yesterday i had the hood open on the old beast, and while it was running i had decided to pop the oil cap to see how much blowby it had. i knew it had some but not as much as it did because i cant seem to keep the cdr clean by all of the oil dripping out of it. i did notice that when the motor is idleing it smokes alot, but when you rev it up and hold it at a constant speed it quits. could there be something else causing this or is it my consumption that it is rings causing it? and in the case that it is the rings is there anything that you can put in the oil to kind of help out to replenish the oil rings. i know i used to have a super A tractor that started losing compression and smoking and i added some kind of additive to the oil and it boosted it back up to life, but cant remember the name of the stuff. so dave ,plc,cheeper, or any of you top dawgs any info would be greatly appreciated.

 

At idle there can be lots of blowby since the CDR has not come into play. How old is the CDR that is now installed. I will PM you some info I have posted quite a few times here.....

 

plc7.3 thanks for the responce ,i know the cdr is probly old as the truck. ive serviced it 3 times in the last 6 months and probly havent drove it no more than 250 miles. i hanent had the truck no longer than 8 months.

 

The CDR is wide open below 2000 rpm, even if the CDR is bad it would be open. If you put your hand over the oil fill tube do you feel any pressure – you should not. Are you assuming you have blow by because of the “smoke” coming out of the oil fill tube – more than likely this smoke is oil mist created by the timing gears and not hot compression gasses. I replaced my CDR and I still get some oil on the bottom of the screw, again below 2000 rpm the CDR does not close so you will draw oil vapor from the engine into the intake. I would think the longer you run the engine below 2000 rpm (idle / city driving) the more oil gets draw in.

How much oil are you using? I use a quart every 1400 miles, about half that is leaking from the valley pan area. Get two cans of gunk engine flush – follow the instructions. IF YOU HAVE A TURBO MAKE SURE THE FLUSH YOU GET IS FOR USE IN A TURO ENGINE. I use Rotella T synthetic 5w 40 oil year round and use at least one can of gunk engine flush on every oil change (3000 miles) this keeps the rings clean and moving free. I would do a compression test.

The smoking at idle is more than likely a timing issue – to far retarded not allowing a complete burn of the fuel. If you can find an FTE user in your area that has a timing meter check the timing, or take it to a garage and have it checked – about $75.

Smoking could also be air being ingested through the fuel lines. If the fuel lines in and around the engine are gray painted there are probably original and should be replaced – get a fuel line kit with “O” rings. As soon as you move the caps the “O” will start to leak so replace them also. If you can get a hold of a small tube of Molykote 55 O-ring Lubricant made by Dow Corning – I think it’s about $13.00 on line. Use it on the O-rings before slipping them on the injector’s, also wipe a little inside the plastic cap before pushing that on. Good stuff - Slightly swells o-ring, compatible with plastics, operating temperature between – 65c (-85f) and + 165c (+329f). Should keep the o-rings from drying out and or sticking to the injector / plastic areas for a while. That way when you’re working on the engine a year or two from now and bump the lines around may be they won’t start leaking again.

 

hey 93_e_350 that gunk flush your talking about is it something you just flush the system with or do you just add it to the oil every oil change?

 

Sorry to disillusion you, but I don't qualify as one of the "top dawgs". Not even CLOSE to being in the same league with Dave, PLC7.3, Spectramac, farmnfly, or any of the other gurus on the board.

Heck, I've only been around since I bought my first diesel at the end of August - barely over 3 months. I'm a quick study and am learning a lot from these guys, but I'm still a noob with a LOT to learn. My title says "Elder User" - but that's only 'cause I'm such a keyboard blabbermouth that I post 5 or 6 times a day....

Looks like 93_E_350 pretty much covered everything I could have shared - PLUS some good info about the Molykote 55 stuff.

BTW 93_E_350, will that stuff recondition rings that aren't brand new (installed a few hundred or thousand miles ago), but haven't really hardened up either?

 

J Tate -

The gunk engine flush should be used as per the directions - cold engine run for 5 minutes, drain, change filter, refill oil. Read the label on the gunk for turbo / non-turbo engines. I always fill the new filter with oil before putting it back on.

