Urgent: Where's my oil going?

[Piker]

Originally Posted by MnTom

If this was me, I would wait for the Blackstone report, but if you have not been sampling for a while you won't be able to see a trend (but you already know that). Pulling the head is not hard to do. I have had to pull mine twice. I have a suggestion for pulling the injectors. If you know anyone with a Dodge truck cut a piece of 3/4" electrical conduit or even PVC pipe 1 7/8" long. Then after pulling the injector lines and hold downs slide the piece of pipe over the injector and use a lug nut from the Dodge truck and screw it on the injector. Tighten the lug nut and they will pop right out! See what the cylinders look like. They are surprisingly able to handle some pretty serious abuse. You may be able to get by honing them and new rings. Keep me informed.

I just got done replacing all 6 injectors a month or so ago... they should come out relatively easy this time.

I'm thinking the head is pretty heavy... I'd probably have to build a frame inside the motorhome so I can use a come-along to hoist the head off the block. I might as well figure on making the frame heavy enough that I can also use it to lower the engine block out from underneath the rv if the cylinders need bored.

If the block needs taken out, I don't know that I would have enough clearance to install it back in all assembled... the assembly might need to be done in-frame.

This is terrible. I'm actually leaning towards cutting my losses and just junking it. I'd pull the generator and keep it... it's about the only thing that has any value... tires are still pretty new... I dunno...

I guess just take it one day at a time... see what happens...

-not so much cheers...

[MnTom]

Well, obviously the choice is up to you. If you have access to an engine puller (something like this):
you can pull the head quite easily. I am able to pick up and carry the head by my self so it is not extremely heavy. I would pull the head and inspect the cylinders. After you see what they are like then make your decision.

[WILDEBILL308]

Don't get discouraged it may not be as bad as you are thinking. You said it didn't seem to be down in power on your last leg home. You could pull the injectors and use a bore scope to look at the cylinders without pulling the head. I bought one a while back for around $100.00. You might be able to rent one.
Bill

[MnTom]

I agree that it may not be as bad as it looks from the outside. A borescope would work just fine, but the head will need to be pulled to make any kind of repair. I guess it is up to Piker to decide what is best for him both for piece of mind and financially.

[ahicks]

My Cat runs a slobber tube setup. If it were plugged, thinking that might cause an oil consumption issue, so wondering if the Cummins runs something similar?

[MnTom]

Yep, Cummins runs the same set up. The slobber tube is close to the starter. The only other suggestion would be to run a blow by test (cummins has a procedure for it) and see what it says.

[Mekanic]

Originally Posted by Piker

Definitely not diesel... it's an oil smell.
Holset dealer in Columbus can sell me the complete rotating assembly for this turbo (no housing) for $488. All new parts... no core. I assembly it into the housing myself...
I'm going to pull this one apart to make sure the housing is good and just order a new cartridge.
-cheers

Originally Posted by Piker

Well, now I'm a little concerned.
Tonight as I was pulling the turbo off, I noticed that the rubber boot on the air cleaner was split wide open. There's a pretty good chance the engine has been dusted. Impeller on the compressor side of the turbo looks chewed up. Magnet on drain plug is fuzzy.
Turbo shaft end-play is fine... so is radial play. I can't see any signs of oil anywhere. Seems to be about the same amount of soot on the exhaust inlet of the turbo as the outlet, so I'm not convinced the turbo is the issue.
For reference, I went over to my brother's house and fired up the cummins in his pickup... pretty much zero blowby coming out of his slobber tube compared to mine, and he's got twice the mileage on his engine.
This might not be good. Probably need to do an oil analysis to be sure... or take it to a cummins service center and have them do a blow-by test under load on the dyno.
Not going to give up just yet, but this does not appear to be going in my favor. This could be the beginning of the end of RV-ing for us. Sometimes life gives you lemons...
-cheers

If it still starts good and has decent power, the compression is not going to be down all that far.
NO WAY would I go near the dealers with it. No matter how good/bad the engine is I can tell you what they will say.
If it needs a new turbo impeller get one of these. they are Good for the money. Wicked Wheel® 2 for the 1995-1998 12V Cummins HX35
Ask them if they have one for a 94.
So you have a 20 year diesel that smokes a little, its not the end of the world.
when it is 2 quarts low, I'd add 2 quarts right then. the oil is the coolant for many engine parts. running it lower than what it is supposed to have is not as good as topping it off.
Take the engines temp at each cylinders (With a infared temp gun)exh runner and you can see the differences between the cylinders.

