Where is the oil going?
Thread Starter
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 1
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Where is the oil going?
Hey, new to the forum, looking for information.
I own a '98 Dakota Sport, V6, 5 Speed, blue. A couple of minor mods, 169,000 miles. It's been a fabulous vehicle for me, very little trouble overall.
It had never really consumed any oil, so I got pretty casual about keeping an eye on it. Not long ago, I discovered that it was almost completely out. It didn't seem to do it any harm, I was taking it in to my mechanic to get checked out before a trip, so he looked for leaks and couldn't find any. We decided it was just getting old and drinking a bit. Happens to a lot of us, as my mechanic pointed out.
Then I went on my trip, and discovered that it was actually going through a quart every 300-400 miles! [
] After I got back from my trip, it almost died on me on the way to work... lost power and started making banging noises. I figured it was dead, though the banging sounded like it was coming from underneath. Anyway, took it back to the mechanic, who figured out that the electrical wire was coming unplugged from the distributer, and once it was plugged back in, it ran fine. The banging was the exhaust backfiring.
But, he has absolutely no idea where the oil is going. There's no sign of a leak. No oil under it, and they ran it for an hour in the shop without seeing any. The mystifying part being that there's also no smoke from the exhaust, and they tried to get some. (however you go about doing that) The plugs aren't fouled. The mechanic pointed out that if it was burning that much oil, I should have had a greasy smear on the side of my truck by the time I got back from my trip, and there's nothing. He told me that he did find mention of a problem- I thought he said with the 318 & 360 engines- but that it was an easy diagnosis, and my truck didn't have it.
At least he didn't charge me anything, since he felt bad that he couldn't find my problem. But I want to know where it's going! I didn't want to replace my truck yet, but I don't trust it if that much oil is mysteriously vanishing.
It still runs great, and the fuel economy is the same as it's always been. The one other thing I did notice was some spark knock when going over mountains or accelerating at freeway speeds. Actually, it took me awhile to recognize the noise... I had some spark knock when it was younger, but got it to stop and it hasn't made that noise in years. Once I recognized it this time, I ran 89 octane fuel, and the knocking stopped.
Anyway, sorry for the epic, but I'm looking for ideas. If I could find and fix this problem (well, the mechanic would have to fix it, I don't do any repair/maintenance except for spark plugs/wires), I could put off making car payments for another year or 2. Ideas?
I own a '98 Dakota Sport, V6, 5 Speed, blue. A couple of minor mods, 169,000 miles. It's been a fabulous vehicle for me, very little trouble overall.
It had never really consumed any oil, so I got pretty casual about keeping an eye on it. Not long ago, I discovered that it was almost completely out. It didn't seem to do it any harm, I was taking it in to my mechanic to get checked out before a trip, so he looked for leaks and couldn't find any. We decided it was just getting old and drinking a bit. Happens to a lot of us, as my mechanic pointed out.
Then I went on my trip, and discovered that it was actually going through a quart every 300-400 miles! [
] After I got back from my trip, it almost died on me on the way to work... lost power and started making banging noises. I figured it was dead, though the banging sounded like it was coming from underneath. Anyway, took it back to the mechanic, who figured out that the electrical wire was coming unplugged from the distributer, and once it was plugged back in, it ran fine. The banging was the exhaust backfiring.But, he has absolutely no idea where the oil is going. There's no sign of a leak. No oil under it, and they ran it for an hour in the shop without seeing any. The mystifying part being that there's also no smoke from the exhaust, and they tried to get some. (however you go about doing that) The plugs aren't fouled. The mechanic pointed out that if it was burning that much oil, I should have had a greasy smear on the side of my truck by the time I got back from my trip, and there's nothing. He told me that he did find mention of a problem- I thought he said with the 318 & 360 engines- but that it was an easy diagnosis, and my truck didn't have it.
At least he didn't charge me anything, since he felt bad that he couldn't find my problem. But I want to know where it's going! I didn't want to replace my truck yet, but I don't trust it if that much oil is mysteriously vanishing.
It still runs great, and the fuel economy is the same as it's always been. The one other thing I did notice was some spark knock when going over mountains or accelerating at freeway speeds. Actually, it took me awhile to recognize the noise... I had some spark knock when it was younger, but got it to stop and it hasn't made that noise in years. Once I recognized it this time, I ran 89 octane fuel, and the knocking stopped.
Anyway, sorry for the epic, but I'm looking for ideas. If I could find and fix this problem (well, the mechanic would have to fix it, I don't do any repair/maintenance except for spark plugs/wires), I could put off making car payments for another year or 2. Ideas?
Member
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 43
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RE: Where is the oil going?
The only thing that I can think of for that problem wud it be going into your coolant? That's a long shot but u never know. The next thing it might be seeping through your rear seal inside the trans dirt shield and the seal might be tight enough where it just holds it and the clutch burns it up when shifting. Does the clutch feel any different? That might be the answer and it's simple to remove the shield and check. Hope it helps -Justin
