Changed oil in my 6V92 last week, refilled it w 6.5 gallons as I have in the past (and suggested by PO in his detailed manual), did a short (120 mi.) trip over the weekend and notice that the oil level is WAY high. Oil pressure was normal (around 70-ish) and everything sounded and ran fine. What are the risks of too much oil? Do I need to try to drain some off? (that ain't gonna be pretty). Not sure how 6.5 gal. is suddenly more than 6.5 gal. Thanks for your thoughts.
Chuck
it sounds like diesel in the oil. Get a paper towel and wipe your dipstick oil on it, if there is diesel it will separate from the oil and leave a light colored stain around the oil sample. Might be just a fuel line to the injector.
?
Detroit makin' oil...
Do not delay in identifying what is wrong here...
Diesel does NOT lubricate very well...
Repair the leaking injector/crossover line, fresh oil, short change on the next one and carry on. No need for concourse level hand wringing.
You've found it in time. Another reason a busnut with an old 2 cycle Detroit should pull the dipstick regularly...
Happy coaching!
Buswarrior
Thanks Geoff and Buswarrior. Another tidbit that probably verifies your fuel-in-oil diagnosis is that after the 120 mile trip, the oil is still light in color. I recall that it darkened quite quickly after an oil change in the past. I don't see the diesel stain around the oil, but it just doesn't look right.
I'm calling my local DD service outfit first thing tomorrow, as this is beyond my limited mechanical abilities. Hopefully they can get to it quickly as we have a 4-week trip coming up, departing 9/26. Thanks again, gents.
Funny how a $10.00 fuel tube will cost 5 to $600.00 before you are done :o then they need to be repaired or it turns into big $$$$$
Draw an oil sample and send it to Blackstone Labs in Fort Wayne, Indiana. They will give you a definitive answer as to whether you have diesel fuel in your oil, which as others have said, can be catastrophic.
I recently did this and found that my rising oil level was due to a bad seal between the power steering pump and the engine. Power steering oil is migrating into the crankcase. A much simpler fix.
Don't drive the bus in this condition before you have a definitive answer regarding your oil composition.
Mike in Georgia
Speedco lube and oil change are everywhere they can do a sample and you get the results on the spot
We started making oil right after a cylinder head swap as we were in route from IN to AK. It wasn't rising fast but it was coming up. Probably a gal in 1000 miles. If it's diesel 5-10 percent is tolerable but viscosity & oil pressure decrease. We kept running. Did two oil changes between IN & AK before we were able to change out all the fuel crossover tubes under the cylinder head cover.
If you have fuel in the oil, save the oil after repairing and changing. You can 1/2 to 1 gallon to fuel at every fillup.
I had the same problem in my 8/71. The oil didn't "look" right.So I sent off a sample for analysis and got a call saying stop driving it immediately. On inspection I found that 4 of 8 injectors were leaking.Had all 8 rebuilt and replaced. Cost was $3000 That is the bad part. The good part was that because the repair shop did lots of work on boats they do "house calls" so they came to my place to do the work.
Update: Took an oil sample in to my local shop (Pacific Power, Kent WA). With look, feel, and smell, they didn't detect any diesel, water, or other contaminate. Also, the oil was lower on the stick (still high) and a bit darker this morning, more normal overall. Mechanic suggested I get the oil level back down to the full mark and run it a bit to see if the level increases at all. I checked the coolant, transmission and steering fluid to see if any were down or discolored. All looked normal.
Drove the bus to a nearby station to refuel, then checked the level after a couple hours. It was exactly the same as earlier in the day, which was above the full mark but not by a lot. Everything *appears* to be normal but I'm still baffled about the variations in dip stick level.
I think I'll go with what I'm sure my daughter would tell me: "It's the ghost, Dad". And there have been, in fact, several unexplained events surrounding this rig in the six years we've owned her-- dead bolt locking from the inside with no one there, side window broken while in a secured, unoccupied garage space, things like that.
I'm just going to keep a really close eye on the oil level and deal with it promptly if I see it increasing again. Thanks for all the advice and tales of similar episodes.
