Too much oil

[TEO]

Early in November I had some work done at Ring Caterpillar in St. Augustine. Among other things they changed the oil and oil filter. The motor runs very well now.

Unfortunately, when I got home from the trip, my white Jeep was covered with a fine film of gray oil. We went away over Thanksgiving and when I returned, I again had a fine coat of oily residue on the Jeep. Being white, the Jeep shows up the dirt very well.

I've been thinking about the problem and that I didn't have it prior to the oil change. I checked my information from Camp Freightliner and it said I should not put more than 19 quarts in for a oil and filter change. The oil dip stick showed a level right on full.

So I wondered if something happened or if too much oil had been put in at Ring. I called service today and had them check the invoice. Mine only says 1 unit of oil and doesn't specify quarts. It turns out that 23 quarts were put in the engine and that explains the oil residue problem.

It's partly my fault as Mike Cody at Camp Freightliner warned us about the tendency of service facilities to put in too much oil. I'll be more careful in the future.

Paul

[TEO]

Early in November I had some work done at Ring Caterpillar in St. Augustine. Among other things they changed the oil and oil filter. The motor runs very well now.

Unfortunately, when I got home from the trip, my white Jeep was covered with a fine film of gray oil. We went away over Thanksgiving and when I returned, I again had a fine coat of oily residue on the Jeep. Being white, the Jeep shows up the dirt very well.

I've been thinking about the problem and that I didn't have it prior to the oil change. I checked my information from Camp Freightliner and it said I should not put more than 19 quarts in for a oil and filter change. The oil dip stick showed a level right on full.

So I wondered if something happened or if too much oil had been put in at Ring. I called service today and had them check the invoice. Mine only says 1 unit of oil and doesn't specify quarts. It turns out that 23 quarts were put in the engine and that explains the oil residue problem.

It's partly my fault as Mike Cody at Camp Freightliner warned us about the tendency of service facilities to put in too much oil. I'll be more careful in the future.

Paul

[quikduk]

I extended my crankcase breather tube to a point behind and below my receiver hitch with an elbow pointing down to the pavement.

In the future, I will be making a vented reservoir with drain and mount it to the inside PS frame rail near the primary fuel filter.

Some are available commercially here.

http://65.109.249.14/mm5/merch...e=JAZ-breather-tanks

http://www.puredieselpower.com...tion-kit-p-6117.html

The second one is nice but it is too much $$$ IMHO compared to the first one. The drain size might be an issue so I will have to check this out but if it works for $50 or so, it beats having to buy degreaser for our Jeep toad too.

I might buckle and buy one of the ready made kits rather than re-inventing the wheel...again. Typical for me...

[Mike Canter]

I have heard about this Cat venting problem before and if my memory serves me correctly there was a fix for it offered by Cat. Not sure if it was free or not.

[quikduk]

Mike,

Is it a known problem or just the engine "finding" the balance point for the oil level?

On my C8.3, it is mid-way on the dipstick. Any more and it burps out A LOT. It only occasionally dribbles now but I will still do the reservoir thing.

[TEO]

I have a "slobber tube" that extends beyond the rear of the chassis. The oily residue on my TOAD is a recent problem and only occurred after the crankase was filled with 4 extra quarts of oil.

Paul

[notslo]

It doesn't take much extra to make a mess. After I bought my 03 journey 330 used, I drove it 3000 miles and the toed rock guard was clean. I stopped for fuel and checked and the oil was slightly less than it had been ( thinking back the pad was not really level ) and I added just 1 quart. I then towed another 1500 miles and it puked out a mess. Lucky I had a large aluminum rock guard and nothing got on the toed.

[wagonmaster2]

You'd think if anyone would know how much oil to put in a Cat it would be a Cat Shop. Goes along with the old saying "If you want anything done right, do it yourself". Really too bad with all the complicated things we had to contend with on these DPs.
Wagonmaster

[smlranger]

I seem to remember some discussion/s about some of our CAT's of my era (the 3126E) either having 19 or 22 qt. oil pans. When I got my coach (used) I noticed the previous owner had clearly painted '22 qts' over the oil fill tube. My slobber tube is also extended below the frame.

When I had my oil change at Gaffney, they put in 19 qts. and, according to my dipstick, I was a bit low. According the those folks, 19 is the correct number.

At any rate, I've never had oil mist on the toad. However, just recently as I am under the 'hood' to R&R the VDC gizmo, I can see my radiator is badly in need of a bath.