oil
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Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 1,781
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From: Central NY
I beleive the cats can soak up quite a bit before it would ever reach the tailpipe.
Whats the posibility of a leak but not when/where you expect it? My wifes car went thru something simular where she'd loose a quart on a short trip but I could take it all day and not loose a drop. I eventully found it was a broken valve cover gasket that oil only leaked out of when she was going downhill and/or turning left. My only clue was a small oil trail on the upper corner of the head (fwd). I figure the oil would pour out there straight to the ground which explains why there was never a drop in my garage, and not leak at all under most driving conditions.
Strange but true...
Popa Tim
Whats the posibility of a leak but not when/where you expect it? My wifes car went thru something simular where she'd loose a quart on a short trip but I could take it all day and not loose a drop. I eventully found it was a broken valve cover gasket that oil only leaked out of when she was going downhill and/or turning left. My only clue was a small oil trail on the upper corner of the head (fwd). I figure the oil would pour out there straight to the ground which explains why there was never a drop in my garage, and not leak at all under most driving conditions.
Strange but true...
Popa Tim
Senior User
Joined: Mar 2005
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The stock cat on that truck uses a three stage system with honeycomb ceramic elements. They can not soak up anything, just pass it through. Trust me on this. At 140k mi I replaced the engine in my 88 250 460ci because I was going through a qt every 100mi. The only time I saw smoke was when I really laid into it. The other hint was a stretch of road that had a 10-15deg grade for about 3mi. I would hit it in 5th about 65mph/2000rpm and by the top I was in 3rd doing 40mph/2500rpm with not much smoke. Point being my engine was pretty much shot but not obviously so unless you noticed the power loss. If you are going through a qt/75m and not leaving pools of oil where ever you go then you have to be burning it. Look for major power loss on hills. If so your rings are probably gone and it is time for a rebuild or engine swap. At 170kmi that is my guess, and you did 30k better than me. Hope this helps........Karl
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Joined: Feb 2005
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thanks rotor,
I would have thought the same thing but the truck actually has great power uphill. I live in Sacramento and run it up to Lake Tahoe quite often, sometimes pulling a 4500# boat. That's over a 7000' hill and still no smoke. Oh well, time to start shopping for a rebuild.
I would have thought the same thing but the truck actually has great power uphill. I live in Sacramento and run it up to Lake Tahoe quite often, sometimes pulling a 4500# boat. That's over a 7000' hill and still no smoke. Oh well, time to start shopping for a rebuild.
