7.3 idi oil leak

[94crewcabIDI]

That too. It could be stuck closed and overpressurizing the crankcase.

How would I know it's stuck closed? I replaced the valley pan btw

 

[Hydro-idi]

You replaced the head gasket? As in just one side?
Your valve stem seals are probably shot as well, probably accounting for the unusually high oil consumption. And yes, it's always a good idea to get the heads checked out and rebuild if needed. Or at the very least, make sure cylinder head mating surface is flat and put new valve stem seals in it.

 

[94crewcabIDI]

You replaced the head gasket? As in just one side?
Your valve stem seals are probably shot as well, probably accounting for the unusually high oil consumption. And yes, it's always a good idea to get the heads checked out and rebuild if needed. Or at the very least, make sure cylinder head mating surface is flat and put new valve stem seals in it.

How expensive is all that? I'm in a very poor set currently

 

[Macrobb]

Start getting pictures.
Also, don't worry as much - IDIs will just plain run.
Getting the leaks fixed is probably one part of the puzzle, as is figuring out the oil consumption. My guess is you have some decent leaks somewhere.
Valve guides are good to have fixed, but it'll run with pretty worn ones. I doubt that's most of your oil consumption, though.

Honestly, take it to a car wash and use engine cleaner on every part you can. Pressure wash the motor, then take a drive and get it dry. You need to get rid of some of the old oil and grime to figure out what's going on.

Remember, the valley pan drains into a channel that ends up right above the starter, so anything that ends up in the pan(often diesel from leaky return caps) ends up dripping down the starter after having picked up dirt and grime.

 

[94crewcabIDI]

Start getting pictures.
Also, don't worry as much - IDIs will just plain run.
Getting the leaks fixed is probably one part of the puzzle, as is figuring out the oil consumption. My guess is you have some decent leaks somewhere.

Honestly, take it to a car wash and use engine cleaner on every part you can. Pressure wash the motor, then take a drive and get it dry. You need to get rid of some of the old oil and grime to figure out what's going on.

Remember, the valley pan drains into a channel that ends up right above the starter, so anything that ends up in the pan(often diesel from leaky return caps) ends up dripping down the starter after having picked up dirt and grime.

It's way too dark for diesel and dirt

 

[Hydro-idi]

How expensive is all that? I'm in a very poor set currently

In that case, do what you can to keep er going. Engine work can add up quickly as we all know.
Good idea to pressure wash all the gunk off of the engine. Maybe even try using dye in the engine oil if you can't find the leak.

 

[94crewcabIDI]

In that case, do what you can to keep er going. Engine work can add up quickly as we all know.
Good idea to pressure wash all the gunk off of the engine. Maybe even try using dye in the engine oil if you can't find the leak.

What would cause all the oil burning? If it's cheap enough I'll keep the truck but if I need a full rebuild I don't think I can keep her

 

[Macrobb]

Well, you'll need to get things clean to make sure it's not leaking out instead of burning.

If it's not leaking /out/ somewhere, it's probably either majorly bad rings or majorly bad valve guides...Probably the former.

What I'd probably do is:
1. See if you can't run her hard once or twice, to clean out any carbon deposits.
This would basically be hauling a heavy trailer for an hour or two on the highway.

2. If it's still using a lot of oil, make sure you aren't using Rotella oil. IDIs love to burn it.
I prefer Mobil Delvac 15w40, because it's cheap and does the job just fine.

3. Add a quart of Lucas Oil Stabilizer(the original one, not the synthetic). That should definitely help.

You *can* run it like this as long as needed - I ran my 88 for a year or two with it drinking a quart every 50-100 miles.
It did just fine. These motors are *tough*.
When I had it rebuilt, they found /massive/ cylinder bore wear, easily .010 per side. It took an overbore of .030 to clean that block up.

 

[94crewcabIDI]

Well, you'll need to get things clean to make sure it's not leaking out instead of burning.

If it's not leaking /out/ somewhere, it's probably either majorly bad rings or majorly bad valve guides...Probably the former.

