Hey All,

So I know it's kind of a loaded question, but how low can the oil level get before a noticeable lack of performance occurs? Basically, how low does the oil level have to get before the truck will no longer pull itself up small hills at interstate speeds (70 mph)?

I will describe more of what occurred later on, but I want to get an idea if what I am thinking may be possible.

Thanks Everyone,

Baatzy

 

When its not visible on the dip stick or 1 gal to be exact

 

Well,
When I took mine back to the dealer for its first complimentary oil change, they only put 8 quarts of oil in it. I drove it that afternoon from San Diego to Yuma for a meeting and nothing indicated in the cab that anything was wrong. When I fueled up in Yuma I decided to check the oil. Dip stick was clean so I put in one quart and checked...still clean. Kept doing this until I added 6 quarts or so and brought it up to where it should be. That was 14 years ago and still no problems........now that I say that I suppose it will take a dump tomorrow

 

In my particular case, it's when you see the cylinder walls start to Glow.......

 

the injectors will start to loose oil pressure and start closing when there is around 8 qts in the engine. It is not good to run the truck that low on oil, but the truck will not lock up because of the lack of oil, because it will slowly loose power and start running rough and then shut down.

I have real no idea why, but in a matter of two days, I lost 8 qts. of oil. I was driving down a highway and my truck started going slower and slower and was loosing power. I pulled to the side of the roadway and it idled for a minute and died. I had no idea why it died. had it towed to a garage and was told that the 'oil level' was low. Never had seemed to have 'burned' very much oil before and the mechanic had no real answer, but maybe an injector part was allowing oil to get past the injector. After a oil and filter change, I have had no other problems in the last 50,000 miles due to loosing oil so fast.

 

This is a subject that I hope to never have to answer with my truck.

 

Wow - that was their way of saying thank you for your business, we appreciate it!

 

While I am sure there are good dealerships out there that do great work, I have not been able to find one so I try and do everything myself if I can. I purchased a new Z06 about 8 months ago and now I need a new flex plate but I can't bring myself to take it to any local dealerships for fear of them making issues worse so it just sits covered in the garage until I can find a dealership that appears to know what they are doing and has done a few already.

 

Thanks for the responses guys, I asked because on my way from Minnesota to Rapid City I began to lose power at about 250 miles into the journey (about 50 miles after stopping to top off the tank and let the dog out). The loss of power came with a very large increase in injector noise. The loss of power led to the inability to go higher than about 55mph on the interstate.

I pulled over and tried to check the oil, best I could tell after 5 or 6 dip and cleans it seemed to average right at the bottom of the dipstick, this occurred for unknown reasons, but probably because I got complacent on the oil checks. Anyhow, I put about 2 quarts in (seemed to put me in the center of the hashmarks) and the truck ran much nicer and quieter and had pretty good power for a ways and then the same thing occurred again. Pulled over and added oil without checking the dipstick and it seemed to cure the problem again for a ways then it happened again. I pulled over and added the last oil I had left, thinking I was using it. It ran well for a bit and started to do it again, however it was far enough to make it to a decent sized town. I was pretty ticked/upset so I just called and had it towed to the house in Rapid. I checked the oil the next morning and it was dead smack at the full mark.

The truck still seems to run and drive fine for around town driving. I haven't had an opportunity to take it out at highway speeds or do enough driving to get it back to the 202 degrees it was running when the issues started. I have been checking the oil in each morning and it is still at the full mark even though I have put probably 4 hours worth of idling/driving on it since.

Another possibility that was mentioned was bad fuel, so I drained my frame rail filter and the fuel bowl. I put them in jugs and set them outside in weather that was just as cold as the trip back and I have yet to see any condensation or dropout in either sample even though they have been sitting for two days.

Next plan is to run KOEO, KOER, and buzz tests as well as take it on a drive and watch cylinder PERDELs. (Thanks to whitebuffalo for pointing me in this direction.)

Are there any other things I should be looking at or any thoughts on what may have occurred?

I appreciate all the input from you guys.

Thanks,

Baatzy

 

Any way to put a code reader on it? On a side note, I lived on Tomahawk Drive in Rapid next to Meadowbrook golf course many years ago.

 

Your oil level is fine, even a qt or two low as these trucks do burn a qt or more between oil changes.

Have you tried a new fuel filter? You will be surprised on just changing this part the change in the way a truck will run.

When is the last time you did a oil and filter change?

 

I am going to put AE on it here when I get a chance, I have been working since Wednesday and my first free day is Monday so hopefully I can get AE hooked up then.

New fuel filter I have not tried, not sure how many miles on the fuel filters, I was going to switch them out but have not had the chance yet. Oil and filter have a bit over 3k miles on them.

Thanks,

Baatzy

 

Oil mileage is fine, should be able to go 2-3 times that much with out a change.

Have you ever changed your fuel filter on your truck? Some trucks have a filter cap that is not attached to the filter. If you have one of these 'separate' caps do not throw it away,save it, if you buy a filter with a cap already attached to it. Filters with no caps are cheaper in cost, not in quality. Some parts stores will only have non-capped filters and some have couple of capped styles. There are even several rubber seal styls that may come with your filter, round, square, beveled. Save the seal from your truck as you might need it also, if the seal that comes with the new filter does not seal correctly. How will you know that is does not seal very well???? Fuel will be spraying all over the engine compartment when you turn the key/truck on and will be running all over the ground .

Have a spare filter with you and the tools to change it. You can run your truck, 10, 20,000 miles with out a filter change and not notice any problems. But the truck will always like a new filter. Or... you can run after a filter change for a few hundred miles and your filter could get clogged up. When you change your filter, look down into the bowl for dirt and junk, if there is (and there will be) clean it out. I have unplugged my fuel bowl heater (which also sense 'water in bowl') because if it (fuel bowl heater) shorts out and blows a fuse, it will kill the truck and you will not be able to start it and hard to remember why the fuse (#30 I think) keeps blowing.... You will not need the fuel bowl heater if you live in the lower 48 states.

 

The oil still looks halfway decent as well, a dark brown, not black yet. I have both the frame rail filter from the hutch mod I did and the fuel bowl filter (Riffraff sourced), just need to get the time and good weather or garage space to change the filters.

I would like to think that would help, but I'm not sure, when I drained both filters to check for contaminated fuel it looked good for both spots, but I will be sure to watch when I switch them out.

Baatzy

 

On my truck, "off the dipstick" is TWO gallons low, not one, and that indeed is the point where the truck no longer wants to run. I discovered this about 5 or 6 years ago when an o-ring on my oil bypass filter element got cross-threaded and cut during replacement, and I unknowingly blew two gallons of oil down the highway between Birmingham and Auburn, AL.

There was apparently no damage whatsoever because the truck still runs like a top. The truck was actually just beginning to reveal a "miss" while at highway speeds, but it was low oil pressure the shut the engine down when I came off highway speed while pulling up to a traffic light.