Cat 3126E oil leak from filter

[johntaves]

I have an oil leak coming from the oil filter. I've never dealt with such a big filter. On cars, I just snug them. Do I just grab it and turn it to tighten it hand tight?

Longer story: I bought the 04 coach used in Salt Lake City. I had them change the oil and filter. I drove it back to Seattle and have driven it for several hundred more miles. I've checked the gauges every now and they always seem close enough to normal to not worry. Recently going up a hill after I just started it, the engine cut out. It kept running, and resumed just fine after a moment of pause. I was thinking something was not happy with the transmission when it is cold. It happened again a day or two later. Then today, it kept happening long enough for me to spot that the oil pressure gauge was dropping when it was stumbling.

I read somewhere that without oil pressure it won't feed fuel to the injectors.

It was dreadfully low on oil. I added 2.5 gallons of oil. The oil was rather black. Now I was really paying attention to the oil pressure gauge and noticed that it was reading higher, above the "normal" word, but also dropping below the "normal" word, but still largely in the normal range.

It was raining all day. I have a new security camera ($40) for my backup camera showing on my tablet. I noticed once that there was an oil drop on the ground behind me when I was at a stop light. I checked again at the next light, and sure enough, another oil drop was behind me. In the neighborhood, I slowed and the drops slowed and followed me off the road. I have seen no oil puddles on my driveway. Clearly it is peeing oil when then engine is above idle.

I got under there and the filter is covered with oil. Soooo,

1) Do I just grab the thing and tighten it hand tight and monitor the oil level?
2) Is the black oil something to concern me? Or will oil generally always be dark after a few thousand miles? Should I have it checked?
3) If I do take it to have the oil checked, I will need to drive about 20 miles. Should attempt to tighten that filter before I go, or is hand tightening pointless?

Thanks,

jt

[guardrail53]

Go to your local Farm store, and buy the right oil filter wrench, and a can of Brake Clean, and a roll of paper towels!
My guess the oil filter was not tightened properly when it was installed! You are very lucky, that it did not leak out enough oil that you could have damaged your engine!
The proper way to tighten the oil filter, is snug by hand, then take the wrench and tighten a 1/4 turn more! I always took a sharpie and marked the filter and the bottom of the filter housing with a straight line, so I could tell at a glance if it was working loose! It is always a good idea to check the filter after a oil change, in a few hundred miles, to make sure it is not working loose!

While you are at the Farm store getting the oil filter wrench, get one that fits your fuel filters too, and a couple spare filters! Always a good idea to have spares on hand! Rail!

[gatorcq]

By the way, new rule since 2007. 19 qts of oil. TOTAL

[Skip426]

Look for the posts on "calibrating engine oil dipstick " and make sure you don't put more than 19 quarts into the motor ( steel pan amount ) including what the filter holds when pre-filling before install.
Filter tightness is ; spin on till the gasket contacts , then another 3/4 of a turn.
Black oil ; on a normal service there are 3 quarts of oil left in the internal passages in the motor so the fresh oil gets black in a hurry.
The black in the oil is carbon from combustion that gets by the rings when the engine is cold ; when combustion is incomplete ; avoid long periods of engine idle after start up and before shut down . Three to four mins. is enough , unless start up is below zero.
My 3126B engine with HEUI fuel system , uses boosted oil pressure to fire the injectors , so if oil pressure drops; to a certain point; the engine will stop

[johntaves]

Originally Posted by guardrail53

You are very lucky, that it did not leak out enough oil that you could have damaged your engine!

If the engine is not damaged, then it is entirely because it quits when there's no oil pressure. It lost enough to have no pressure going up hills. I drove it plenty to reduce the oil to that point.

Am I correct to say that the oil pump sends oil up to the valves and as long as it has pressure, then low oil level doesn't matter. The crankcase however, will have less oil splashing around with low level and therefore the cylinders can experience too much wear. Is that true?

Clearly I should have checked the oil level every half a tank until I learned how often it should be checked.

I have no idea what to do about the dipstick calibration and the possibility that I overfilled, except to spend $ to have it changed. Is there any way to know that it is overfilled without knowing how accurate the dipstick is? Is the dipstick capable of being off whack enough that it causes problems? I mean so what if the dipstick reads low by a quart and it ends up with 20q?
EDIT: just noticed new post about calibration. I haven't read it yet.

Thanks for the advice. I will get the wrench, clean, and tighten.

[johntaves]

Originally Posted by Skip426

Look for the posts on "calibrating engine oil dipstick "

I searched that PDF for "dipstick" and found only one occurrence. Are you sure you sent the correct file?

[connlonn]

What 'Skip426' posted is the answer. On the 3126 - the heui pump for the fuel injectors is operated by oil pressure. No oil pressure = no fuel pressure = rough running or no running of the engine. If your filter is not loose or the old filter gasket was not removed prior to installing new filter then see my post later in this thread about the oil filter base gasket replacement. Hope this helps.

[Skip426]

Originally Posted by johntaves

I searched that PDF for "dipstick" and found only one occurrence. Are you sure you sent the correct file?

Sorry , I wasn't particularly precise in my first post , I meant to search the " Caterpillar engines " section of iRV2 forums , for posts on dipstick calibration. My own was off by 2 quarts, so I was overfilling the crankcase.
The pdf was just for a better understanding of the Cat's HEUI fuel injection system.

[Kelm130]

One thing you might check is the gasket on the oil filter mount. It is known to go bad on these engines. It did on mine, 2003 CAT 330. I had an oil puddle on the ground after oil change and swore it was the filter was not tight but it seemed to be after I checked it. Took to a local CAT dealer and they recognized it right away. Easy repair. There was something defective in the original gasket design.

[johntaves]

Repair place says it is the gasket between oil cooler and block. They say 5+ hours to get to it because the turbo has to be removed. Does this sound right?

[Kelm130]

I’ve found most service to be around $100-$120 per hour so it’s not too far out of line. Do you have a CAT equipment dealer/service center near you? When I had my coolant surge tank replaced I went to Freightliner and paid dearly I never thought to check with the CAT place right down the road. I did call them when my alternator went out and I found out they service RVs all the time. They replaced my alternator and also worked on my oil filter mount issue. When the alternator failed a few months later they replaced it again at no cost. Stowers CAT in Knoxville TN is highly recommended. :-)

[connlonn]

5 hours labor probably o.k. BUT, I did not remove the turbo charger when I changed my gasket & I am not a diesel mechanic. (Aircraft mech. background)
Here's a few notes to be aware of:
1) the coolant will need to be drained. (Don't ask how I know !)
2) To access the top bolts on the filter base, the heat shroud will need to be removed (it was either 3 or 4 bolts - easy to get to.
3) filter will need to be removed through bed room access floor panel and from below.
Good luck,
Lonnie
P.S. have them check for leaks around the air compressor where it attaches to the block. Mine is leaking now & I will probably not attempt that repair due to weight of compressor & my age.

[connlonn]

As a side note, I could not edit my prev. post.
Go to TiffinRVNetwork.com and see my post under the caterpiller section.
My post is ' Oil filter base gasket on cat 3126 repaired'. I have a picture posted of the "mess".
Good luck