Not doing well

[sle2115]

These are the factory specs for the guide to valve clearance. This is for both intake and exhaust. Stem diameter ... 0.37165 to 0.37235. Max stem to guide clearance is 0.0055. The valve head recession relative to the deck (head gasket) surface on cylinder head is as follows. Intake 0.042 to 0.054 and the exhaust is 0.051 to 0.063. Now the good news. My information is from the International Engine Service Manual but... My Haynes book shows the standard running clearance for both valves is 0.0012 to 0.0029......

.0055 is quite loose and not where I would want mine to be, but if that was spec, we would give the customer the option if it were under that. If the clearance was that much, usually things were worn out of round anyway and needed fixing.

 

[Exekiel69]

The oil pressure sounds fine. I like Amsoil but the bypass filter seems a little restrictive... Do you have any pictures of the hook up? I would not base any past experience on the factory gauge. Remove the sending unit and standoff, clean it up good and re-install and it will probably "look great". I would get two cans of gumout engine flush and some 5w 40 synthetic oil and once you know all is good go back to using the bypass filter if you want. I was looking around and found a 5 micron filter at an Amsoil site – is that what you have or is it 1 micron?

Glad to here you got good oil pressure!!!

I do not use the stock gauge as a parameter, but I can hear the difference between the engine getting oil at start up and when it is not getting enough press. The amsoil filter was removed months ago bc I suspected it was too restrictive and I wanted to rule it out, I was running a regular filter that would thread in the bypass for a while and finally decided to just run with the stock filter a few day ago and this is when the pressure seem higher.

Gumout flush? Can We really use this on a 30k miles engine?

Thank You.

 

[argve]

You could have an oiling problem as in where you have good oil pressure but one of the passagages is either blocked completely or partially. Now the only way to confirm or disconfirm that is to do a complete tear down which I'm pretty sure I would not do until it totally craps out.

I'll mention this to my nephew here in a few hours as he is a auto tech school student just about ready to graduate and see what he has to say.

 

[93_E_350]

Your better off to use it regularly from new, just make sure you get the right one for turbo/non-turbo engines. Once deposits build up you run the risk of cleaning out areas you wish you hadn't. Like the front and back seals that got damaged by the sludge build up. When I got my van it had about 135,000 on it and I was a little worried about flushing it but it really helps clean out the rings and passages so I bit the bullet, luckily nothing leaked. I bought a 350 on time out of a wrecked truck put into another truck, I ran the flush through and drained and re-filled the oil. When I started it up the oil ran out the rear main seal – I was unhappy at that point

 

[LandscapeMan]

Gumout flush? Can We really use this on a 30k miles engine?

.

IMPO,
Exekiel,
I don't think you need a flush. From what you describe to me. When you looked under your valve covers. Every thing was very clean. You have changed your oil and filters at short intervals since your engine was installed.
There is no evidence of sludge.

At 30K your engine is still a baby. You are right to be very concerened about the oil report. And I have no idea what is causing that. But I don't think it is sludge in your engine. Hopefully those that know more than I, can point you in the right direction on the lead increase.

Happy Turkey Day,
Charlie

 

[dsblack]

You were looking really good between the first two. 13, and 8. So what happened between 8 and 154? I would suspect this is the cause.
Go back to stock, wun a few days, as you have. Then change the oil again.
Pull a sample in 500 miles and send it in. I bet your nimbers will drop again. Then check it every 500 till you hit the magic oil change #.
go back to known good and see if it is still good, if it is, then we can move forward from there to point to the issue.

 

[Exekiel69]

I used motorcraft diesel from the beginning, then I switched to amsoil and the report come back not too good so I switched to rotella for a couple of oil changes to see if it was the oil but it only got worse, so I finally removed also the bypass filter.

I don't know what You mean for turbo/non-turbo oil, it does not say anything on the bottle, but it does say it is for caterpillar ECF-1 and cummins 20078. Ford diesel and gasoline pick-ups so I guess it is for turboed engines.
MEETS API SERVICE CI-4 PLUS, CI-4, CH-4, CG-4, CF-4, CF/SJ, SL.

