She's getting weak...

[dhirocz]

871, @m*m^2, 756k as of today.

I've been starting to avoid running mountainous areas because my engine is starting to show it's age.

Just got a new turbo and actuator 2 months ago.

I'm not finding any problems which would be painfully obvious something is wrong. No codes or values in insite that alarm me.

I do notice that if it's run using alot of boost, I get alot of blowby. I've been avoiding loads into the mountains for this reason. Also:
- it uses oil if driven harder, but none if driven gently. When it uses oil, it does at a rate of 1 gal every day to 2 days, and it starts leaking. I'm assuming this is because of excessive blowby/crankcase pressure. It stops leaking from the front cover and valve cover when driven nicely. It does have a drilled maintenance free element installed.
- it looses coolant if driven harder, but again, none if driven gently. No leaks found, nothing in the oil samples, and it was pressure checked with the pan off when I did a bearing roll 80k ago.
-mileage has been dropping off to the point where on level ground I now get the same mileage at 65 vs 58mph. It no longer seems happy cruising unloaded under 5psi of boost. It did get 2 OEM injectors recently, and as of now none are leaking per rawzes guidance and Cummins leakdown test
-I notice no smoke whatsoever at all.
-it doesn't take as much load to get temps to climb, though the cooling system is in good shape

It has the original cylinder head still on it but it had new cam bearings and cams also 80k ago while it was apart.

She's getting noisy. I opened up the lash on the overhead per recommendations here for oil flow, and while I'm sure part of it is normal, I do believe part of what I am hearing is piston slap or something of the sort. I'm going to be checking my front geartrain this weekend to make sure it's still ok.

It ran fine up to 685k until the valve cam went flat. I don't expect it to last forever, and I'm trying to be gentle with it. It got @m*m^2 at roughly the same time the valve train was fixed and the bearings we're done. Oil pump has 6 dimes in it.

It's definitely showing it age, however should this concern me significantly, or should I keep caring for it and driving it until I can shut it down in a few months for that overhaul?

I tend to keep the speed down, eyeball the mileage, limit boost while climbing to 10-15 psi, and as of lately, avoid areas like I77 in WV that'll strain the engine. I'm also running regionally now so my unloaded miles are generally 50% of my total miles.

I just paid it off...last thing I need to do is ventilate the block. Thanks in advance!

[Nilao]

The cleaner burning tune has allowed some of the carbon packing to burn off which is allowing blow-by to get past the rings. Drive her gently and put that truck payment you just stopped making into the bank and plan on an inframe as soon as you can.

[Brock]

Unless that new turbo is allowing boost into the crankcase, I bought a cummins reman that had a poorly seated seal and it was boosting in causing excessive blowby.... it was a p.i.t.a to find cause I never suspected my brand new turbo.

Coolant is probably being used by a cracked egr cooler and slowly just dissipating out your exhaust.

[74bassman]

Brock, how did you diagnose that ?

[Brock]

(06-30-2018 )74bassman Wrote:  Brock, how did you diagnose that ?

Tested my blowby then ran the turbo oil return line into a bucket and ran truck testing blowby again.

[dhirocz]

Good point Brock.

I'm already discussing with the wife my timeline so I can plan an inframe.

She still seems to run ok...I'm giving it a checkup tomorrow as well as a few other little fixes I've been planning.

I figured a cracked egr cooler would leak regardless so I never suspected it. It doesn't use coolant unless I'm really getting on it. It hasn't been doing it lately, well, because I'm not driving like that much anymore lol I like the fuel savings too much! Now its also about extending engine life just a little longer.

Tomorrow I also trade a friend my M726's for his new 710's. He's getting rid of his truck and offered them to me...his cascadia appears to have the exact same drive wheels as my KW. I certainly hope so.