I have an 08 2500 CTD with 1,400 miles on it. I was gaining oil on my dip stick (about 3/4" over the full mark when the truck was cold on a level surface), so I went to my local dealer. They told me that nothing was wrong with my truck. I did not believe this so I took the truck home and parked it, drained a little oil and sent it out for analysis. The results showed 7.2% diesel in the oil, slightly elevated copper and normal iron content. My question is; could this have damaged my engine? Thanks for your help.

 

Im wondering if your truck had a lot of idle time at the stealership, check the hour meter on the overhead. I would drain the oil out or make the stealer do it, something sounds a little fishy, as far as damage to your engine, I would think not with so few miles, change it and run it for a few miles and check it again. Good Luck

 

...and make sure you keep a copy of that analysis. It may be your golden ticket down the road if it turns out there is a problem.

 

smilindon,
Did you ever find out what was causing the diesel in your oil? I got the same problem with my 03 cummins. 112,000 on her. Changed oil and after drivin 25 miles, oil dipstick showed 1 3/4" over full mark. Shes in the shop now, almost 9 days and they still can't find whats wrong. Just curious about yours.
Some have said its the fuel injectors but Dodge dont want to pull them out, they say too hard to get sealed back up. Some say fuel injector pump. They pulled that but it was dry.

 

99% of the time when one sees diesel in their engine oil its a bad injector - cracked body or stuck open! I'd be going to a "real" diesel shop. Dealers are bad for servicing injectors, they in most cases don't have a diesel mechanic on the payroll!

 

Splat,
You sound like you have some knowledge in this field. Heres another question for ya. I didnt notice this problem until I purchased and installed an Edge EZ Tow programer, ran on setting 1. Could this contributed to the problem or is this just a coincidence? It still starts and runs like the 1st day we bought her new. Wouldn't knowed there was a problem if I wouldn't checked the oil.

 

Some programmers add a fair amount of fuel "pressure" which can lead to injector failure. There are some programmers which add both timing and pressure, most of them are good programmers. Lots of people have had good luck with Edge products while others have a boat load of issues. Seems that each of our trucks have some kind of personality, becuase not all trucks react identically to the same programmer.

Using a programmer is at the owners risk, the safest programmer is the Smarty Jr writen specifically for the cummins (as well the Smarty Sr.) the Jr. has built in safety feature to save on the tranny and defuel the engine if EGTs get too high.

Now, adding any programmer with ones driving/operating habits plays a lot on how well that programmer is going to work. This can also be said of stock trucks as well. Idling time, diesels contrary to common belief do not like to be idled. The engine does not get to proper running tempatures which allows excess "unburnt" fuel to run down the piston and cylinder wall which not only causes a rise in engine oil level, but can lead to a burnt piston.
Excessive idling can also cause "Carbon" build up on the injector tips causing them to plug off, which leads to dead/cold cylinders which inturn pproduces rough idle (something similar to a gasser with a huge racing cam in it...rumble rumble) hard starts excessive smoke on start up.

I had used the Diablo Sport.... it died a quick death (410 shutgun) it was pure garbage, caused me all kinds of grief! So, after new performance injectors and a few other mods I now run a Smarty Jr., I should have had this thing a long time ago.


Remember when using a programmer:
have the supporting mods
do not idle for extended periods (I never idle longer then 10 minutes)
gauges
servicing ... fuel filters change them add a second filter system with 2 micron filters (check out glacier diesel performance ... fuel filter package well worht it... its what I use)


Moral is.. if your gonna play be willing to pay.

PS this is just humble opinion... been there done that and seen plenty of others do it before and after me.

 

SpLaT,
Thanks so much for all your info. Will keep you posted as to what they find out. Hopefully they figure it out this week sometime.

 

Good luck to you!


A easy cheap do it yourself injector test.

Purchase from any good auto parts store one of those infared tempature guns.
Then fire of the beast get her warmed up, pop the hood. Now take that temp gun and shoot/point it at eah of the exhaust ports. An injector thats not firing (plugged) will show up as colder then the rest of the injectors (if you only have one bad injector may one or more cold exhaust) Now if you have one or more thats considerably hotter then the rest, you injector(s) that are leaking.

The dealership will do a "cutout test" where the electronically shut an injector down and listen for a change in the way the engine sounds. This works well if only one injector is bad, if you hae more then one bad injector this test will tell them nothing and inturn, the dealer looks at you and says "nothing wrong". Best test (with injectors in the truck) is the return test. The injectors only allow so much fuel through, with the extra fuel returning back to the tank. The test measures the amount of return fuel over a specific time. Some that have had this test done will get percentages of efficiency of each of the injectors, they get numbers like 80% 89% 92% etc., lower or higher determines bad injectors. Then there are only a few shops that will bench test injectors (means pulling them out to test them).

 

Wow, what a coincidence! I am a diesel tech on the payroll at a dodge stealer and I have an 03 ram in my bay with the same fuel in oil problem!! Maybe some of you guys could point out something that I have missed. I disconnected the supply and return lines, put them both in a gallon jug filled with a solution of uv dye and fuel. Ran engine with valve cover off while elevating fuel pressure and inspected with uv light-no leaks. Ran engine with small boxes placed over fuel injectors while loading engine and after inspecting with uv light found no leaks. Removed injection pump and inspected with uv light-no leaks. Engine is running great-no smoke, no combustion knock (which shows no excess fuel entering combustion chamber). I have not checked return flow or injector balance as it will not give me any answers to why fuel is getting into the oil. The oil in the engine glows somewhat under the uv light as does the new oil supplied by the customer. Due to the fact that I have no reliable proof that fuel is getting into the oil I have not replaced any parts (which are expensive) and have since submitted an oil sample to Ziegler for analysis. Currently waiting for the results. I hope the customer is happy that I am spending my time rather than their money to get a satisfactory result. We are not all stealers in fact I am just trying to get to a result with an understanding and patient customer.