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94 Using Oil


Tractor Dan

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Truck is a 94 with a 3.0. 2 wheel drive. The engine that was in it had almost 195,000 miles. I bought the truck off my mechanic and the previous engine had a bad cam shaft. So he got another engine from a yard and dropped in it. That's where the fun starts. I have had the truck about a month.

So far it has been using about 2-3 quarts of oil every week or two.I know this sounds bad but i'm keeping oil in the truck and keeping it topped off. It never goes beyond a quart low. What i'm trying to figure out is where the oil is going. I'm not really smelling any burning in the exhaust and you don't see it in the exhaust. I haven't smelled it burning on the engine either. Only thing i can think is the pan gasket is leaking? The weather has been so nasty i haven't been able to get my floor jack and stands and jack it up. So any ideas where the oil could be going? I dd find a puddle yesterday of oil but it wasn't very big. I'm keeping the oil topped off until i can make the drive back home to pull it in my mechanics shop and take a look at it with him. Any thoughts or insights on what to check are appreciated.
 


SenorNoob

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Might check the drain plug. and the oil pressure switch. I've had both leak. The pressure switch was leaking where the plastic part of the housing meets the metal. Drain plug was just leaking around the seal....
 

Tractor Dan

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Thanks i'll take a look there if i can ever get decent weather.
 

RonD

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Two to three quarts a week is a pressure leak, so not valve cover or oil pan gaskets.

I would go shopping..........covered parking lot at a mall, lol.
Nice dry clean cement, take some paper towels with you, leave it clean.

Park truck and go have lunch.
When you get back place a pencil or pen, or whatever, in front of each front tire, this will give you a reference point.
Back truck out.
Take a few pictures, including the markers.

If oil is toward the front of the engine then front crank(main) seal is leaking, if in the back center then rear main is leaking.
If back and off a little to one side then oil filter or oil pressure switch is leaking.
 

JP02XLT

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As for a pressure leak and to add to Ron's good advice the front cover on these 3.0's are well known to leak, especially on the passenger side of the cover about 2/3 of the way up the cover, they will dump a ton of oil, as well as blow it back all over the engine.

JP02XLT
 

Tractor Dan

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Thanks everybody. Maybe i'll get lucky and not get stuck on the top floor of the parking garage at school. Top floor is wide open. Though they do a good job of clearing it so maybe it will work. I'm hoping it's not anything like front or rear main seals. I don't wanna get demoted back to driving my parents 2000 Ford Focus until this gets fixed. :icon_rofl: Doesn't helped my dad just wrecked his car today.

Also seeing as my mechanic just put this engine in not even a month ago and he sold me the truck too. Would it be fair to say he should be on the hook for fixing this? I mean i'll help him, this is a great learning experience for me since i'm just starting into an automotive degree. I have done a lot on cars but never got into the internals on an engine much. CLosest i probably got was upper intake and valve cover gaskets on my old ranger.
 

Tractor Dan

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Just an update. I haven't got anymore oil on the ground but i went out tonight and with the sun down and a LED flashlight i found that the fan shroud has oil sprayed on it. Also the trough that runs under the radiator there is some oil residue and it appears as if the pulley for the crank shaft has some oil on it. So i think i have found the leak. I'm sure obviously once i can get it up in the air i'll have a better view but looks like it is the front main seal and possibly rear main seal as wel.
 

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That can happen to "yard engines", the crank seals can dry out when engines sit, and valve guide seals if vent hose and PVC valve are remove.
Seals exposed to air and not oiled just dry out and crack.
 

