Hi all!
I am new to this forum and I see there is a lot of good info on ram ctd here (good forum)
I've bought an o4 2500 QC LB 4x4 HD 5.9L CTD auto, about 2 mo ago. It had 75,000km at the time. After I had picked it up I checked the engine oil and it was low, so I added 2 litres of 15-40 diesel oil to bring it up to "safe" level.
I've racked up another 6000Km since then and have used in total 6L of the same oil in it to keep it at the "safe" level. It doesn't seem to belch blue smoke, has lots of power, runs great, starts great.
To me it doesn't sound right that engine using that much oil. Especially because I was thinking to switching to synthetic oil... (ouch).
Any input or ideas??? Where is the oil going???
Thanks in advance
Flo

 

Is there any oil on the ground, or is the under side of the truck behind the engine wet with oil? There is a vent tube that comes out of the valve cover on the drivers side of the engine toward the rear, it has been known to vent oil at times. Not sure what the fix is but I beleive there is a fix if this is the issue.

 

its under warranty. take it to the dealer and let them deal with it!

brett

 

Nope, as far as I could see there is no oil under the truck at all. I can see a tiny bit of oil on the bellhousing (not sure if it tranny or engine at this point in time) but the amount is so small that I didn't think I should worry about it at this point in time.
There are no oil spots left under the truck if parked over night (or two).
The oil must me used at some point in the engine (I think)
Thanks
Flo

 

Thanks Brett,
I was thinking about that, but with the crappy service around here I was hoping I wouldn't have to take her to the dealer and be without her for 2-3 weeks and not have her fixed especially if she didn't need to be fixed. Sorry, new to diesel!
Thanks again!
FLo

 

On the other hand if I told you that I tow about 9,000lb of camper and boat weight on a regular basis, should it make a difference?
I wouldn't think so, but....
Flo

 

No, it sounds like excessive oil usage. Someone else lost an engine and it sounded like the dealer thought that the turbo seals might have been leaking and causing the excessive oil usage. Just another place to look. Both of my trucks didn't use 1/2 qt per 7000 miles so never had to add oil in 70000 miles on my 04.5 and so far the 7000 miles on my 07 5.9.

JM02

 

Thanks donhov, I will definitely take it in to the dealers and get them to check it out.
F

 

Yep -get her into the dealer -

 

Call the dealer first and ask them what Dodge considers "excessive" . It will blow your mind!

 

i checked mine the other day with 7000 since the last change and it was all the way down to where it says add. below the safe mark. first time it has used that much. i did notice a little smoke coming from the vent hose while running the other day. i got 107,000 on it. is that just the rings wearing?

 

My '91 had 212K on it when sold and never used a drop. My '05 has 66K and has never used a drop. Make sure you are checking your oil level after the truck has been shut off for more than half an hour. Takes quite a while for all of the oil to drain down. Using a liter of oil per 1000 km would concern me greatly.

 

I usually check the oil level before starting up in the morning (on a level surface) except when fueling up where I don't really have the luxury of taking up a fuel isle for 1/2hr :-).
I haul a 9.9ft Kodiak slide in camper (2600lb) and a 24ft boat on a trailer (5000lb). The camper is on permanently during our "nice" season which seems to be too short around here in Canada, so I didn't really have the opportunity to monitor consumption while empty just yet.
We try to stick to the speed limits when hauling so much weight for safety considerations and to conserve fuel (except when passing). I didn't think we were abusing this rig since it was meant to haul this much weight anyway and it seems to love pulling it (no problems passing on the highway).
Since we've noticed the unusual high oil consumption we do check the oil very often to avoid blowing up the engine until the problem gets remedied.
We are planning on removing the camper for the season now any day and will take the truck in the dealership where we bought it for a check-up since it is still under warranty.
I spoke to the service dept. and they said that there is definitely something wrong with it and it really shouldn't use that much oil.
They also said that about 1/2L should be the max usage between oil changes.
Thanks again for your comments and help so far guys!
I'll keep you posted with the results.
Cheers
Flo

 

That may be their opinion of escessive, but ask them what Dodge and STAR have listed as acceptable oil consumption. I know on a gasser it is 1 qt per 1000 miles! Any more would then warrant looking into, but less than that is acceptable! LOL I am glad for you Flo. It sounds like you have a good and realistic service department to work with. Hopefully they know how to document everything so they don't get a chargeback on the claim when/if they do any repairs.

 

I hope so too... I was going to switch to synthetic. Boy... that would be expensive at $10 bucks every 1oook just for filling up the oil tank!
F