Driving myself crazy!

[Shadow_storm56]

What is the normal oil burn rate for a 38 year old perkins diesel running at high rev? Approximately as Obviously you don't all have experience with this specific engine haha. She runs alot of hours and burns a fair bit of oil, not my first post on this but no colored smoke, no crazy blowby, no leaks, magically dissappears over time but that's not the point of this post it's curiosity of what's normal. Like what should I normally burn in 50-100 hours of engine run time, average rpm of 2100. Thanks!

 

[Mht]

Hours not age is what you want to know about an engine. A good engine shouldn’t burn any oil. If yours is burning more than you are comfortable with then it’s time for a rebuild. If you are ok with it’s oil consumption continue to run it. If you aren’t comfortable with it’s oil consumption and based on your number of questions about it you aren’t then it’s time for a rebuild.

 

[Shadow_storm56]

Hours not age is what you want to know about an engine. A good engine shouldn’t burn any oil. If yours is burning more than you are comfortable with then it’s time for a rebuild. If you are ok with it’s oil consumption continue to run it. If you aren’t comfortable with it’s oil consumption and based on your number of questions about it you aren’t then it’s time for a rebuild.

That would be really really expensive, for me I'm just mind boggled because it does not have any colored smoked at all. Little gray on startup for like 30 seconds but then clear.. I just cannot figure out whare it's going, can an engine burn oil without colored smoke? It has about 3000 hours on it and runs alot of hours being as it's an irrigation pump, it's not like every run I have to add oil. Like after a 24 hour run strait I would need to add a couple litres. Unless it's at 2000 rpm or under and then it would be maybe a cup or none needed.

 

[Gary Dotson]

It's a diesel engine! Oil from the crankcase is simply more fuel added to what is being introduced by the injector. I think it would be rare for a diesel engine to exhibit typical blue oil smoke such as is seen on gasoline engines. I've seen some that burned a whole lot of oil and the exhaust appeared no different than a healthy engine.

 

[Mht]

A couple of litres in 24 hours depending on oil capacity would probably worry me. A cup in 24 wouldnt. Pumping water is the hardest work you can put on an engine because it never lets up and gives the engine a break at all. 3000 hours is a pretty good number of hours on a pump engine. I’m sure a rebuild is a costly affair so if it were mine and since it has a low oil shutdown I’d run it I’d probably start looking for a good used replacement pump and engine or just an engine if my pump was good and hope I found a deal before the existing motor decides it’s done. You may not be seeing smoke and you may still have good compression but have an oil ring that’s not performing properly because if it’s not leaking the oil it has to be burning it. If you are exceeding the rated rpm and therefore maybe gpm and or pump pressure that would explain the huge jump in oil consumption. A couple of quarts of oil added to a fire steadily over 24 hours isn’t going to create much smoke. It’s probably more cost effective to find a replacement to have on hand rather than rebuilding. What would it cost you in lost crop growth if it goes down when you are depending on it?

 

[Shadow_storm56]

A couple of litres in 24 hours depending on oil capacity would probably worry me. A cup in 24 wouldnt. Pumping water is the hardest work you can put on an engine because it never lets up and gives the engine a break at all. 3000 hours is a pretty good number of hours on a pump engine. I’m sure a rebuild is a costly affair so if it were mine and since it has a low oil shutdown I’d run it I’d probably start looking for a good used replacement pump and engine or just an engine if my pump was good and hope I found a deal before the existing motor decides it’s done. You may not be seeing smoke and you may still have good compression but have an oil ring that’s not performing properly because if it’s not leaking the oil it has to be burning it. If you are exceeding the rated rpm and therefore maybe gpm and or pump pressure that would explain the huge jump in oil consumption. A couple of quarts of oil added to a fire steadily over 24 hours isn’t going to create much smoke. It’s probably more cost effective to find a replacement to have on hand rather than rebuilding. What would it cost you in lost crop growth if it goes down when you are depending on it?

We have two large pumps on the system, plus other stand alone ones so if it failed there is a backup. Only time it would be frost time in the spring but when it's running large fields of sprinklers it dosen't go about 2000 rpm because it's more volume needed than pressure. So all spring until we start running higher pressure things for watering vs frost protection it burns no oil or not enough to need to add any. I am not running it past ratings and the physical pump is only 2 years old or so, if we judge by compression and power theres no problems there. Actually some times it can go a run at 2300 rpm for a day and burn none, it is not consistent at all in the oil consumption.

I do lose some out the crank vent...like enough to leave an oil spot after the season and I do wonder about the rear main as the pump is a graphite seal and it runs upside down to have the outlet on the right side, so if it was spitting out there then you wouldn't notice it in the water stream from the seal. (Seal is supposed to leak to lubricate it)

One thing we did do by accident when we mounted the pump on the engine was forgot to remove an old bearing from the previous mounted item. So this ended with us bolting it down and the pump pushing on the crank hard and we always wondered if maybe this caused the pistons to scratch the one side of the sleeve inside because when we started it there was instant blowby due to the resistance and the force. So in theory it could be ovaled sleeves or rings worn a weird way. When I change the oil in the spring I plan to put a little scope inside the drain hole and see if there's anything obvious. Hardest thing is you can't just take a simple cover off and be like oh theres the issue, it's much harder......