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  #1  
Old 03-26-2008, 10:53 AM
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1.5 quarts low + trip= puffs like a chimney

Drove to Milwaukee, 1.5 hrs, took 1.5 quarts to get back where it should be. Since then I've noticed more oil being blown out the bottom of the air filter housing, and a lot more gas coming out the oil cap when I take it off. I noticed harder starting in the morning, but I think I might have alost one of my newly changed glowplugs (I didn't know about reaming out the carbon at the time) because it doesn't seem much difference between waiting the 40 second cycle or just 10 seconds.

Now I know some people say they have seen engines with 300,000 that spews gas, it doesn't matter. But I would like to atone for my sin. Valve stem seal replacement?

I'm going to adjust valves this weekend, then check them in a few weeks. Would doing a compression test after that be advised?
I'm going to clean out the oil return channels with the guitar string, and check fro vacuum leaks. I broke the main T coming off the brake booster, which I resealed, but I wodner if that is causing a slight leak and inscreasing the gas in there.

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Last edited by Mattbob; 03-26-2008 at 11:07 AM.
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Old 03-26-2008, 09:06 PM
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When you say gas, you mean blowby, right? It sounds like the blowby has increased dramatically? Is the puffing you describe from the cam cover or is it in the tailpipe? There's nothing you can do about blowby, from what I know, unless you want to redo your bottom end. The vacuum line break seems to me unrelated to your oil and puffing issue. Valve stems are not going to fix blowby, but if they're worn, they will prevent oil from dripping in there. Symptoms of bad stem seals would include blue puffs from the tail pipe after sitting an hour or more. I'd do the compression check if you really want to find out what it is. I'd also rig up a fitting on the compression tester to inject some compressed air into each cylinder to see how well your valves are seating. Good luck!
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Old 03-26-2008, 11:35 PM
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Location: West of Ft. Worth. TX
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mattbob View Post
Drove to Milwaukee, 1.5 hrs, took 1.5 quarts to get back where it should be. Since then I've noticed more oil being blown out the bottom of the air filter housing, and a lot more gas coming out the oil cap when I take it off.........
Is the oil separator drain connected?
Have you replaced the o-rings at the bottom of the oil separator?
Have you cleaned and sealed the top edge of the oil separator?

What oil are you using? diesel rated?
FWIW, every diesel I have ever seen has vapor when the oil cap is removed. (I believe it might be due to the piston cooling jets.)

What oil leaks do you have? Sounds like a major one.....like possibly a turbo oil return?
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84 300SD 350K+ miles ( Blue Belle )
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Old 03-27-2008, 06:51 AM
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I know it's natural, it just had a lot less before this episode. Before it just barely had anything, and noww it shoots it right out of there. The Drain is connected. I havn't sealed the oil separator... take it out and seal along the edge where it meets the housing, correct? I'm trying to track down a leak over by the power steering pump. The bottom of the pump and the area around it have a bunch of oil. I assumed it would be power steering lfuid, but it's not.

No diesel rated oil, light weight synthetic for the winter.
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Old 03-27-2008, 11:07 AM
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When you open the air filter housing, you will see that the oil separator has a couple of metal "tabs" that hold the top on. That seam can leak a considerable amount of oil into the air filter housing. Clean real well with brake cleaner, to get good adhesion, and seal with RTV. Once I did this, the oil in the air filter assembly was negligible. Be sure and let the RTV cure as you absolutely don't want any of it to come loose and end up down in the oil pump area.

Oil by the power steering pump? Hmmm, how are your oil cooler lines? When one of mine leaked, it left a lot of oil on the drivers side of the engine bay. If they are leaking badly, they need to be replaced ASAP as a rupture can ruin an engine in short order.

I don't know your location,(you might include it in your signature, it helps) but lightweight synthetic will definitely magnify any oil leaks as you probably know already. How lightweight are we talking about?

Ultimately, 1.5 qts. low on an 8 qt. system is not enough to warrant major engine issues if you are using very lightweight oil and have leaks.
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  #6  
Old 03-27-2008, 11:22 AM
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I think unfortunatly your description means a lot more compressed air is getting by the rings than before in a very short time frame. You might go back to a 15w-40 conventional oil and see if the increased viscosity helps or eliminates the new level of the problem.
If this car was never on synthetic before and you put a 0-30 or 5-30 synthetic there might not be enough engine part protection or viscosity. The heavier vicosity does tend to seal the rings better in itself.
Blowby out the oil filler hole is source specific in my opinion. it has to be base pressure from air getting by the pistons or piston. A major increase over a very short period should cause concern. I only hope it is because of a thinner oil than the engine normally sees being used. I would change the oil just in case.
Years ago myself and some friends discussed at length if existing wear patterns could be upset by switching to synthetic. We never arrived at any solid conclusions. We kind of felt if the viscosity index was remaining simular in operation to the conventional oils all might be well.
I know the advantages of synthetic as well like increased cold starting, quicker initial cold lubrication ability and faster power up levels are almost too important to ignore.
For example in cold weather I always idled my 240d for a few minutes before attempting to move with conventional oil. Not much choice unless I really felt like being run over that extremelty cold morning If not actually siphoning off 20hp with cold oil it sure felt like it. Add another 3hp for the alternator recharging heavy after the cold start. Plus the drag of the cold fluid in the transmission and rear end. It;s a wonder that old tank would even drag itself. The conventional oils cold just have unbelievable drag.
Finally what is the rating of the synthetic you have in there? Is there now enough blowby to blow the oil cap off with the engine warmed up?
If your synthetic has very few miles on it just bottle it up and label it. So if the viscosity of the regular oil makes no difference you could perhaps use it again sometime.

Last edited by barry123400; 03-27-2008 at 11:35 AM.
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  #7  
Old 03-28-2008, 11:00 AM
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Cool. Thanks guys. I'll change my oil this weekend, since it's tarting to warm up finally, and seal up the separator. Hopefully with the valve adjustments and shocks this weekend it is continuing on it's path to 350,000.

Along with that blowby, it got a bit harder to start in the mornigns with some more smoke on startup until it warms up. I'll be checking the compression next week.

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Last edited by Mattbob; 03-28-2008 at 11:07 AM.
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