Read the first post to see what the symptoms were, and the last post written by the "Thread Starter" (highlighted under user name) to see what the latest status ended being on the originally reported issue.

The latest status turned out to be left up in the air, because the thread starter did not post a follow up letting us know how his problem was resolved.

Now comes along a new member who found us because the thread starter described the exact same symptoms as he is now experiencing... so it is perfectly reasonable to resurrect this thread to find out what the upshot ended up being of the identical problem.

It doesn't matter if anyone else wants to read the entire thread, or simply the first and last post of the thread, to figure out what is going on. None of us can speak for the Thread Starter who had the original problem, and yet all of us can benefit from learning what the final solution was for the original problem. So it is actually beneficial to bring up this thread in order to ask that follow up question.

@marshallstanford It has been a couple of years since you last visited, but we would love to hear how you solved the issue that you started this thread to seek help with.

 

I had a chev van 1999 i think with 302 v8.. common issues with them was valve seal leaks when the engine got cold at night.. when I started up in the morn would get a blast of blue smoke and that as it.. once engine warmed valve stem swelled and no leaks so no blue smoke at start up till shut down at night. oil usage as so low I just lived with it till sold..

I get a puff of black smoke on start up now even with good, far as I know, glow plugs..

 

you are much more apt to have leaking shaft seal on the turbo than leaking valve stem seals unless you have a 500000 mile motor. leaking valve stem seals are so uncommon that the last post that more or less met the criteria you were looking for specifically leaking valve stem seals was from 2016.

how much oil are you going through? remember if you burn oil in the engine you will not get a lot of smoke unless it is a lot... I mean drive 10 miles and have the engine stall due to lack of HPOP pressure level of leak. people burn filtered used motor oil in the earlier iteration of the 7.3 and you would not know that it was not diesel furl they were burning.

I am voting for turbine shaft seal. pull your turbo and down pipe. I bet the upipes are clean, and the turbine wheel is wet. just my opinion

 

Can do. Was just hoping the author of the original post could answer.

 

I was too, now that you brought it up!

 

I am losing almost an identical amount to the original poster about a quart every 200-300 miles if I am driving highway. Consumption seems to slow down if I am drive around town or in the mountains and maintaining lower RPM’s.

I have replaced the injector O-rings already and that didn’t solve the problem. I don’t think my issue is valve seals, I just wanted to hear the resolution from this particular author because his symptoms and his process of trying to fix the issue are almost identical to what I have.

Mine is definitely burning the oil, blue smoke until engine comes up to temp and then the blue smoke isn’t visible but I can tell from the exhaust smell that it’s still burning oil even when warm.

I checked the down pipe on the turbo when I did the injector O-rings, it was bone dry. I have an intercooler from a SD generation 7.3 on my truck. Very small amount of oil at compressor wheel inlet, compressor outlet, and intercooler piping inlet. I assume this is just from the CCV vapors condensing.

No oil in exhaust system anywhere.

Blowby is identical to this author. I also use a ping pong ball to check blowby and mine doesn’t move the ball off of the oil fill opening.

In my mind I’m basically narrowed down to an internal injector issue or something internal to the cylinder (scoring, broken ring, hole in piston, etc.) but with the low amount of blowby I am guessing internal injector issue.

Bought a compression test kit at harbor freight today and plan on doing a compression test sometime this coming week.

If anyone else has an idea on a possible issue or another check I should do please let me know.

 

From what I have gathered over the years, an oring internal to the injector, can cause this.

@dieseljim any thoughts?

 

that was going to be my next suggestion, but not an expert in that area.

i would think that by data logging the pressure in the HPOP he should see abnormally low pressure with high (super high) ICP duty cycles where its trying to hold the oil pressure up. but someone like BWST would understand that better than me. that would cause

I will say this, I have had plenty of turbine shaft seals let go in rotary engines at the track and they would empty out my 3 gallon dry sump in one lap. all of it would load up into the exhaust pipe and muffler. now consider who long and large the muffler and pipes are on a stock 7.3

 

I will look at my ICP duty cycles and HPOP pressures. Thanks for the suggestion.

My exhaust isn’t stock. No muffler. 3” down pipe then 4” back from there. No oil at down pipe or up pipes.

 

check your fuel filter to see if its black... that would indicate a leaking O ring on an injector.

 

Deleted the fuel bowl. I have a regulated return line back to the tank and filers on the line from the tank to the engine. I swapped the external injector Orings already and the problem hasn’t been solved.

At idle my ICP reads 650 psi at first then starts to drop as oil temp increases. About 580 psi at 100 degrees oil temp. IPR around 14% opened at idle. IPW around 1.1 at idle.

 

then draw some fuel out of the tnak and see if it is oil contaminated. if you changed the oil recently it might be hard to notice in a tank that size.

Please do not get the wrong idea, your valve seals might be bad, I am trying to eliminate all of the usual suspect via inspection. you might have replaced the o-rings, but nothing says that there was not a small nick on one of the cups that is cutting your orings. Unless you did the work yourself you cannot trust anybody these days, no matter how many times you have trusted them in the past. especially with the prevalence of cheap parts.

 

I appreciate the suggestions and will be double checking everything. I use this truck for a lot work and play so I need it running right.

I will sample the fuel. I changed and cut opened the old fuel filters before I changed the Orings (I did do them myself). No oil in the old filter media that I could detect.

I did a visual inspection of the cups and walls when I had the injectors out, I couldn’t see any cuts or damage.

The old Orings on the injectors didn’t look bad. One of the upper Orings was a little rough on the surface but none had tears.

I am hoping to have time to do a compression test this week. Will post results once I complete it.

Thanks for the help.

 

Valve seals would be a low probability, diesels don't pull vacuum like a gas motor and under power they'll have boost. The guides could be worn enough but there should be evidence of it in the turbo or exhaust as it would leave the head and go right to the turbo wheel.

 

I will double check the turbo wheel when I get to a compression test this week. For the record I don’t actually think it’s valve seals, the original poster on this thread just had the same exact symptoms I am having and I wanted to get him to respond to see what ended up being his solution.

I checked the turbo when I did the injector Orings and nothing looked out of order.

I’m betting on internal injector issue or scoured cylinder. Compression test first, if that looks good I’ll probably be buying new injectors.

Thanks for the info.