[Ray,IN]

Piker, the cylinders may be re-bored in-frame. I forget the brand name of the boring machine that attaches to the engine, is aligned and trued to the cylinder, then the cylinder is machined to the next larger spec that cleans and trues the entire bore length. But you do not know if re-boring is required until the pistons are removed and the entire length of the cylinder is measured, unless you discover scoring- which removes all doubt.

[Piker]

Originally Posted by Mekanic

If it still starts good and has decent power, the compression is not going to be down all that far.
NO WAY would I go near the dealers with it. No matter how good/bad the engine is I can tell you what they will say.
If it needs a new turbo impeller get one of these. they are Good for the money. Wicked Wheel® 2 for the 1995-1998 12V Cummins HX35
Ask them if they have one for a 94.
So you have a 20 year diesel that smokes a little, its not the end of the world.
when it is 2 quarts low, I'd add 2 quarts right then. the oil is the coolant for many engine parts. running it lower than what it is supposed to have is not as good as topping it off.
Take the engines temp at each cylinders (With a infared temp gun)exh runner and you can see the differences between the cylinders.

Been doing some thinking... but still not sure what what I am going to do. My insurance agent actually told me that I should open up a claim on this. It's a long shot, but I've got nothing to lose. The adjuster is actually coming to look things over, so maybe it's a good sign since he didn't just shut me down over the phone... I dunno. Not gonna hold my breath though.

As far as it being a 20 year old diesel that smokes a little... well... ya, it hardly smokes at all... but it uses a lot of oil, and there's quite a bit of metal junk in the oil and on the magnetic drain plug. Actually, there was a couple of pretty good sized slivers on the magnet... I'm wondering if I lost an oil ring or something that's now floating around in the pan. I've heard that it is not unheard of for oil rings to fail from time to time for no apparent reason on these. If there are some bad oil rings, and pieces of them made it into the pan, the cylinder walls might already be toast... and driving it around only increases the chances that more damage could occur. Best to just leave it sit until I can tear it down. If I tear it down.

I won't know anything for sure unless I tear into the engine, and right now I just don't have the strength to do that. It's been a long couple of years working on this old wagon, with lots of setbacks, all of which we overcame. This one has me pretty discouraged though. I mean, I know it's all going to be ok one way or another. Like I said earlier, I know enough to know that money and "stuff" just doesn't have the ability to fill a person up... it was never intended to... but this is discouraging for sure.

On a positive note, this is a great opportunity to teach my kids how to handle difficulty in life... and how not to rely to heavily on worldy and material possessions for your happiness. How my wife and I react to this will stay with them their whole life, and you can't put a price on that. The kids are pretty disappointed cause they know this could put the kibosh to our RV-ing dreams, but they also know it's not the end of the world... and that there are far more important things to consider when pondering your existence. Lets face it, this isn't the worst fate that a man or woman could endure...

One day at a time.

-cheers

[Piker]

Originally Posted by Ray,IN

Piker, the cylinders may be re-bored in-frame. I forget the brand name of the boring machine that attaches to the engine, is aligned and trued to the cylinder, then the cylinder is machined to the next larger spec that cleans and trues the entire bore length. But you do not know if re-boring is required until the pistons are removed and the entire length of the cylinder is measured, unless you discover scoring- which removes all doubt.

Thanks for the info. As a journeyman tool and die maker, this is something that theoretically I could do.

I have heard that there are some tricks to rebuilding these... like leaving the number 5 and 6 cylinders a little bigger than the rest to compensate for the higher heat found at the rear of the engine. Also, getting the right finish on the bore is a huge deal... I'd hate to do all this work and then never get the rings to seat.

-cheers

[MnTom]

Thanks for the update on this. I was wondering where you were at with it. Do all of us a favor and keep us informed!

[Mekanic]

looky at what I found a Mechanical injected 8.3L Cummins
Maybe they will come doen off the $5K price




Used rv parts cummins 8.3 Allison tranny wheels awning generator

I am just finishing cutting up a 1996 american eagle fleetwood rv pusher motor home. It had less than 50k miles when it caught fire. All the parts I'm selling are in very good condition.
Cummins 8.3 300hp Diesel engine with Allison 6 speed trans 5000obo
Goodyear 275/80/22.5 set (6) tires 4 aluminum 2 steel rims 1500obo
Onan 8.0 kW rv genset generator 1700obo

Also have rear end, suspension, radiator, ..
Email text or call 925-890-3540


AND you could probably see the bores a little and see what going on a lot if you drop the Oil pan.
__________________

[WILDEBILL308]

I would still pull the injectors and use a bore scope to see if you have any damage to the cylinders. Then do a whet and dry compression check.
Bill

[Piker]

Oil analysis seems to confirm my diagnosis.

-cheers