What I'd probably do is:
1. See if you can't run her hard once or twice, to clean out any carbon deposits.
This would basically be hauling a heavy trailer for an hour or two on the highway.

2. If it's still using a lot of oil, make sure you aren't using Rotella oil. IDIs love to burn it.
I prefer Mobil Delvac 15w40, because it's cheap and does the job just fine.

3. Add a quart of Lucas Oil Stabilizer(the original one, not the synthetic). That should definitely help.

You *can* run it like this as long as needed - I ran my 88 for a year or two with it drinking a quart every 50-100 miles.
It did just fine. These motors are *tough*.
When I had it rebuilt, they found /massive/ cylinder bore wear, easily .010 per side. It took an overbore of .030 to clean that block up.

Its been awhile and all shes done is sit. It can't go 20 miles before running out of oil whether leaking or burning. And i know its burning because its smoking out the highway through the stack

 

[Fordfan90]

Its been awhile and all shes done is sit. It can't go 20 miles before running out of oil whether leaking or burning. And i know its burning because its smoking out the highway through the stack

What color of smoke? If anything pull the heads and look at the valve seals. See if though are your problem.

 

[Macrobb]

Its been awhile and all shes done is sit. It can't go 20 miles before running out of oil whether leaking or burning. And i know its burning because its smoking out the highway through the stack

20 miles? There's no way the engine could be burning that much - it doesn't even burn that much fuel!

Also, what color smoke?

Generally speaking, smoke is *not* oil in an IDI - engine oil will burn cleanly in the motor.

White smoke is unburned fuel(cylinder not firing, retarded timing).
Blue smoke is partially burned fuel(retarded timing).
Black smoke is overfueling(too much fuel for the air; you could get this if you were burning a lot of engine oil too, as there's simply not enough air for it along with the fuel)

If anything pull the heads and look at the valve seals. See if though are your problem.

That won't be his problem. I had an IDI with an exhaust valve stem that has 1/4" of play in it. It made a ticking noise, but otherwise ran fine. It didn't use any measurable amount of oil, either, even though it should have.

On that engine I also just pulled all the valve seals off and ran it that way for a few months; no change in the (negligable) oil consumption.

If you are talking massive massive oil consumption, it would have to be either majorly shot valve guides on the intake side, combined with a plugged air filter so there's actually a vacuum(and even that I doubt would cause more than a little bit - simply because there isn't that much oil hitting each guide to be sucked in!)

I'd also look at piston rings; worn/shot rings can definitely cause some serious oil usage(One motor with .020" of bore wear and a few cracked rings would use a quart every 50 miles - but ran fine and didn't smoke at all).

If you are going through a huge amount of oil(gallon in 20 miles)... it has to be leaking somewhere. Maby it doesn't leak at idle until you rev it up or something, but it's going somewhere like that.

Also, make sure you aren't checking it hot once and cold the next time - the oil does expand and you can easily get a different reading by a bit. Note that the capacity of the engine is 11 quarts, but the 'add' mark is only 2 quarts low. You won't lose oil pressure until you are at least 4 quarts low if not more, so hopefully that can put some more numbers on "out of oil in 20 miles"

 

[Fordfan90]

20 miles? There's no way the engine could be burning that much - it doesn't even burn that much fuel!

Also, what color smoke?

Generally speaking, smoke is *not* oil in an IDI - engine oil will burn cleanly in the motor.

White smoke is unburned fuel(cylinder not firing, retarded timing).
Blue smoke is partially burned fuel(retarded timing).
Black smoke is overfueling(too much fuel for the air; you could get this if you were burning a lot of engine oil too, as there's simply not enough air for it along with the fuel)


That won't be his problem. I had an IDI with an exhaust valve stem that has 1/4" of play in it. It made a ticking noise, but otherwise ran fine. It didn't use any measurable amount of oil, either, even though it should have.

On that engine I also just pulled all the valve seals off and ran it that way for a few months; no change in the (negligable) oil consumption.

If you are talking massive massive oil consumption, it would have to be either majorly shot valve guides on the intake side, combined with a plugged air filter so there's actually a vacuum(and even that I doubt would cause more than a little bit - simply because there isn't that much oil hitting each guide to be sucked in!)

