Making Oil

[TomG2]

I see on another forum where owners report of showing more oil on their dipstick at the end of a long hard drive than at the beginning. Mostly with turbocharged engines. Anything to this or explanation?

[wilber1]

TomG2 wrote:

wilber1 wrote:

What vehicle? What engine.

Read it on a Ford Forum where is was mentioned as a matter of fact with Ecoboost engines. People were saying things like, "I towed 1,800 miles and only "Gained a small amount of oil". The reason I am not mentioning engine and vehicle is that it was not me that reported the gain. I wondered if others had heard of this.

With diesels it can be from extra fuel used during regens. I don't know why you would get it with a gas engine. If it was a bad injector on a DI engine like an Ecoboost you should be getting a CEL because emissions will be out of whack it should be throwing codes.

[JRscooby]

wanderingbob wrote:
I was taught to check oil when it was cold for an accurate reading ?

Most of my Cats had 2 full and 2 add marks on the stick. One for cold, one for warm.

[wanderingbob]

I was taught to check oil when it was cold for an accurate reading ?

[JRscooby]

dodge guy wrote:
If you are talking gas motors like the eco boost. They run hot and the oil can and will expand appearing over full. This is why it's best tomch ck it in the morning before you start it. This goes for any motor.

Back in the day, gas motor dipstick show over full? Grab the Zippo. Don't take much gasoline mixed with oil to light.(If it don't light, remember the pump jockey gets a commission on oil sold at the fuel island.)
With a diesel, look for leaks. If that place you need to wipe of once a week is showing, assume you are killing the bearings.

[TomG2]

wilber1 wrote:

What vehicle? What engine.

Read it on a Ford Forum where is was mentioned as a matter of fact with Ecoboost engines. People were saying things like, "I towed 1,800 miles and only "Gained a small amount of oil". The reason I am not mentioning engine and vehicle is that it was not me that reported the gain. I wondered if others had heard of this.

[wilber1]

TomG2 wrote:
I see on another forum where owners report of showing more oil on their dipstick at the end of a long hard drive than at the beginning. Mostly with turbocharged engines. Anything to this or explanation?

What vehicle? What engine.

[dodge_guy]

If you are talking gas motors like the eco boost. They run hot and the oil can and will expand appearing over full. This is why it's best tomch ck it in the morning before you start it. This goes for any motor.

[TomG2]

More common than I thought, especially among the diesel folks. The reports I read were of turbocharged gasoline fueled pickups after heavy towing.

[NRALIFR]

When I was exploring DPF cleaning shops, the best ones were very up front about the fact that they will most likely not be able to 100% clean a DPF that has been in service. The machines they have use a very extensive process of cleaning them, and when it’s done they actually count the number of cells that are still blocked. Once that number reaches XX% of the total number of cells, the DPF needs to replaced.

:):)

[2oldman]

NRALIFR wrote:
Do you know if the DPF on yours is designed to be taken off and cleaned?

It is. I'm not sure if the shop where I had it replaced could do that or if it actually needed to be replaced. I seem to remember they said it was a goner.. and at only 100k miles. Anyway, it was expensive.

I have a switch on the dash to manually force a regen, but it has not worked. There's a little leaf on the switch I didn't notice at first. Perhaps that's the secret. In 7 years of ownership it has derated and forced me to stop exactly ONCE to regen. Scared me to death!

[NRALIFR]

Yup, I struggled with that as well. Ford 6.4L owners that deleted and tuned theirs typically were very happy with the results, especially the dramatic increase in fuel mileage from not doing all those @#$& regens.

When I traded my 2010 in, I was seeing erratic and unpredictable regen behavior that was concerning to me, and that was after paying for a DPF replacement. The majority of my trips then and now have a work and play component to them, and the last thing I need is an unreliable truck to deal with.

Good luck with yours, I hope your shop can resolve the problem without having to hand over too much $$$. Do you know if the DPF on yours is designed to be taken off and cleaned? Mine wasn’t, although there are DPF cleaning shops that will even take a “non-serviceable” unit like mine was, cut it open and clean it, then weld it back together using flanges so it can be serviced more easily in the future.

:):)

[2oldman]

NRALIFR wrote:
You have a Freightliner, right? Maxxforce powered?

Yes, 2008 Cummins 8.3L. I don't think my regen is working properly. Next shop visit when spring returns. It's very tempting to want to delete this thing, but... oh well

[NRALIFR]

2oldman wrote:

NRALIFR wrote:
That’s a very common problem on Diesel engines that were manufactured from about 2007-2010. They typically had diesel particulate filters (DPF), but did not use diesel exhaust fluid (DEF).

That's what I have, and this truck does not go grocery shopping.

You have a Freightliner, right? Maxxforce powered?

I always thought that the Navistar 6.4L got an undeserved bad reputation in Ford trucks. The software controlling them has to play a big part in their reliability. How hard they’re used also plays a role, and there’s no way my use can reach the level of yours. But, in my case it was what it was, and I wasn’t going to go down the “delete and tuner” road again. To be honest, I would prefer to have a big block gasser in my current truck. I’m waiting for Ford to offer the 7.3L Godzilla in the F450 pickup. I’ll be on that like stink on @#$&. :B

:):)

[BurbMan]

NRALIFR wrote:
That’s a very common problem on Diesel engines that were manufactured from about 2007-2010. They typically had diesel particulate filters (DPF), but did not use diesel exhaust fluid (DEF). They relied heavily on exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) to control oxides of nitrogen (NOx), and as such, cleaned or regened the DPF frequently. Sometimes as often as every 75 miles or so.

Most, but not all, of the Diesel engines of that era started the regen process by over fueling the engine on one or more cylinders, causing unburned fuel to flow into the exhaust where it would then be ignited inside the DPF. That over fueling also caused fuel to get past the rings into the crankcase, and is what resulted in the engine “making oil”.

I had one of those engines in a 2010 F450, the 6.4 L Powerstroke. I absolutely loved everything about that truck, at least initially. I learned to absolutely hate the engine though. I owned it for a little more than three years, and I always drained out about a quart more oil than I put in. Top-end valve train failures were an issue with those engines, though I never experienced that myself.

Ford had a TSB for the 6.4’s to check for excessive fuel in the oil that involved pulling the dipstick, wiping it clean, then replacing it just to the point where the plastic pull ring at the top of the dipstick started. That was at least an inch higher than if you fully seated it in the dipstick tube. As long as the oil level wasn’t higher than the top line on the dipstick, all was supposedly good and there was nothing to worry about.

I got rid of that truck before it caused me much financial pain.

:):)

Interesting info, thank you for posting!

[2oldman]

NRALIFR wrote:
That’s a very common problem on Diesel engines that were manufactured from about 2007-2010. They typically had diesel particulate filters (DPF), but did not use diesel exhaust fluid (DEF).

That's what I have, and this truck does not go grocery shopping.