how to diagnose oil consumption?

bevans6 · December 16, 2009, 10:20:11 AM

I expect that I know that I will indeed pull the engine next spring when the thaw hits, and freshen it. In the meantime, it's asleep for the winter. I may just pull the intake off and check that it's not the blower seals and run it for a few miles to see what it's doing then.

Brian

Len Silva · December 16, 2009, 10:37:21 AM

Brian,

You've been given a big clue here. How easily does it start when the temps get below 40 degrees. If it start easy, I would go with the overfill assumption before spending time and money on an overhaul.

bevans6 · December 16, 2009, 11:31:31 AM

I understand the clue. Not quite sure exactly how to interpret this, but it will start at 40 degrees with several - maybe 5 - 5 to 10 second rolls. Below that it needs the block heater or a shot of ether. above 40 degrees it can usually start without aids. what does that mean to you?

the oil is coming out the exhaust pipe, it's not leaking to speak of. It slobbers pretty good idling. There is definitely oil in there not being burned at idle. What does this tell you? I'm kinda handicapped in that I have to work from theory, not experience

In my experience, theory is trumped by experience every time...

added - it goes from full to fill on the dipstick in about the same time it goes from fill to almost off the stick. In other words, it doesn't seem to stabilize at half-way between full and fill or anything. If it was an over-fill issue, I would expect it to. I'm a little handicapped also in that I can't really test it right now, and every time I have checked it on my trip it hasn't been parked in the same spot or particularly level.

Brian

Len Silva · December 16, 2009, 11:48:12 AM

Brian

I am most certainly not an expert here, just cheap. I would want to rule out the easy stuff first, and overfill is about as easy as it gets.

Your starting ability sounds marginal to me, but not real bad. I would drop it to one gallon low and run it for a hard 200 miles before I did anything else.

Dreamscape · December 16, 2009, 12:22:16 PM

Make sure you let it sit for a while after stopping before checking it, like 30 minutes. It takes that long to drain down. I made the mistake when I first bought ours, added oil and it was already full.

Paul

wildbob24 · December 19, 2009, 11:22:38 AM

Brian,

I sent you an email with a DD Service bulletin about troubleshooting high oil consumption. It's a .pdf file that was too large to attach to this message.

Just want to make sure it doesn't get lost in your spam folder.

If any one else would like to see it, let me know

Bob

bevans6 · December 19, 2009, 12:11:47 PM

Thank you very much for the bulletin. It answers a few questions I had, and gives some good test info!

Brian

wildbob24 · December 19, 2009, 12:46:13 PM

Brian,

Glad you received it. Just be sure you're safe when doing these tests. No loose clothing; ear and eye protection are a must. You haven't heard loud until you run one with the intake housing off.

It's a good idea to remove the cooling fan belt, as well. You won't be running it long enough for temps to be a problem.

Bob

bevans6 · December 19, 2009, 12:52:58 PM

the cooling fan belt removal is an excellent idea! I probably wouldn't have thought of that. I confess I wouldn't have thought that it would run with the air box covers off, either.

so my drill is going to be check the blower for excess leakage, pull the air box covers and look for scoring in the cylinders that might indicate rings or piston pin issues, and see what happens. I think it's slobbering excessively too, so that could be either of the above.

Cheers, Brian

wildbob24 · December 19, 2009, 04:38:37 PM

Brian,

It probably won't run with all the air box covers off, but will if you only remove one at a time.

We don't usually remove the fan belt completely; just slack the tension, slip it off the crank pulley, and stuff up into the cooling fan compartment. Then you can move freely about the engine compartment.

Bob