1999 International 4900 with DT466E Oil Usage...help please

[Price]

Truck has 300,000 miles on it. It uses 1 to 1.5 gallons of oil every 200 miles. No smoke. I use Rotella 15W40 oil.

I have tried the following:

1. Checked fuel for oil, there was none.
2. Checked coolant for oil, there was none.
3. Checked turbo for oil and fan movement, no oil and fan ok.
4. Checked vacuum line from air filter to air compressor, line clear.
5. Changed oil and put Lucas oil treatment in as directed.
6. Changed air filter. Drove the truck about 70 miles and thought this helped but it is still using oil like before.
7. Checked the vent tube, if thats what it is called. Could not really feel air but put a glove over it and it inflated the glove. No oil drips from this tube at anytime.

I have checked all that I know to check. Anybody know anything else I can do?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Shimmy1]

How many gallons of oil are you putting back in after you drain it?

 

[Price]

7 1/2 gallons ( 30 quarts). I wonder if the wrong dipstick maybe in there.

 

[Shimmy1]

7 1/2 gallons ( 30 quarts). I wonder if the wrong dipstick maybe in there.

Sounds like a lot. I would have IH run the serial and find out how much it is supposed to hold. Maybe someone else will chime in that has same truck. I used to have a DT. Took like 5 gallons if I remember. How much stick is left after the add mark? If there is at least as much as the distance from full to add, I would let it go a bit after it gets to add mark. Obviously if it gets to the bottom of stick you'll have to add, but even at 2½ gallons low, it still has 5 gallons in it.

 

[walkerv]

if i remember correctly it is 28 quarts I will check some of my reference materials, looked in my books it says 24 quarts plus 4 for the filter so 28 quarts.

If you have an injector or injectors pumping oil into the fuel system and you have a small fuel tank you probably are not going to see it especially as I can imagine with your consumption your oil must be pretty clean , What I would suggest is do a fresh oil change so oil is clean if it isn't and add oil dye to your crankcase , look at fuel in tank with light and yellow glasses on first so you can see what plain diesel looks like then run your truck for a bit and recheck tank and see if it is starting to show up in there , If you ain't leaking it you have to be burning it somehow or another .

 

[Former Wrench]

A good rule of thumb is that the oil level should be about 1/2 below the pan gasket. Pull the dip stick and tie strap it to the tube then look to see where your full mark is as compared to the pan/block.

 

[walkerv]

Here is a quick tip also the people that are remanufacturing the injectors and HUEI pumps for IH are not doing a good job I have had good luck replacing 466e injectors with alliant power units I have yet to try one of there pumps .

 

[portabledave]

Hi, I'm a long time reader, first time poster
I recently purchased a 1999 International 4900 series truck with a DT466E engine with only 97500 miles on the truck that came from a large company, known for taking and keeping a very strict maintenance schedule, and had this very same problem.
Here's what I did to fix it....
When I purchased the truck, it would use about 3-4 qts oil per tank of fuel (50 gal tank). I thought it was excessive (also, when I would start it to warm up or when I would park it after a good run, I could smell the oil but not like it was burning, rather kind of like a well used Briggs & Stratton lawnmower..lol) so I did the same as you, checked all the obvious scenarios, turbo line, crankcase vent, look into exhaust and check for dark color, etc... all checked out with no sign of excessive use.... So I finally got a friend of mine involved (he owns his own business working on trucks), and had a conversation with him. I mentioned that I had been reading on the net about these engines and oil usage and the norm with almost everything I read or researched was the same.... injectors, sleeves, injector seals, etc.... I took the truck in to him and let him do what he does... turns out that he replaced a diaphragm in the injector pump, something about the engine oil primed the injector pump ( I know nothing about that, hence why he gets to fix it, lol), that almost stopped the oil consumption, went down to about 1 qt per tank of fuel but eventually it got worse as I used the truck. Next, I made an appointment for him to pull the injectors and replace the seals ( which, as I understand, are just o rings). Online they talk about the injector seals going bad, as far as I can understand, the reason is because that the o rings seat against a split washer and the gap in the washer is the problem, the oil pressure from the oil, pushes the o ring into the gap, thus eroding or degrading the sealing ability due to there being nothing to support the o ring. Well he purchased a kit, per my direction, and replaced all the injector seals, he told me that only two of the seals ( I believe there are 3 or 4 on each injector) showed a very slight sign of any problem at all.... He then went into things a little farther and what he found was , I believe, a small booster or transfer pump ( I forget what he called it) was bad ( when he showed me, he could push the plunger/primer by hand and oil would gush from every orifice ). It is the small sort of triangle part that is between the fuel filter and the injector pump... it is mounted onto the fuel pump itself. You can't miss it, open the hood and follow the fuel line from the filter, it will be the next thing plumbed between the filter and the injector pump.
All in all, he repaired the diaphragm in the injector pump, did the injector seal kit ( came with new overlapping spring washers/ retainers), and installed a new (again, I think he told me) booster pump. just a note, he had to buy a complete fuel pump to get the booster pump off it, then return the fuel pump ( something about it wasn't available separately and the dealer couldn't remove it). When all was said and done, the total bill was just over $1900.
My truck now has about 3000 miles and about 245 hrs running time since the repairs ( I know because I had to install a new dash), and has used absolutely no oil at all, the oil level hasn't gone down one bit. FYI, my truck holds just over 7 gallons of oil.
I hope this helps.

Portabledave

 

[Price]

Thanks to everyone for the replies.

Portabledave, is this the triangle shaped part you are referring to?

