6.4L Power Stroke Engine and DrivetrainDiscussion of the 6.4L Power Stroke diesel engine and drivetrain in the 2008 Super-Duty trucks. No gas engine discussion allowed except on transmissions and drivetrain that pertain to all models. Please confine discussion of topics in this forum to those items that are specific to the 6.4L Power Stroke engine.
Okay, here's the deal.... I remember back last year when the 08's hit the lots, I remember reading a post from someone that they were seeing the oil levels increase between changes. Well after reading that, I started to keep an eye on mine. Well, it seems that I too have a rising oil level between changes as well. I change mine every 5K miles.
Well, 5000 miles ago when I changed the oil, I purposely shorted the fill by 1 qt.
just to see how much the level would increase. Well yesterday, before I changed the oil again, I pulled the stick, and sure enough the level was well above that stupid plastic thing on the end of the dipstick (whatever happened to old style dipsticks that you could actually read). Also, when I drained the oil, I noticed that the level in my catch pan was noticeably higher as well.
I assume that this is fuel getting into the oil?? If so, other than pulling an oil sample, how can I know what is going on? It seems that the latest response at the Ford dealers nowadays is: "Oh they're all doing that, don't worry about it"
If it is fuel, how is it getting into the oil?
Inquiring minds want to know.....
Duane
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2008 F-350 6.4 Job 1 SRW LWB 4x4 Lariat Crew Cab, Dark Blue Pearl/Pueblo Gold, With all options except the tailgate step and cab clearance lights.
Through regeneration process. The computer commands the injection system to add fuel for the DPF burn. If regeneration isn't right or optimum condition s aren't met, fuel will go into oil. Take a sample and send to Blackstone labs. Bring results to dealer if its high. Document everything. 3% fuel is bad, if you left out a quart and ran 14 but got 15 out of it your oil is right at 7.3 percent fuel contamination.
You will get some fuel dilution due to the regen process. This is expected. However, it should not be enough to notice at the dipstick. At most, there should be about 3/4 of a quart of extra fuel by the end of a normal drain (10k miles).
There is another source - internal fuel leak. If you can notice the increase at the dipstick, complain to your dealer!
Ford engineer told me expect up to 1.5 inches of oil growth on the stick between changes. Thats checking it with the base of the plastic touching the top of the tube, as in the shop manual.
Ford engineer told me expect up to 1.5 inches of oil growth on the stick between changes. Thats checking it with the base of the plastic touching the top of the tube, as in the shop manual.
Dieseltech38 my 6.4 owners guide that came with my truck said that when checking oil level after shut down for 20 minutes to pull dip stick out and wipe and fully reinsert dip stick and pull to read level, nothing about plastic touching top of tube when reinserting to check level.
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2008 F350 FX 6.4PSD 4X4 AUTO SC, TRADED 2000 F350 LARIET LE 4x4 PSD,AUTO,CC,RWD,AIS,4" MAGNAFLOW EXHAUST, PILLAR,PRYO,BOOST,TRANNY GAUGES,6.0 TRANNY COOLER
THanks guys for the reply's. I will monitor it, as well as get a Blackstone report... I will let everyone know what the results are when I get it back.
Duane
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2008 F-350 6.4 Job 1 SRW LWB 4x4 Lariat Crew Cab, Dark Blue Pearl/Pueblo Gold, With all options except the tailgate step and cab clearance lights.
Ford engineer told me expect up to 1.5 inches of oil growth on the stick between changes.
Are you sure that's not .15 inches ? My 7.3L got overfilled by an apprentice grease monkey at the dealer one time. I noticed it was a bit over an inch high on the dipstick the next AM and took it back to the dealer. They drained it and said it was around 2 gallons overfull.
The shop manager sent the kid back to the wash rack for further training............
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'06 Ram 3500 4X4 QC CTD 6sp LB
'01 F350 PSD 4X4 6sp Crew Cab (sold)
'68 F250 C/S 4X2 C6/428PI
Stidham 24' enclosed car hauler
Bunch of big old cars
In theory, practice and theory are the same.
In practice, they are not.
Just had one in with a bad DPF last week, thought it might have been caused by a sticky injector because the oil level was so high. When I called the hotline the engineer said to expect up to 1.5 in of oil growth between oil changes, and that the 3/4 in i was seeing was normal. And the "updated" proper procedure for checking oil level is thus, remove and clean dipstick, reinsert dipstick offset to one side so the plastic shoulder touches the metal tube, If it reads over the max level then it is over full. That shoulder is about 1.5 inches. The TSB number with updated procedure is 07-8-9 for lacking power, white smoke, knocking and a MIL on with multiple DTC's.
Just had one in with a bad DPF last week, thought it might have been caused by a sticky injector because the oil level was so high. When I called the hotline the engineer said to expect up to 1.5 in of oil growth between oil changes, and that the 3/4 in i was seeing was normal. And the "updated" proper procedure for checking oil level is thus, remove and clean dipstick, reinsert dipstick offset to one side so the plastic shoulder touches the metal tube, If it reads over the max level then it is over full. That shoulder is about 1.5 inches. The TSB number with updated procedure is 07-8-9 for lacking power, white smoke, knocking and a MIL on with multiple DTC's.
quote "I assume that this is fuel getting into the oil?? If so, other than pulling an oil sample, how can I know what is going on? It seems that the latest response at the Ford dealers nowadays is: "Oh they're all doing that, don't worry about it"
The new Cummins 6.7 does this too. It's caused by active regeneration when raw fuel is pumped in during the exhaust stroke to get the DPF nice and hot. Guys driving on the highway pulling a load won't have much problem because they will rarely have an active regen. The EGT's stay high enough while pulling a load to keep the DPF pretty clean.
3% fuel dilution is not good. If you aren't either pulling a lot or running mostly high speed on the highway I'd recommend an oil change interval no greater than 5,000 miles. Maybe even 3,000 mikes if all you do is grocery store runs.
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'07 2500 CTD Mineral Gray QC SRW 4X4 LSD 68RE Auto Laramie
'05 3500 CTD 610/325 STL QC LWB DRW 4X4 LSD 48RE Auto Big Horn.
'99 Dodge 2500 CTD QC 4X4 Auto, 4.10 rear, Edge EZ, only 117,000 miles
'93 Dodge Ext Cab CTD 2WD, auto, 3.54, no mods, only 152,000 miles
quote "I assume that this is fuel getting into the oil?? If so, other than pulling an oil sample, how can I know what is going on? It seems that the latest response at the Ford dealers nowadays is: "Oh they're all doing that, don't worry about it"
The new Cummins 6.7 does this too. It's caused by active regeneration when raw fuel is pumped in during the exhaust stroke to get the DPF nice and hot. Guys driving on the highway pulling a load won't have much problem because they will rarely have an active regen. The EGT's stay high enough while pulling a load to keep the DPF pretty clean.
3% fuel dilution is not good. If you aren't either pulling a lot or running mostly high speed on the highway I'd recommend an oil change interval no greater than 5,000 miles. Maybe even 3,000 mikes if all you do is grocery store runs.
Actually, the Ford system acts almost the opposite of most other DPF systems. Light loads seem to be okay. Heavy loads leads to more regens.
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