Tractor Dan

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Makes sense. I was looking into what it takes to do those seals and it looks like the engine basically has to come out or atleast be unbolted and raised up to get clearance to stuff. I'm getting half a notion to just replace any seals and gaskets i can get to. I figure do the front and rear main seals, the oil pan gasket, valve cover gaskets, upper intake gaskets. I guess i'll have to consult with my mechanic and see what way he wants to go with it. He is letting me use his shop on the weekend and borrow his brain and skills so probably gotta go with what we can get done in a weekend. As long as the current leak gets fixed i'll be happy. At the rate i'm going through oil i'll be glad to stop the "bleeding". :icon_rofl:
 

Tractor Dan

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Ok. Here is an update. Went over to the mechanics today. We put a new thermostat in. While we had it pulled in put it on the lift. Looking at everything from underneath nothing is leaking bad enough to be 2-3 quarts a week being used. The oil pan gasket is seeping a bit but nothing horrible. Basically a drop here and there. We also checked the PCV to make sure it's not clogged and it seems to be working fine. So not exactly sure what's up with the oil. He gave me a few quarts of 10w30 to try running in it. We are thinking maybe a thicker oil will fix the issue. I ran 5w20 in it because that's what it calls for. So hopefully the thicker oil does the trick and if so next oil change i'll just switch over to 10w30. If yall have any other thoughts or ideas feel free to share. I'm just gonna keep watching things and seeing if we get the engine to settle in. It only has about 1000 miles since it was installed so i'm sure if it sat a couple years it needs some break in time.
 

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Ok. Here is an update. Went over to the mechanics today. We put a new thermostat in. While we had it pulled in put it on the lift. Looking at everything from underneath nothing is leaking bad enough to be 2-3 quarts a week being used. The oil pan gasket is seeping a bit but nothing horrible. Basically a drop here and there. We also checked the PCV to make sure it's not clogged and it seems to be working fine. So not exactly sure what's up with the oil. He gave me a few quarts of 10w30 to try running in it. We are thinking maybe a thicker oil will fix the issue. I ran 5w20 in it because that's what it calls for. So hopefully the thicker oil does the trick and if so next oil change i'll just switch over to 10w30. If yall have any other thoughts or ideas feel free to share. I'm just gonna keep watching things and seeing if we get the engine to settle in. It only has about 1000 miles since it was installed so i'm sure if it sat a couple years it needs some break in time.
Are you checking for leaks with the engine running? I had an issue for a year with my 84 Bronco 2 losing a lot of oil. Took me a while to figure it out as it had sat in my driveway all the time which is just gravel/sand so I couldn't really find the leak. Then had it on the carport and the hood open while adjusting the carburetor I figured out my leak was the front crank-shaft seal it was more than a slow drip, as to a 1 quart every 2-3 days leak is how bad it was. Just had that seal replaced and now it holds oil. Thicker oil didn't fix or slow the leak down, but the negative temps for a couple weeks sure did LOL. Then it warmed up and back to leaking like a sieve again, so to the shop it went and had the crank-shaft seal replaced. You can't find this leak with the engine shut off warmed up engine idling open the hood and/or crawl under and watch around the lower pulley area. Valve covers could be leaking as well seems pretty standard on these vehicles.
 

Tractor Dan

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Yep. It was running. We had it running letting it circulate the coolant through after putting everything together on the thermostat. I was under there with my mechanics and both of us didn't see anything major. I'm gonna keep an eye on it till the next oil change and clean the underside of the truck well to make sure any old oil and grease is off of it and maybe try a UV dye in the oil. It was only idling, we didn't try to rev it. Either way it's waiting another few weeks before i can get back up that way unless i get a day during class they let us pull our cars in to do stuff and i could take a look.
 

RangerNielsen

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Sounds like you got a good end though. My ranger burns oil and I have narrowed it down do piston rings :( Sounds like I have to do a full rebuild, if i keep the truck.
 

Tractor Dan

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Yeah. I have never rebuilt an engine. Closest i have come is a briggs and stratton intek, which once you do a couple of those you can do them with your eyes closed almost. My mechanic said if it doesn't settle down with the oil in the next couple oil changes we might look into seeing if it is the rings.
 

RangerNielsen

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If you can tell it is leaking, then it probably is not your piston rings. I have really bad compression a a couple of my spark plugs had oil practically dripping off of them. I also look like an old diesel when i get on it hard in the sun with all the blue exhaust that the truck emits.
 

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