I still have 12qt of this rotella so I will change the oil with this again and go back to motorcraft on the next oil change, sounds good?

Thank You.

 

[dsblack]

Have you had the bypass system on the entire time? Rotella is good oil, I have used it. I do not think that is the issue. I was just thinking that if it was good at 8, and you did something, added bypass system, went synthetic, etc then that should be removed, and see if the truck goes back to near 8. But you would need to "rinse" the system by doing an extra oil change. then see if the numbers start comming down. kind of a remove all external sources thought, if it goes away it is something done to the engine, not the engine comming apart. Could be as simple as the low OP at startup. That you have now solved.

 

[Diesel JD]

I'm pretty sure it isn't the Rotella. A lot of us use that in our trucks. It was the rotella 15/40 I had in when my lead #s jumped but there was a corresponding increase in sodium and potassium, which I initially attribute to my biodiesel use. I became more suspicious that it might be trace amounts of coolant slowly eating the bearings. So I have changeds the oil cooler orings adn water pump which had slow leaks. Someday I'll do another sample adn find out if that fixed it.... As for your situation, I'm guessing either your bearings have been hit with some type of abrasive damage or are themselves out of spec. I would advise you get a real gauge and watch your oil pressure. I'd park it and do a teardown if I had less than 30psi at highway rpm or heard a very loud or worsening knock. Otherwise, I'd keep clean oil in it and hope for the best,
J.D.

 

[Exekiel69]

Well for now the pressure is good and I will see if the oil brings better results the way I'm using it now. There was only one additive I put in the oil while using motorcraft oil (no bypass then) and it is militec-1 some of You may know about it.

 

[LandscapeMan]

if it goes away it is something done to the engine, not the engine comming apart. Could be as simple as the low OP at startup. That you have now solved.

That is a very good point. Correct me if I am wrong. But did you mention that the engine sounded different on startup with low oil pressure. Then returned to normal sound once oil pressure was built up. That sounds like it could cause enough engine bits banging together to shed some lead into the oil over time. I agree with following DS prescription.

Charlie

 

[LandscapeMan]

You were looking really good between the first two. 13, and 8. So what happened between 8 and 154? I would suspect this is the cause. .

Hey Exekiel,
I went back in time and looked at each post you did when your oil reports came in. It looks pretty clear that the numbers started going south at the same time the amsoil bypass system was installed.

I don't believe the amsoil in its self was the problem. It is good stuff.

It is more likely due to what ever was causing the no/low oil pressure on start up. That is most likely what was causing the wear and higher wear indicators in your oil sample.

If you now have the no/low oil pressure on start up condition fixed. I would follow DS prescription and see what those results suggest.

My guess is your engine will recover just fine.

Charlie

 

[Exekiel69]

The amsoil bypass if disconnected and I'm using a stock oil filter instead, I can see the pressure is up t 45psi in a few seconds when I start up the engine cold. I will change the oil tomorrow and run it for a few weeks and send it to blackstone to see what the results are. I do plan to go back to motorcraft if this wear problem is resolved.

Thank You.

 

[dsblack]

Hey,
Do not give up on it all together. Let's just step back for a minute. Regroup, then advance a little at a time. If you want the bypass system etc. it can be done. Lots have. There is an issue somewhere so get good results, then see what caused it as you go back to the goodies you want! do not get discouraged. I think you will come out of this ok.

 

[LandscapeMan]

Hey,
Do not give up on it all together. Let's just step back for a minute. Regroup, then advance a little at a time. If you want the bypass system etc. it can be done. Lots have. There is an issue somewhere so get good results, then see what caused it as you go back to the goodies you want! do not get discouraged. I think you will come out of this ok.

Well it can't really be stated better than that. I agree 100%. The only thing I would add. Motorcraft, Rotella, Amsoil. Are all excellent oils. Any one will work fine.

I am happy to hear that your oil pressure has recovered. That's great news!!

Charlie