Used 7 quarts oil in less than 200 miles!

[cadillac_al]

Something doesn't add up. It used very little oil in 4k miles and then used 7 quarts in 200 miles?

[randomledder]

Just curious if this was the first run after changing brands of oil.

[Monkey Run]

Originally Posted by randomledder

Just curious if this was the first run after changing brands of oil.

I switched over to Amsoil when I purchased the coach, so no, it's not the first change to synthetic. I run it in all of my equipment and my vehicles.

[Monkey Run]

Yesterday I had limited time but checked the drain valves on the two tanks forward of the front axle. The coach is aired down, I really don't want to fog myself with oil. Nothing ran from either tank when I activated the drain valves. On to the rear tank (picture below), that one does not have a drain valve.

The exit port for the decadent filter system is as clean as when I installed it a few hundred miles ago. If I recall correctly, by removing the cover on the bottom the valve can be manually activated, which I did not do as it should have operated sometime during the last trip.

Additionally, I pulled the intercooler hose off of the engine manifold intake and it's bone dry inside. Tomorrow I'll pull the turbo side also to verify just in case the oil is trapped inside the intercooler and unable to travel uphill to the intake manifold.

Lastly, I have the new air filter. Again, hopefully tomorrow, I'll be able to change it and inspect internal condition.

To date, nothing found. My suspicion remains that the intense storm, driving heavy rain for hours into the intake vent while the coach was parked in the campground, may have caused a blockage. At least I'm hoping that's it.

[vseasport]

Watching along

[cmckenzie]

You have no visible external oil leaks? No oil in your air system? No visible oil in the intercooler pipes. No oil in the radiator? Pull the air in and out of the turbo and then remove the exhaust side pipe. You should have a really wet looking oily exhaust side if you have lost that amount of oil?
So now you don’t find any oil loss at all?
Question would be was there ever the full proper amount of oil in the engine. How much oil did you install when you changed the oil? In your picture the valve cover looks like it’s a 5.9 Cummins?
I’m guessing you are guessing you lost 7 quarts of oil. Was the engine oil level checked after you ran the engine after filling the engine with oil. I’m not saying you didn’t do this. To loss that amount of oil
is a significant amount in such a short distance.
There should be a a big mess under your engine or that turbo the seals are leaking badly. Only other way is the oil was not up to the full mark after the oil was changed and engine ran for a few minutes and rechecked. Engine oil does not just disappear, it leaves a trail to follow weather it’s external or internal. When it’s a small amounts that can be hard to find we use tracer dye in the oil and use a Uv light to find the leak for the small leaks. But your oil loss is major. It should be fairly easy to find. There are not a lot of places to loss a lot of oil. Good luck

[THenne1713]

I have read of high mileage engine with no oil changes get drain ports so clogged as to hold several quarts in heads under the valve covers :-)

[Monkey Run]

Originally Posted by cmckenzie

You have no visible external oil leaks? No oil in your air system? No visible oil in the intercooler pipes. No oil in the radiator? Pull the air in and out of the turbo and then remove the exhaust side pipe. You should have a really wet looking oily exhaust side if you have lost that amount of oil?
So now you don’t find any oil loss at all?
Question would be was there ever the full proper amount of oil in the engine. How much oil did you install when you changed the oil? In your picture the valve cover looks like it’s a 5.9 Cummins?
I’m guessing you are guessing you lost 7 quarts of oil. Was the engine oil level checked after you ran the engine after filling the engine with oil. I’m not saying you didn’t do this. To loss that amount of oil
is a significant amount in such a short distance.
There should be a a big mess under your engine or that turbo the seals are leaking badly. Only other way is the oil was not up to the full mark after the oil was changed and engine ran for a few minutes and rechecked. Engine oil does not just disappear, it leaves a trail to follow weather it’s external or internal. When it’s a small amounts that can be hard to find we use tracer dye in the oil and use a Uv light to find the leak for the small leaks. But your oil loss is major. It should be fairly easy to find. There are not a lot of places to loss a lot of oil. Good luck

I check the oil prior to every trip and as I mentioned, it's Amsoil synthetic with 3900 miles on it. The stick read always falls between the marks. The only usage was my trips to Florida where I would add half to one quart..maybe not, depending. The seven quarts is exact, I use a vacuum oil extractor with a gauge on the side to read contents. Last time I pulled 22 quarts, this time it was down 7 quarts. Engine is a 8.3 Cummins. I plan on pulling the air filter and the turbo side pipes today.

[Monkey Run]

Pictures of the old air filter and intake side of the turbo. Although I checked the engine manifold intake from the intercooler and found nothing, I am going to check the output to the intercooler. Bolts were rusted so they are soaking another day. Also have a picture of the fancy intake setup from the outside vent piped to the air filter. They simply squished the 6" inlet up against the pipe, clamp was not even attached to anything. Thinking I may turn the filter downward so water can drain and use a different fitting as an intake cover.

The rust and water marks are visible inside the filter.

[Flyer15015]

Dan,
That is a VERY dirty turbo blade !!!!
Does your EGR bleed into the inlet pipe ?
If so re route it overboard, or to a "catch can", and clean that blade w/ Brake Cleaner.
Your turbo will love it............

Mike in Colorado

[Monkey Run]

Originally Posted by Flyer15015

Dan,
That is a VERY dirty turbo blade !!!!
Does your EGR bleed into the inlet pipe ?
If so re route it overboard, or to a "catch can", and clean that blade w/ Brake Cleaner.
Your turbo will love it............

Mike in Colorado

Mine has the slobber tube but I'm going to check to see if it became plugged. Has been working fine. I'm wondering if this may be associated with my disappearing oil. Hopefully be able to check intercooler side after the bolts soak another day.

[jerry davis]

This might sound a bit silly but have you checked the dip stick tube itself? Mine came loose and migrated up a bit so that I thought I had used 10 quarts in less than five miles. Pushed it back into place and secured it with a second clamp.

[Draper55]

Dan, all advice above is a good basis for evaluation, but I also know that changing oil viscosity can unseat the piston rings for a few miles. It is typical when this happens to use a little more oil than usual and it should reseat the rings in about 1,000 miles and return to normal unless you're finding something else that is contributing to this. I have been in the industry for 45 years and I have never heard that switching to synthetic oil is a bad thing (after engine break-in). MHO

[Monkey Run]

Originally Posted by jerry davis

This might sound a bit silly but have you checked the dip stick tube itself? Mine came loose and migrated up a bit so that I thought I had used 10 quarts in less than five miles. Pushed it back into place and secured it with a second clamp.

This is why I used my evacuator with the liquid gauge on it to pump the oil sump. I could't believe it was that low, but it was.