would you post what you mean by running very low on oil? how much was added to get it back to full?also did the low oil cause any heating issues?
larry perkins

What happens if you were to try to "bottle feed" the IP clean diesel as if you were using purge? Should be simple enough to check.
I thinking air in the line somewhere. Few MB IP failures.

when i say i ran low on oil the little oil supply line to the injector pump popped off. we literally pumped the oil out of the engine. i noticed a slight difference in sound, and saw the oil pressure was down. i pulled over, and there was a oil splattered all over the engine, and it smelt like a hot engine. we put about 6 quarts in it to get it full. (i believe it has a 7-7.5 quart capacity). it drove home fine other than a slight whine in higher RPMs from the turbo.

i have heard of the pressure valve in the banjo fitting where the return leaves the output of the IP. is there a way to check this? if its not getting enough pressure to open it does that mean my lift pump may be bad?

Thanks,
Ethan

i will try bottle feeding it tomorrow.

one other thing to consider:
i tried bleeding the system at the injectors(where the injector line attaches to the injector) and i get what seems like plenty of fuel surging out of all but one of them. one of them has nothing.

You may have more than IP issues. How's the oil pressure now? Any smoke when it runs for the short period?
Might have to check the compression next.

The big question... how far is the drive home? At 6 qts low you may have to find a replacement engine.

it was driven with low oil for no more than five min. we stopped, added 6 quarts, then drove home.

it was smoking a bit more after the incident, but it was at high RPMs, and was in correspondence with the whining turbo,so i assume it was a symptom of the turbo bearing being worn out, and it wasn't getting enough air.

now it has very little smoke (when it manages to run long enough), and it's white smoke.

it seems like there is air in the injector pump. is there any other way to get it out other than bleeding at the injectors?