definitely feeling lucky I found it before it got worse. I tightened and checked all the timing case bolts, and there were two loose ones at the compressor.

Sorry for taking so long to update, thank you all!! I was in San Miguel, CA for reference

 

[Mullaney]

Update:
It appears as though there's no cracks or blown lines, just the compressor mount bolts loosened while driving, allowing oil to flow out fast enough to be scary looking, but probably lost less than a gallon. Percentage wise, that's not so bad! I'm definitely feeling lucky I found it before it got worse. I tightened and checked all the timing case bolts, and there were two loose ones at the compressor.

Sorry for taking so long to update, thank you all!! I was in San Miguel, CA for reference

.
As odd as it sounds, all the rattle-shake action that happens on diesel trucks kill more parts than actual wear and tear. When you have time, pull out your books and a torque wrench. Tighten everything in sight TO SPEC and you will have a much happier truck. Chances are you will be a happier driver too!

Glad to hear that you are up and running again!

 

[Godspeed131]

One other thing I was told when I got mine and had read all over here, All that loose hardware could possibly mean a lot of vibration coming off the driveline. If not done, might want to inspect all the drive shafts for wear in the yokes and slip joints and check for phase alignment on each end of the shafts.

 

[Third From Texas]

Make sure your dip stick is in and screwed tight

That gave me a heart attack one time.

Looked like gallons of oil had blown.

It was about a six ounces.

LOL

 

[seanwmurph]

Thanks for the tips. Yeah usually I'm a torque wrench only guy, exceptions include being on the roadside...

There sure is more vibration than I was expecting, I think a fair amount of that is the cab shocks being adjusted too high and the front tie rod needs an aligned. The front two tires are Michelin XML's, in process of changing to Goodyear MVT's for hopefully better on road sound and performance.

To date all the inspection of the driveshafts I've done is grabbing them and trying to wiggle them. Everything seems very tight, and i did fill them all with fresh grease, but there could easily still be a phasing issue or excessive lash. I'll look into it more and report back if that ends up being part of the issue.

 

[Mullaney]

Thanks for the tips. Yeah usually I'm a torque wrench only guy, exceptions include being on the roadside...

There sure is more vibration than I was expecting, I think a fair amount of that is the cab shocks being adjusted too high and the front tie rod needs an aligned. The front two tires are Michelin XML's, in process of changing to Goodyear MVT's for hopefully better on road sound and performance.

To date all the inspection of the driveshafts I've done is grabbing them and trying to wiggle them. Everything seems very tight, and i did fill them all with fresh grease, but there could easily still be a phasing issue or excessive lash. I'll look into it more and report back if that ends up being part of the issue.

.
You might also look out front down and somewhat behind the bumper. There are two inch thick rubber "biscuits" that are Cab Support Bushings. When I changed those out my entire truck rode almost like a new vehicle. The airbags were apparently fighting for position or something like that...

Had nothing to do with leaks or oil dribbles - but it would sure beat you half to death before that fix.