I'd also look at piston rings; worn/shot rings can definitely cause some serious oil usage(One motor with .020" of bore wear and a few cracked rings would use a quart every 50 miles - but ran fine and didn't smoke at all).

If you are going through a huge amount of oil(gallon in 20 miles)... it has to be leaking somewhere. Maby it doesn't leak at idle until you rev it up or something, but it's going somewhere like that.

Also, make sure you aren't checking it hot once and cold the next time - the oil does expand and you can easily get a different reading by a bit. Note that the capacity of the engine is 11 quarts, but the 'add' mark is only 2 quarts low. You won't lose oil pressure until you are at least 4 quarts low if not more, so hopefully that can put some more numbers on "out of oil in 20 miles"

If it was leaking that bad you should see it in 20 miles. I've never seen a pickup leak that much oil and you never see it. I've seen a 12valve cummins leak a quart of oil sitting in my shop after it just ran for 20 mins. But that was the front main seal. Also what I mean by look at the valve seals is tear the heads apart. But if your leaking a gallon of oil out of that motor you have to see it. So you can't say it's not burning that much. not saying your wrong but we arnt there to see it.

 

[94crewcabIDI]

If it was leaking that bad you should see it in 20 miles. I've never seen a pickup leak that much oil and you never see it. I've seen a 12valve cummins leak a quart of oil sitting in my shop after it just ran for 20 mins. But that was the front main seal. Also what I mean by look at the valve seals is tear the heads apart. But if your leaking a gallon of oil out of that motor you have to see it. So you can't say it's not burning that much. not saying your wrong but we arnt there to see it.

20 miles? There's no way the engine could be burning that much - it doesn't even burn that much fuel!

Also, what color smoke?

Generally speaking, smoke is *not* oil in an IDI - engine oil will burn cleanly in the motor.

White smoke is unburned fuel(cylinder not firing, retarded timing).
Blue smoke is partially burned fuel(retarded timing).
Black smoke is overfueling(too much fuel for the air; you could get this if you were burning a lot of engine oil too, as there's simply not enough air for it along with the fuel)


That won't be his problem. I had an IDI with an exhaust valve stem that has 1/4" of play in it. It made a ticking noise, but otherwise ran fine. It didn't use any measurable amount of oil, either, even though it should have.

On that engine I also just pulled all the valve seals off and ran it that way for a few months; no change in the (negligable) oil consumption.

If you are talking massive massive oil consumption, it would have to be either majorly shot valve guides on the intake side, combined with a plugged air filter so there's actually a vacuum(and even that I doubt would cause more than a little bit - simply because there isn't that much oil hitting each guide to be sucked in!)

I'd also look at piston rings; worn/shot rings can definitely cause some serious oil usage(One motor with .020" of bore wear and a few cracked rings would use a quart every 50 miles - but ran fine and didn't smoke at all).

If you are going through a huge amount of oil(gallon in 20 miles)... it has to be leaking somewhere. Maby it doesn't leak at idle until you rev it up or something, but it's going somewhere like that.

Also, make sure you aren't checking it hot once and cold the next time - the oil does expand and you can easily get a different reading by a bit. Note that the capacity of the engine is 11 quarts, but the 'add' mark is only 2 quarts low. You won't lose oil pressure until you are at least 4 quarts low if not more, so hopefully that can put some more numbers on "out of oil in 20 miles"

It leaks and burns. Its white smoke but the antifreeze hasn't moved down so its not burning antifreeze. I could take care of the leak but with the way it burns it i cant deal with it. Its burning somewhere in the engine and its shooting out the stack. Its got some killer blowby also

 

[DaveBen]

You may have a hole in a piston. That would cause a LOT of crankcase blow by and the oil you see burning. Engine could be scrap.

 

[94crewcabIDI]

You may have a hole in a piston. That would cause a LOT of crankcase blow by and the oil you see burning. Engine could be scrap.

Unless its only burning from the driver side bank then no. Cylinders weren't holed at the top at least