Chuck
Looking, feeling, and smelling the oil sample does not test it. Did they even put some on a paper towel to see if it separates with a ring around the center portion?
Get the oil sampled. Not that costly, but resulting engine damage will be. It's your money. Can you afford a rebuild because of ignoring good advice? Again, it's your money.
My experience with 6V92TA's is that on an oil change, the oil pan holds 5 gallons, another gallon for the oil filter, and an extra gallon if it has a by-pass filter. So 6.5 gallons might be 2 quarts over the full mark. Like many other people, I run mine between full and add which is where it likes to stay.
Don't forget that oil expands quite a bit when at operating temp compared to room temp, around 6%. So on 6.5 gallons you'll grow by 1 1/2 quarts, which is enough to notice on a dip stick. My "making oil" experience was the fuel stand pipes in the head had not been tightened to correct torque. It can be many things causing the problem. The steering pump seal leaking was one I had never thought of, nor would I have caught that one, since I use engine oil in the power steering.
Wow! .For only about 30 bucks you could know for sure.What are you going to do when you check the oil on the first day of your trip at "nowhere" USA and find the level is up?
I'd get the oil tested. If it comes back negative for fuel in the oil, I'd try and figure out are there other reasons a dipstick could give a false reading?
Detecting fuel in oil doesn't take having an oil sample.
probably the easiest amateur diagnostic
Quote from: eagle19952 on September 12, 2018, 10:54:59 AM
Detecting fuel in oil doesn't take having an oil sample.
probably the easiest amateur diagnostic
Lol the taste is terrible huh Donald,I do it with a match if has fuel it ignites in hurry
Kidding aside, he can see if he is getting coolant or metals also.
Quote from: chessie4905 on September 12, 2018, 11:19:02 AM
Kidding aside, he can see if he is getting coolant or metals also.
A oil sample would be good then he has base to work from for the next sample,problem is he has new oil now,you need to pull the sample at oil change not after
Clifford is right.
A track record is the determining factor.
Working for an oil distributor we sold cases of sample bottles/subscriptions which made us a lot of money.
But predictive analysis didn't save many engines.
Catastrophic or operator failures claimed the most...
Maybe he hasn't disposed of used oil yet.
FYI, dropped off an oil sample today at the local CAT dealer, as they have a lab. Should have the results tomorrow or Friday at the latest.
And, I do still have the old oil...maybe I should get another sample jar, eh? However, it came out of my giant oil pan that was not exactly pristine when I changed the oil, and then put in to a 5 g. bucket that was not exactly clean, either. So it would be a questionable sample to use, me thinks.
Do you guys have your oil (and other fluids) periodically analyzed even if you don't necessarily suspect problems?
Quote from: luvrbus on September 12, 2018, 11:07:07 AM
Lol the taste is terrible huh Donald,I do it with a match if has fuel it ignites in hurry
Clifford isn't it tough to get the match into the small dipstick tube though? ::)
Quote from: Dave5Cs on September 14, 2018, 07:28:14 PM
Clifford isn't it tough to get the match into the small dipstick tube though? ::)
Never tried that one Dave
Been busy the past couple weeks and never got around to closing out this thread.
I got the analysis back from the CAT dealer and there was nothing unusual in the oil. They suggested retesting before changing it again so they can start to develop a wear history on the engine. I'm currently about 1300 miles into a trip since the test and all is ok. Used a gallon of oil so far (normal), engine running and sounding fine.
Not sure how I misread the dipstick multiple times, or wasn't able to accurately count to 6.5 gallons, but apparently one of those two things happened.
There is a third possibly, and most likely, is that your dipstick is wrong.
Tip: the full mark should be 1" above the pan rail on a level engine (not GM tilted engine)
Like I said before, a 6V92TA with only one filter should hold 6 gallons of oil. So the PO wrote 6.5. that is only if you have a by-pass filter and run it between full and add. Did you check if your engine has a by-pass filter? If not, you should only put 5.5 gallons of your favorite 40wt.