CJ -

The gunk will loosen the rings and clean gum from lifters. Gunk works great. In my own opinion I would use it from new on every other oil change. On older engines you run the risk of cleaning dirt from areas that will start leaking like intakes, valve covers and even the main seals. I bought my van with 140,000 and use the gunk one to two cans every oil change. They valley pan was leaking when I got it and I have not picked up any new leaks. On a diesel I would not add anything to the oil long term. I do like the Marvel Mystery Oil added to the diesel fuel as I think it too helps to loosen rings and cleans / lubes the IP. I'm not sure what's in the MMO but it smells like oil of wintergreen and looks like ATF - both are great cleaners

 

j tate,
I'm unclear.... is any smoke comming from the exhaust?
if not what you are seeing is pretty normal for a diesel of this vintage.

Although the advice given by 93-e350 is good for smoke from the tail pipe, if all you are seeing is crankcase vapors his advice doesn't 100% apply.

I don't use a cdr valve, I have a hose going from the oil fill area to the ground. Smoke goes out, but hardly any oil. Maybe I loose a qt every oil change, and much less chance for a runaway.

 

I can't absolutely say if it seals the rings better or not, as my engine is fairly fresh, but I have started using the Lucas oil extender to my oil now, and it does help with oil life. It should help with the vaporization problems too. It is supposed to help with cold starts as well, it sure does stick to everything it touches... it goes in almost like honey.
The possible problem with the oil flush if you didn't start when it was new, you also run the risk of cleaning the glaze off the cylinder walls, causing the rings to no longer seat, as they were actually seating to the glaze, and not the metal, making an oil burner. If the inside of your motor doesn't have a lot for deposits, it might be ok. Usually this happens on a more neglected motor, but I have seen it happen from simply changing oil brands. The additives are a little different, so if one brand has been run for a long time, then is switched to another brand, it cleans the glaze from the cylinder walls, and now you have a heavy oil burner. Talk with some of the older truck drivers that have a hand in the maintenance, they likely will tell you to RUn Rotella or Delcovac, but don't change between them... I kind of disagree with that, I tend to lean towards more of a rotate the brands to prevent buildup, but am guilty in that I typically run Rotella. A flush might be a good answer too if you have the option. Older motors are just a bit at risk if the last owner religiously used one brand.

 

yes deeproots at start up it doesnt smoke hardley any at all, but as the motor warms up the more it smokes. after it warms up all the way if you tap the petal to raise the rpm"s it looks like the mosquito man driving around the block. if you walk around the truck and smell the smoke it doesnt smell to much like burnt oil, nor does it smell like diesel. and 93 the previous owner of the truck didnt do to much service to the truck other than drive the wheels off of it. ive been using diesel kleen in the fuel every tank of fuel , and man can you tell the difference in the way it runs and it has more power than when i bought it. but when i bought it ,it didnt run ,the trans didnt even pull i had to rebuild the trans, the dne2 overdrive unit didnt even work, the truck was beat up from the floor up and now it has a fresh paint job with grey metalic on the bottom and black metalic on top split with a maroon barbed wire and limo tint windows. so ive been slowly bringing it back from the grave a little at a time.

 

Like I said before - check the compression, do the flush, have the IP timing checked and go from there. Also yes the flush can be a little too good and clean dirt which might cause leaking but if it's that loaded up are you really hurting anything? Some of the injectors, or perhaps the IP is bad but start cheap and work your way up.

Your still haven't said how much oil your using?

 

a quart every 1000-1200 miles .

 

if it is using that little, I wouldn't worry... I go through about a quart every 800... my motor is fairly fresh...

 

1000 to 1200 per quart - that's not bad. If it runs smooth then the injectors are probably "ok", might not be the best but ok. I would have the IP timing checked, if it's too far retarded then it will smoke, it may smoke more once warm because the cold advance will have kicked off. I've got some notes on IP timing on my web site. My pump has some miles on it so I checked the timing in at a few different rpms and came up with a good average that worked form mine. Keep in mind that you need to use different offset numbers depending on the type of meter you use - pulse or luminosity.

I would not move the IP without a meter.

 

thanks 93_E_350 i messed with it a little today and noticed a little miss in it so i,m thinking i have a bad injector just not sure which one. i broke every line to see if i could tell which one it was but couldn,t. ill have to wait till after christmas and buy some new ones off ebay. i came up with another delima today i decided to take the back drums off today to see what kind of wear i had on the brakes to notice the last owner had put some springs in the wrong spot that caused the brakes to come off and chew up a small cable that goes to the brakes, not to mention the rear seal had been leaking for so long that there is about an 1/8" crud caked on the inside of the hub. needless to say the back brakes havent worked in a while. so now i have to see if i can find the brake pieces to fix the brakes back to specs. thanks for the help