hey guys, just took the plunge and picked up an 05 2500 a month ago. Im a diesel mechanic myself but do mostly old cat stuff so im unfamiliar with teh cummins. Its been drinking oil at about 1 litre to every 500 kilometers. doesnt smoke to bad and doesnt have much blowby. let it sit and run for a half hour at high idle and it barely dripped 3 drops out of the breather. Other then that it leaves no marks on the ground.
Took it back to the *********** and they changed out a breather they say gets stuck open after however many miles. Ive never heard of a valved breather like this but they assured me it has one. So i had it changed since they were already in it and did it for nearly the cost of the part. I had them show me and can not figure out where it is on the engine. Its a plastic box about 4 X 2 X 6 inches with two hose connectors and an o ringed port that sticks out the side. any of you know anything about that or were it is because i cant find the **** thing.
Anyway, is there anything else that can fail to cause this kind of oil consumption?
Im running synthetic 5-40 and am going to change up to a standard 15-40 next service and hope that helps. If it keeps consuming at this level i may just do an in-frame and be done with it. do you guys know of any good kits that are a better value then cummins parts. thanks for the time.

 

its located under the plastic cover on top of the engine

 

The genuine Cummins parts have been found to be the best way to go, even with the high HP rebuilds.

There are a number of folks here, some are advertisers, that can help you out. A good source for the parts, apart from cummins dealers (forget going to a Dodge dealer) is Mumau Diesel.

 

I was in the same boat you were a couple of months ago, truck was using oil at the rate of a gallon a day(500 miles). Couldn't figure it out, ran good just a little warmer than usual but it was summer at the time and not much blowby. Finally was going down the road and the turbo went, engine gone. Well when we dove into found that #5 and #6 piston were completly scorched, head cracked, and rings cracked. Pretty sure the turbo added to some of the failure, but the mechanic thinks my rings were going long before that causing the consumption and the head going from some high temps before too. As for the box your looking for it is inside the valve cover.

Also if your gonna need a new engine, forget the rebuild and go with the re-man from cummins cost 7500 and comes with new injectors and turbo, wish I had gone that route instead of rebuilding, by the time after buying all my part from cummins and new injectors a little bit after I was out 11k.

 

thanks guys. im suprised they have room for that thing in there with the rockers. im curious to see how its set up under that top tin. Do the factory turbos have an average life span. Im assuming its the original turbo from its condition and 200 000K is getting up there in my opinion. ill have to talk to cummins about pricing. Oil is cheap enough but im worring about an impeller coming apart and wrecking the head. if that turbo is leaking its only going to get worse. Im just going to have to poke around with it a bit more. Thanks again

 

Its not in with the rockers, its on top of the valve cover, under the plastic cover. thats where it is on my '03, unless they changed with the late '04 & up

 

well the turbo is nice and dry. no oil on the fins and minimal end play as well as side to side. ive notcied shes a bit smokier then most in the last few days as well. Cummins was telling me they can measure crankcase pressure on the dyno but want 5 or 6 hundred bucks. I figure i could just do a quick torque stall and put the motor to full load like nothing. What i dont know is what its supposed to have for pressure in the case and how to hook a gauge on my breather assembly. Anybody have any ideas.