Engine: fill up oil, add gas

[Stude Ranch]

ESCESS OIL USE
56 3/4 ton with engine serial 2E 7200 . 4.54 gears, 3speed plus overdrive Runs great but uses about a quart to 100 miles, untill we towed a 20 foot trailer with an old starlight coupe on it. 200 miles; 7 quarts oil . Need to top off every 50 miles. Probably averaged 60 mph towing. Both over and straight in 3rd.
It appears that oil is leaving through the road tube, as the right rear spring and diff housing are coated with oil. also some oil leaving through oil fill pipe, as carb and front of intake coated in oil. Removed all spark plugs, (which were new) and 3 showed some oil on the ring of the plug, but the porcelain and tip look great. Removed the valve cover and tried to find drain hole. Found a small drain hole at each end, but only was able to run a wire down the rear hole, the front seemed to be blocked off. Measured stroke as the engine seems to pull way too good for a 224 and found 3.31 stroke. Book says 3.25 for a 259. so we probably have a 259 .
What am I missing here? again it runs great. have not run compression.

[Dan Timberlake]

Sensitivity to load suggests blowby from worn rings/pistons/cylinder. To judge engine condition A compression test sometimes needs to be backed up with a "leak-down" test.
Compression and even leak down tests don't detect heavily gunk filled oil rings, as might result from the poor maintenance that would cause clogged drains.

Some claim/report worn guides can pass excessive oil under high load (low manifold vacuum) as well as high manifold (downhill, throttle closed) conditions

[jclary]

Don't forget the old felt seal at the timing cover. If that has crumbled with age and lost its sealing ability, it can pour a ton of oil out around the crank shaft and the fan will rudely deposit it all over the place. In addition, if you have a replacement/rebuilt fuel pump with the exposed pivot pin for the actuator lever, it will also allow oil to escape.

You could have these two plus worn rings, stopped up oil breather cap, and even a restriction in your breather tube causing some of the mayhem you describe. Do a compression check, but check the other areas as well. Oil leaking from the front of the engine can accumulate on the draft tube and drip off making you think it is all coming from there when it is not. If you find that you need to rebuild the engine, consider converting the timing cover seal to neoprene while you are at it.

[Stude Ranch]

Thanks, Doesn't seem to be a leak of the front seal, oil pan, or even rear seal. The engine had sat for quite a few years, with a hole in the radiator caused from the rod that holds the hood up puncturing it. (the rod on the pickups is mounted on the hood, and if the wind raises the hood, that can happen.) We don't know the historyof the engine, other than it appears to have a 259 crank where it originally had a 224, and the clutch and brake petal show a lot of wear.
It does not appear to have a lot of old oil/gunk stuck to the bottom of the chassis, indicating that when it was last run, it may not have been using oil as it is now.
The inside of the exhaust appears a medum grey just as it should if burning properly.
So could have something have happpened while sitting?
Whenever I have had an oil burning in the past, there has been a cloud of smoke. You can see a little smoke at idle, if the light is right. There is a little smoke coming out of the breather tube, at idle, but I would't call it excessive
How do I perform a leakdown test?
Thanks David

[jclary]

ESCESS OIL USE
56 3/4 ton with engine serial 2E 7200 . 4.54 gears, 3speed plus overdrive Runs great but uses about a quart to 100 miles, untill we towed a 20 foot trailer with an old starlight coupe on it. 200 miles; 7 quarts oil . Need to top off every 50 miles. Probably averaged 60 mph towing. Both over and straight in 3rd......

What am I missing here? again it runs great. have not run compression.

I went back and read your original post a little closer. I would say, considering the age of the truck...it did pretty good. After re-reading your post, I'm not sure if your are complaining or bragging?

That trailer alone is a fairly good load for a 55-year-old truck (3/4 ton or not). Then you put a car on the trailer and tow it 200 mile at sxty miles per hour. Pretty darn good I would say. Some of us would think our trucks would end up on a trailer or being towed themselves before that task was over.

Does your truck have an oil pressure gauge or a light. I once had a V8 Lark with a light that did not show any problems. As soon as it cranked, the light went out. I put a gauge on the engine and the gauge showed that the hot oil pressure was less than 15 psi once the engine was at operating temps. That is why I would rather have a gauge.

I would suggest that it is time to bite the bullet and look at the lower end of your engine. An engine that performs like yours deserves a good check-up. There are some great engine builders on this forum. I am not one of them. I manage to get by, but there are some folks who can chime in on the leak test already recommended and additional steps you need to do to decide what the engine needs. Be patient, they will likely chime in as they discover your post.

Good luck with it...sounds like you have a great little worker to improve upon.

[nels]

I bet you don't have valve cover breathers since you mentioned oil fill tube? Try putting some late model valve covers on it with the oil fillers in them. That might lower the pressure in the crankcase and stop the oil passing through the road draft tube.

[jackb]

Ok......so you go the route of a rebuild (some have offered $3K) or refresh the engine (maybe $1500.) even at today's gas prices..that buys a lot of oil......Especially when you think the average person on this forum drives , say maybe how many miles per year ? I'm concerned with what's happening with the gas blends as mentioned many times on this forum.....I never thought I'd say this, but...a nice Stude body with a current engine underneath makes more sense in the long run......did I say (print) that ...?

[Stude Ranch]

Thanks guys .
Nels, your Idea of putting a later model valve cover with oil breathers may be a good idea. We could steel a couple.
Jclary, that would be bragging about the performance, complaining about the oil consumption. Oil pressure is great, about 45 # hot and working, untill the oil level gats low, and than it starts to fluctuate. I think what we need are IDEAS to stop the oil from leaving the oil fill pipe and the road tube. If we can get that solved, I think we would just run it. Shane will be using it for daily driver to school and on the ranch and such.
Like I said, there is not excessive smoke like I have seen from other engines, that didn't use as much oil. HOW do we keep the oil out of the air vents
To Jackb. We realize the cost of rebuilding. Did you say more modern engine? How about just drive the Dodge Deisel? WAIT what was it that SDC stands for?
Thanks DAVID and SHANE

[Dan Timberlake]

leak down ( differential compression ) testers can be bought for between $30 ( nasty harbor Freight ) to >> $100.

I made one from an old NAPA spark pug adapter, a 100 psi gage (need one on the compressor or air source too), and some fittings. There needs to be an 0.04" orifice in the line between the gages.

I used the regulator and gage on my compressor, so mine is a bit simpler than this one. http://www.motorcycleproject.com/mot.../leakdown.html

http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles...ter/index.html

A buddy had an old abused Chevy truck that had 150 psi compression in all cylinders but still used a lot of oil.
A fresh valve job and guide seals did not help much. I believe we would have found the oil rings caked up.
I did not know about leak-down at the time, but I suspect a leak down test would not have detected the clogged oil rings. Might have been a legit test for SeaFoam.