I had my first real issue with my truck today. Just after taking off, as I was going up a hill, the truck died. When I rolled back to the bottom, it started. I drove about 20 miles died again. I noticed a small amount of motor oil dripping off the transmission, so I checked the oil level- empty!!!

So I added 5 quarts to bring it back where it was supposed to be, and figured I had a small oil leak that I not noticed. Truck started and ran fine for about another 20 miles. Again it appeared to be out of oil. I just needed to get the thing to my shop, so I put in another 5 quarts. When I got there, I let it cool, then checked the level. Empty!!

Determined to find the leak, I put in 7-8 quarts and started it up. It did not leak, so I took it for a short spin (less than a mile). The truck died and all the oil was gone. The leak I observed was only a drip and would take weeks or months to leak any real amount.

SOOOO I put gallons of oil in, my exhaust is clean, so I am not burning it, and my antifreeze level is not rising..........

I really do not know much about these engines and think I may take it to a dealer but was looking for some suggestions. I have read that oil can be dumped into to the turbo?

I think I am going to have a huge mess.

 

Check your fuel filter. If it is black you probably have an injector oring leaking. Do a search and you will find lots of info.

 

Pull the driver-side IC pipe off (there will be some oil there from the CCV), and start the truck. Going through 5 quarts in a few minutes should vent copious amounts of oil, if it's the turbo. You could also have bad injector O-rings and you've just blackened your fuel. Is your fuel gauge moving slower than normal?

 

Look really hard at where the turbo mounts to the pedestal...Mine is currently rustproofing the bottom my truck because the pedestal orings have started leaking. Depending on my load, it has a tendency to use a lot of oil when pulling heavy

 

Cutting right to the chase, the most important point of this post is Step 6:

Diesel oil compatible leak detection tracer dye:



These are the empty bottles from what I used to find my mammoth leak. Based on this experience, here are some recommended steps to diagnose major oil disappearances and leaks with an engine:

1. Don't assume the worst. The root problem may not be as bad as the quantity of oil loss may lead one to think.

2. Test, don't guess. It may not be what you or anyone else here guesses.

3. Look before leaping. It may not be necessary to pull things apart to find the cause. Look first, save tools for later.

4. Look at the front face of rear differential. Is it wet with oil? Make a mental note.

5. Look in the valley of the engine, underneath the fuel bowl and under the inlet "spider". Use a flashlight and a mirror, but be sure to get a view of the bottom of this valley. Is it wet? Puddling wet? Reflections? Make a mental note.

6. HERE IS THE TIME SAVING, SUPER EASY, PIN POINT ACCURATE, and tooless KEY to finding the leak: TRACER DYE. See pic above. Get the kind that is diesel oil compatible so you don't have to worry about changing the oil again. By this time you've already changed it a few times within the last couple days as it is! I put two bottles side by side in the photo, so that you could read the entire label in one picture. (The curvature of a single bottle hid the part number or the name).

7. Work at night. This is the super secret step for success doing this at home or in your own shop. Working under cover of darkness saves you from $200 to $1,500, because then you won't have to buy the fancy flashlight that technicians use to see the tracer dye during the work day.

8. Use a blacklight. Any kind of blacklight will do. I used one from a fish tank. You can take the regular bulb out of a drop light and screw in a compact fluorescent blacklight. Or get a four foot fluorescent tube and covert a four foot shop light into a blacklight. Working at night, using a blacklight, that tracer dye will show up like a bright green beacon pinpointing EXACTLY where the FLOW of oil is going. Have a friend rev the engine to a higher RPM while you scope around looking for bright green, so you don't have to actually drive.

9. While looking for the green, review mental notes in order to pick the best places to look first: It doesn't leak at idle, but leaks at higher rpms or load. That indicates the oil is being lost when under pressure in the high pressure oil circuit. That could be injector related... yet you haven't reported any black smoke from the tailpipe. This leads me to wonder about the orings in the HPOP plug, as well as the HPOP line discharge fittings into the head. It is very common for these to go bad, and also common for them to not necessarily leak until pressurized. Is the underside of the truck wet with oil, particularly the front face of the rear diff? Is the valley wet?

10. Report back here what you end up finding out. We all learn from sharing each other's experiences.

 

I wonder if that black light would work on the exhaust fumes. At least you could use it in the fuel bowl.

This is a good time of year to test the truck. When the EBPV kicks in (truck hisses), your backpressure should read about 15 PSI... and this would likely dump oil somewhere if it's turbo or pedestal related.

I have a warm-up tune in my truck and it is one of the tools I use to troubleshoot. Backpressure is a wonderful thing.

 

Wow, that is great. I will do.

I have not had any black smoke. I actually did check the exhaust with two types of light in the dark and could not see anything coming out.

There is a little oil dripping from the oil pan that looks like it may be coming from the back of the engine near the transmission. To be clear- this is not the leak. Over the course of a day I could not have lost more than a pint from this area. I stopped several times to check.

One problem. In order to start the truck to run the leak detector, I need to put another 5 quarts in. Is this wise? It will be gone in less than 5 minutes. Also, I felt like the truck was starting to choke itself.

I may peak in some of the turbo plumbing.

 

This all sounds like an EBPV actuator leak. Have you checked the engine valley for oil?

 

As you have found out, these trucks will shut themselves down when low on oil. So there is no chance of damaging the engine due to lack of oil. The only "damage" will be to your wallet for the cost of oil and then whatever you have to pay in order to fix the problem, but you were going to have to pay for that either way. I would NOT take it to a dealer. I am dead serious about that. They will probably tell you it is something very very expensive and at $90+ an hour labor and full retail on the parts, you are going to spend a boatload on it, when it can be something inexpensive to do yourself.

Y2k, that is a great write-up. If I could rep you, I would.

 

I'll get him for you.

I wouldn't take the truck anywhere until you give his write-up a shot.

 

Waiting to here what it was? Hope you got it worked out.

 

Yes it was Jason and I got him for you and I both.

I'm curious were all his oil is going.

 

Gotcha. I have about a week and a half to play with this thing. If it is not on the road by then I will take it somewhere.

 

Oil loss at that rate only has four places to go - the cylinder (directly or indirectly), the fuel tank, the degas, or the ground (directly or indirectly). Two of those cause smoke sooner or later... and the other two end up on the ground sooner or later. The oil-in-fuel thing can cause more of a haze and get worse as the tank fills with oil.

I need to read back if this truck has the FRx.

 

There is some oil in the valley. Definitely no more than a quart. In fact, it could be what I spilled as I dumped 22 quarts in the other day, as it was very clean.

Advance Auto did not have the dye, so I hope NAPA has it.

I did not check the fuel filter yet. Devoting tomorrow to the truck.