Consuming lots of oil

[The FNG]

Hi all,

I'm looking for some help here. I've got a 94 factory turbo IDI with 165k on it. I changed the oil in it last month along with new GP's. Everything seemed normal. I made a road trip from Portland to Wichita after the oil change and since then I really haven't driven it much.

Last week I took a little drive to the mountains to camp. I had a really hard time starting the truck, but finally got it to go. A week later, I was taking a short drive and started to hear a tick in the engine.

When I got home, I checked the oil and found it didn't even register on the dipstick (10 min wait on hot engine). So I added 2 quarts and it was on the checkered area so I left it.

Drove it to work this morning ( 45 miles). I decided to check the oil again... Not registering, so I added 1 gallon. Oil is now in the middle of the checkered area.

I have some small leaks on the valve cover gaskets, but no oil in the driveway. Exhaust is dry, so I don't think it's the turbo. I've replaced the CD-R about 80k ago but need to check that still.

Any ideas? Right now I'm assuming the worst, starting has gotten hard. I love my truck, so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Also, no coolant or oil cross contamination.


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[79jasper]

Time for a compression test.

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[The FNG]

Ya you're probably right. I'm thinking I'll try auto-rx as well. If I bought a compression tester, what would I need to get? I don't think my little gasser one would do it and there's no diesel shops in the area.


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[79jasper]

Search on here to see what others have done.

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[The FNG]

Search on here to see what others have done.

I found that pressures should be in the 350-400 range with about 10% deviation, but I'm not finding what compression tester they use. 250 or below indicates rings or valves.

Would valves cause oil consumption this bad all of a sudden? I also pulled the oil filler cap with it running as didn't see much more than a puff of smoke ( hardly visible).

I also assume that it goes in on the glow plug port and you have to pull the fuel shutoff solenoid. Do you test hot or cold? Do you have to pull all the glow plugs, or just one at a time?

Then do 5 revolutions minimum. Is this 5 up/downs or 5 cycles of each valve (10 revolutions)?


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[F350camper]

One more thing to check, your oil pressure sender. Make sure it's not giving you a high pressure only leak that you just dont see while its in the driveway.

 

[The FNG]

One more thing to check, your oil pressure sender. Make sure it's not giving you a high pressure only leak that you just dont see while its in the driveway.

Are you referring to the one at the top of the turbo? That seems fine, there's no leaks there and I also have a mechanical gauge plumbed in right next to it. Oil pressure is fine too.


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[F350camper]

That'd be the one, I've seen those fail and only leak when there is pressure behind them. But there should be some evidence if that's the case.

 

[79jasper]

If it was leaking while driving, the underbelly would be covered in oil.
One of the harbor freight diesel compression tester kits has the right adapter. But it may be the old stock one.
So you may have to get the correct adapter separately, or make your own. This is what I was saying to search for. Not the values.
If it was a intake guide/seal problem, it's totally possible for the engine to burn it as fuel, and you may never see smoke.

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[BrianX128]

So maybe this has no relevance but what oil are you using?

 

[idiabuse]

So maybe this has no relevance but what oil are you using?

all oils are the same just change it often, they said...

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[BrianX128]

Yeah, not as much asking to see what oil but rather if something different was used in the truck when it was last changed since he mentioned it was freshly changed. If something different was used I was just thinking maybe the engine was able to burn it as fuel more easily then the previous viscosity or brand of oil. Long shot idea, I know.

 

[mbolton1990]

Yeah, not as much asking to see what oil but rather if something different was used in the truck when it was last changed since he mentioned it was freshly changed. If something different was used I was just thinking maybe the engine was able to burn it as fuel more easily then the previous viscosity or brand of oil. Long shot idea, I know.

That's not a crazy idea, I read on here a while back someone had real bad oil consumption in his truck when he switched to Rotella, he switched back to Delo and it went away.

 

[icanfixall]

Many have found Rotella is a high consumption oil. I too tried it once and it burned off quickly. Never used it again. I feel 450 lbs is a better idea of compression. My engine shows 530 lbs across all 8 cylinders. If you do a compression test please remove ALL the glow plugs. That way you put less strain on the batteries and the starter. 5 compression cranks is about it too. you probably wont see much more compression cranking it longer. Might want to add a battery charger to it when testing to keep the batteries up to full so all the 8 cylinders see the same cranking speeds.
Your turbo seems to need rebuilding in my opinnion because you posted you see very little blow by when the oil fill cover is removed.

 

[chris142]

Speaking of oil. Mine likes Wal-Marts supertech and mobil delvac but it loves napa/ Valvoline. cuts oil use by 1/2!

It really drank delo and I have never found rotella on clearance so I have never used it. As far as engine protection goes all the diesel oils are good.