Burning quarts of oil in only a few miles? Smoke coming from exhaust and engine?
#1
01-29-2011, 02:24 PM
Burning quarts of oil in only a few miles? Smoke coming from exhaust and engine?
this one baffles me.
I've dumped about 50 hours and 1500 bucks into this truck over the last 3 months, and the last thing I thought I had any issues with was the engine. On the first several thousand miles, i didn't burn a drop of oil.
I checked the oil about a month ago. perfect. Oil pressure remained solid but all of a sudden the gauge would drop to 0 for a second or two when I'd stop/go. It was suggested I replace the Oil pressure switch, but I logically checked the oil before I did that only to find it DRY. over two quarts of oil later, I get it to just reach the bottom of the dipstick (it was 2:30 am, and 2.5 qts was all we could muster up from my friend and his neighbor) I start it up to get it back to my house so I could assess the situation. You can smell it burning- smoke is billowing out of the exhaust and theres a little bit of smoke coming from under the engine bay. I monitored the oil pressure as an interim fluid gauge. It dropped from 58/59 down to 50 as I drove the several miles.
I'm just going now to fill it with a few more quarts of oil, but logically I won't be driving it until I rectify the situation.
There is NO dripping underneath the truck, no spots in my driveway. Coolant is clean and right at the full mark. It sounds and drives perfectly.
Doesn't fit the model of anything I've ever seen, but it's also only the second V8 to my LS3, and the first truck I've ever had engine problems with.
It's not missing, its running beautifully. Oil pressure was good even when it was running dry. Now the oil pressure is very high, but still in the "safe" range.
The only thing I can come up with is the drain holes are somehow clogged, causing oil to run down the valves.
Just wanted to know if anyones seen anything like this before, and if they have any other ideas?
It's on a 98 ram 1500 4x4 with 125k on it
I've dumped about 50 hours and 1500 bucks into this truck over the last 3 months, and the last thing I thought I had any issues with was the engine. On the first several thousand miles, i didn't burn a drop of oil.
I checked the oil about a month ago. perfect. Oil pressure remained solid but all of a sudden the gauge would drop to 0 for a second or two when I'd stop/go. It was suggested I replace the Oil pressure switch, but I logically checked the oil before I did that only to find it DRY. over two quarts of oil later, I get it to just reach the bottom of the dipstick (it was 2:30 am, and 2.5 qts was all we could muster up from my friend and his neighbor) I start it up to get it back to my house so I could assess the situation. You can smell it burning- smoke is billowing out of the exhaust and theres a little bit of smoke coming from under the engine bay. I monitored the oil pressure as an interim fluid gauge. It dropped from 58/59 down to 50 as I drove the several miles.
I'm just going now to fill it with a few more quarts of oil, but logically I won't be driving it until I rectify the situation.
There is NO dripping underneath the truck, no spots in my driveway. Coolant is clean and right at the full mark. It sounds and drives perfectly.
Doesn't fit the model of anything I've ever seen, but it's also only the second V8 to my LS3, and the first truck I've ever had engine problems with.
It's not missing, its running beautifully. Oil pressure was good even when it was running dry. Now the oil pressure is very high, but still in the "safe" range.
The only thing I can come up with is the drain holes are somehow clogged, causing oil to run down the valves.
Just wanted to know if anyones seen anything like this before, and if they have any other ideas?
It's on a 98 ram 1500 4x4 with 125k on it
Last edited by Arachnyd; 01-29-2011 at 02:26 PM. Reason: for some reason 1/2 my title didn't show up
#2
01-29-2011, 05:37 PM
Grand Champion
#3
01-29-2011, 05:51 PM
Captain
+1 blown plenum.... and a bad one. Thats the worst one ive ever heard of. do what last rights suggested and look down the throttle bores (with a dentist mirror and strong flashlight) for signs of oil pooling. If you cant get a good gander, pull the throttle body. When you find (im sure you will) oil in there its time to pull the intake mani and replace the gasket on the bellly pan.