Teakettle and CCV test
 

My 1980 300TD has been burning way too much oil. I drive it an average of 3000 miles a month and it has pretty much always been heavy on the oil burn. Sometimes as much as a quart per fill up!:eek: Sooo I decided to hit the search and came up with a lot of good info, except I don't know how to interperate it. What am I testing for with the "teakettle"? Because mine doesn't even move with or without the CCV elbow thing attached. Secondly I did the thumb over thing and it ran real slow and rough but didn't stop at all. Now I know THAT can't be good! I watched the videos and did the test and I don't know what either of them is checking.

My locks don't all open after sitting a few minutes but they will all still lock after sitting quite a while. Cruise control works flawlessly, the vent system opens and closes correctly and the car shuts off immediately after turning the key off. There may be a small leak, but I don't think it is a HUGE leak.

Anyway, thanks for any response. I'm out for tonight but I will check back in the morning during work.

Todd

Teakettle test refers to measuring blowbye, The idea is you plug the valve cover Breather line, and with the oil fill cap unscrewed observe the amount of blowbye seen escaping around the cap, If the cap blows off, thats bad,

Engines can still run with excessive blowby, but typically it means the compression is down.

You probably have a leak in one of the lock actuators. You'll need a Mity-Vac to find which one is leaking.

My filler cap does a little break dance for me when i plug the PCV hole with my finger. never comes close to falling off, but its funny to watch it bounce a bit.

I'll have to try it again. I think that I didn't do it right. Unfortunately ALL of my door locks, fuel door and hatch included, have leaks.

I guess my question is when I do the thumb thing with the cap attached is it suppose to kill the engine? If it is then what does it mean if it doesn't kill the engine? That is what it looked like the guy was doing in the videos that were posted.

Also I wanted to add that there is no smoke at idle or when I excelerate except if I really need to put my foot into it, then I get the usual black smoke but it goes away as soon as I lift again. I have fixed all of my fluid leaks so I know I am not directly leaking oil onto the ground anywhere.

It only take a leak in one for the rest of them to not work. So I woudn't be surprised if only one is leaing.

Be careful doing the test by plugging the line. You can cause a blown seal from pressure build up. If the engine does not die, that is a good thing. IF the oil cap does not dance that mean zero to very little blowby.

Okay good, but then what is my next step to figuring out why I am using so much oil? I drive it a lot and the oil is a pretty hefty expense. That is the main reason that I haven't switched to synthetic, it would be WAY to expensive. For years I have used Rotella.

Does your exhaust exhibit signs of oil burning? Mine dribbles more than it burns. I have traced it to bad oil return seals from the oil/air separator. It seems to leak more now that I washed the engine and got rid of the dirt that helpd to seal the leak.

You do not have to have blowby to have oil burning. You can have valve guides and seals leaking, or the wiper rings getting either weak, or carbon choked, preventing proper expansion, contraction. Being that you do not have the oil cap dancing, I think your compression should be fine.

Have you perfomed a compression and/or leakdown test?

rrgrassi - Okay I know that this is something I should know with all the other repairs I've done but what and where is the oil/air seperator and how do I check to see if it is leaking?

I do not have any oil leaking or is any of the tailpipe wet from oil. It appears to just be soot or carbon in the tailpipe, bone dry.

I have not perfomed any compression or leakdown test. Primarily because I do not have the correct equipment for the job or the know-how to do the job correctly. Looks like I will have to invest some money and some study time to the subject.