 

[Price]

Here are two other pics that may help clarify. I am having trouble posting pics like I want.

 

[portabledave]

Yes, that was the culprit on my truck... it showed no sign of oil leakage at all, externally, but apparently, the problem was all internal....
I forgot to mention in my previous post, that I had excessive oil in my fuel ( returned to the fuel tank). When I did the "dip test" (dipped a small cup into the tank and pulled it out and spilled it onto a clean, white paper towel), visually, you couldn't tell there was oil in the fuel ( added so much oil that the oil was clean, not dark or black and thus couldn't see it in the fuel) but when I rubbed some between my fingers, you could tell, also, I could smell the oil in the fuel ( at least, the fuel didn't quite smell right).

 

[Price]

I will check fuel again tomorrow. I checked it previously but it looked like clean diesel fuel but I didn't feel it or smell of it. Will also do like Walkerv said and look at it with yellow glasses.

My pics didn't come out just right but the piece you replaced is on the left side in the bottom pic and looks like it is touching a small wire with electrical tape on it. Right?

 

[Price]

Well now my pictures are showing up. The part in post #9 would be the culprit? Fuel supply lift pump.

 

[portabledave]

yes, that was the last part we replaced, we also replaced a diaphragm inside the injector pump as well, and replaced all of the injector seals, and there was a sensor ( under the valve cover) that was replaced as well (as long as the valve cover was off)...
Looking back at your original post and seeing that your truck has 300,000 miles on it, I would be inclined to think that your issue with the oil consumption may be the injector seals, more than anything... reason that makes me think that is somewhere I read that some injector seals (o rings) would start to show signs of degradation as soon as 100,000 miles and most needed to be replaced by around 200,000 - 250,000 miles. My truck had just under 100,000 miles but I was told when I purchased it that it sat for about 2 1/2 yrs....
Unfortunately, unless you have a friend who works on trucks and has a very good source for info on these engines' issues, it's probably going to cost you some $ before you can get it figured out...
Something else I just noticed... the part I mentioned (triangle in shape), in your pics is not "International blue", telling me that it was probably replaced once before and that would indicate a problem with that particular piece on these engines... If you take your truck in to a dealer for the repair, they are most likely going to try to talk you into the injector repair first (more money, and by the mileage on your truck, they will most likely tell you that you'll need to replace the "worn" injectors as well.... more money for them).
I don't remember off hand, without trying to find the invoice, but I think that small part that's inline (triangle part), was somewhere around $100, give or take... it is an easy to get at part and not very expensive.... If you take it off, there's a "plunger" that you can push when it's off, just try to push it and see what happens, how it feels. If it seems ok, then you can just re install it. there should be no oil getting into the fuel cavity if you do push the primer....
When testing the fuel, if it's using as much as mine did, you can feel the difference between good fuel and yours by taking a small sample of each and running the good fuel between your fingers on one hand and the contaminated fuel on your other hand at the same time... also, you should be able to smell the oil in the fuel... also, when you run the truck, you should be able to smell the extra oil in the exhaust ( like a worn out briggs & Stratton engine) I used the same oil that you are using as well...
one last thing to look at before you start to wrench in things, I'd check the crankcase vent tube and look to see if there is excessive, fresh oil buildup inside it. It should be somewhere near the oil filter on the passenger side of the engine and hanging down along side of the oil pan you should see up into it easily when you get under there, if it's "wet" with oil, would indicate that there might be a lot of blow by, indicating worn out...
Again, I am no expert here, just trying to offer advise from my experience.

Portabledave

 

[Price]

Thanks. I did check the crankcase vent tube and did not find any oil. Also put a glove over it and it inflated glove so it was not plugged. I asked the IH dealer and all they wanted to do was to overhaul basically. About $6000 to $10000 depending.

 

[Price]

Here is a comparison of diesel from my Dodge truck and the 1999 International. I can definitely see a difference in the coloration.

As walkerv stated above, the engine was using so much oil it was clean and hard to see just looking in tank or in a clear tube by itself. However when compared to a sample from another vehicle it was pretty obvious.

My question now is should I go ahead and replace the injector seals or start with fuel transfer pump and high pressure oil injector pump?

 

[portabledave]

personally, Knowing what I know about this, I would start with the small "triangle" part (booster pump/ transfer pump or whatever...). It's fairly easy to get to for removal, and if you take it off and push the primer or rod, you should see if oil is bypassing into the fuel cavity... It's a fairly easy part to check and if you can't find anything, also easy to re install, by yourself, saving you the money and hassle of getting it to a dealer or someone to repair. My thought is that if that is the problem, you will see it right away....
Again, I'm no expert here....

Portabledave

 

[GregsHD]

Here is a comparison of diesel from my Dodge truck and the 1999 International. I can definitely see a difference in the coloration.

As walkerv stated above, the engine was using so much oil it was clean and hard to see just looking in tank or in a clear tube by itself. However when compared to a sample from another vehicle it was pretty obvious.

My question now is should I go ahead and replace the injector seals or start with fuel transfer pump and high pressure oil injector pump?

View attachment 156660

It's most likely your injector seals, very common issue. They are inexpensive and fairly easy to replace. I have also seen higher mile injectors leak oil to fuel internally.

 

[Price]

Thanks for the information. Will update this coming weekend.

 

[Price]

I checked the fuel transfer pump and did not find anything wrong with it. Looking at taking truck to mechanic to get injector seals replaced. I have been quoted about $550 labor and whatever the seals cost.

I would like to save the labor and do this myself but not having done any work on injectors in the past I am concerned about going it alone.