New Owner with some questions
 

Hey all,

I just bought a 96 CTD Auto 4x4. Truck is awesome, but with 163k miles, I expected a few things would need fixing.

First, I noticed today some light smoke from under the hood at a stoplight after getting off the highway. I thought I might have a small rad. hose leak or something, as it looked whitish. I got home, and found smoke under the hood being blown around by the fan. I looked around and found the transmission bellhousing and the drivers side of the engine covered in oil. Smoke (almost like a fog, really) is coming from a tube located just rearward of the fuel filter. It's like an elbow coming out of the engine block, with nothing attached to it.

Is this the Crankcase breather hose?

If so, is a fog normal?

Is there supposed to be some hose attached to it so the oil doesn't collect on the bottom of the block? Maybe some sort of catch can too?

I noticed a tad bit of the same oily fog coming out of the dip stick tube as well if you pull the dip stick, but doesn't seem like there is pressure of any significance there. Truck runs good! Only had it since Friday and seems to hunt for stumps to pull every time I drive it.

Second thing is, I have a ticking/squeek that changes frequency when you change speeds (similar to having a rock in a tire, but the noise is to loud for that and I already looked for rocks in the tires). I thought it might be wheel bearings, but the noise never changes pitch when you turn, it doesn't growl or groan either. Is there any other proceedures you all could recommend to help me narrow it down?

Thanks for any help you can give me, you all seem like a top notch group from the lurking I've done!

Joel

1st problem: Sounds like you have some blowby out of the blowby tube(except you dont have the tube. [laugh] ). You need to put a tube on it. And it really shouldnt have any blowby at all hardly. Hopefully your rings arent worn, but I dont know. Someone that knows more about them than me may be able to help you out.

2nd problem: Sounds like a front U-Joint to me. They make a loud tick/clack when they get worn. I have replaced both of mine.

Good luck with your problems, and let us know how it goes :cool:

Eric

It's wierd because I've been looking for oil on the ground and until today there was none. Now I've got a couple of spots under there.

I hope the rings aren't worn either! I just dumped 10k in cash I saved up to buy this truck! Drove 900 miles to get it too :(

On those U-Joints, whats the best method to determine if they are good/bad?

Thanks,

Joel

Crawl under the truck and grab each u joint and shake it with your hand. If it clacks/moves any then its bad. Grab/shake the part of the joint closest to the inside of the axle. If you grab the one closest to the wheel it wont make any noise at all even if it is bad, because it is solid,a nd wont move if that makes sence to ya.

As for the blowby...Have you noticed it before? At 160k the rings shoud not be worn hardly any at all. Like I said. Maybe someone more knowledgable than me will chime in on this matter.

Good luck!

Eric

I'll do that tomorrow on the Ujoints.

As for the blowby, I just bought the truck on Friday, so I don't know much on th e history of the truck. Runs good, and when I test drove it I didn't notice any of this.

On the way back on the highway about 200 miles in, we stopped for fuel (since the dealer didn't fill it up) and noticed a little smoke and then it went away. Didn't see it again until today. The reason I bought the dodge was for the longevity and mileage. I wanted the truck to tow my camper and do some around-the-house hauling. I put 4000 miles last year on my last truck, so this truck should last me a few million years... I hope my luck didn't bring me to the ONE truck that someone didn't change the oil for 100k miles and ran watered down diesel.

Thanks for your insight!

Joel

How is the oil pressure,and oil consumption? I still dont see how the rings could be worn at that mileage, so maybe it is something simple and easier to fix.

Eric

I drove it from Denver to Albuquerque, around town here, almost 2.5 tanks of fuel, and the dipstick still reads full.

Oil pressure stays at 40 or so on the gauge (stock), don't know how good the factory gauges are on these trucks.

Yeah, I thought 163k would buy me plenty of time. I've done some searching around on here and it seems there are alot of people with similar oil drip/vapors from the tube. Most seem to just live with it? Seems odd. I'm new to diesels but not gas engines. This just seems worth checking into.

If the ring were worn, like on a gas engine, wouldn't I see more smoke? The only nasty smoke I've seen so far is the startup I did this morning at 18 degrees F and that was only for a few seconds. Smokes a tad when it's still cold, but once it warms up, no smoke at all unless I step hard on it, then I get a little black smoke.

Joel

I noticed 2 quarter sized oil drop under the truck this morning. I didn't drive it to work today (not meant as my commutor anyway). I'm hoping this isn't a bad deal I got.

Thanks for the input so far (and thanks in advance to anyone else that has some insight)

Joel - hoping I didn't get the pick of the litter.

Your oil drops are about normal.
Probably every automotive engine made would do it if it were vented straight from the engine.
Reason they don't is because most engine venting is routed back to the intake via the PCV valve.

Yeah, I was hoping that was the case.

I talked to a local cummins dealer here and they said they would do a quick check (look) for free.

I think I'll do that just to make sure my head is straight, but they said this was normal!

Joel

i've found with diesels, you just need to relax. if they're working, don't touch em, the little things shouldn't worry you. and these trucks don't have leaks, their external lubrication, very efficient i might add. i have 222,000 miles on my play truck, close to 180,000 on my 98 12v back home, and my grandfather has one of the few million mile cummins trucks. 92 250. it has had 4 transmissions, plently of driveline overhauls. engine has had one blown head gasket and that's it. these engines are amazing things, it's what they're wrapped in is what usually the problem. i think the best truck would be the older 90's ford truck body style with the cummins motor,mmm mmm good.

I agree that it is nothing to worry about. Mine does it and it only has 42,000 miles on it. It doesn't leak oil it sweats HORSEPOWER. [laugh] A few drops is nothing. Ever seen what a old Detroit two stroke puts out of it's blowby tube. We've got a piece of equpment with one of these and it loses about a court a day. :)

If your really worried about it, crawl under with a I think 10mm and check all your oil pan bolts, then check your bolts on your timming cover, and also take your top cover plate off of your valve covers, and check tightness of valve cover bolts, check to make sure that the valve cover gaskets arent your culpret on the leaky oil, very good spot for them to leak, specailly if they are the BLACK GASKETS!, if black, take them out and buy some GREY GASKETS from CUMMINS, work 100 times better!, all these bolts could be loose from the vibes these engine create!, its just a little thing to keep us on out toes with this engine.

Don't tighten your oil pan bolts without a torque wrench.
Over-tightening will distort the pan, likely cause it to leak worse and necessitate removing it totally to pound it back flat.