Engine issue confusion...

Hello Everyone!

I currently have a 2005 RAM 3500 5.9L Diesel truck, a Lone Star Edition (237,400 total miles). The truck is in great shape overall, however, recently I noticed some fine spray (oil) over the front of the trailer I was hauling on a long trip. I checked the oil after a 350 mile trek and noticed I was down a quart or so, maybe a little bit more. Anyway, I noticed the same behavior on the way home (another 350 mile trip) and decided to take the truck to my regular mechanic. Unfortunately, while he is great at everything else, he is not a diesel mechanic, so he sent to another shop for evaluation.

After a week or so I received a call and was informed that I had to replace the engine. Well, that caused me to wince a bit, and i picked the truck up and took it to another diesel mechanic that came highly recommended. He's had it two weeks and I'm still awaiting his analysis.

At first glance he determined it has quite a bit of "blow back" and the crankcase had a lot of oil in it, which could mean a number of things according to him, but he did not elaborate since he wanted to look at it further to see what was really going on. He also said it could be a bad piston, but without looking at it further he would not commit, which is reasonable.

The reason I'm posting this on the forum is that I'm not a mechanic and have no idea about the finer points of these engines. Here's the breakdown on symptoms.

1. The truck burns oil on extended trips, at time quite a bit.
2. It does not overheat at all.
3. It idles perfectly and runs just fine. Actually very smoothly.
4. Other then burning oil it seems to be just fine.

A friend conveyed the symptoms and/or lack thereof to a diesel mechanic he knows, who stated that he felt it was the Turbo, or a manifold issue, but very unlikely that the engine needed to be replace. He further stated that if it was a piston or cylinder issue the truck would be running very rough, etc. He told my friend that he was betting it was the Turbo.

So, I'm asking for other opinions and/or expert advice about this since any mechanic could tell me anything and I would have no idea if it were true.

I'd appreciate any comments concerning this issue, so that when the mechanic gets back to me I can at least have some idea if I'm being led down a rabbit hole. They are talking $12K or more if the engine is replaced, which is not out of reason for a re-manufactured engine , but I don't want to spend that much money unless it is necessary.

Thanks in advance for the responses everyone!

I hope this will help go down to the Cummins Diesel Forum maybe someone can help you in that forum.

Moved to the Cummins Section.

It could be the turbo, and at that mileage I would be ready to rebuild it, but blow by is not a turbo issue and is a piston ring issue. Since the diesel engine is, in fact, an oil burner it will continue to fire.

I'd see if your mechanic can do a compression test.

MADDOG said:

Moved to the Cummins Section.

It could be the turbo, and at that mileage I would be ready to rebuild it, but blow by is not a turbo issue and is a piston ring issue. Since the diesel engine is, in fact, an oil burner it will continue to fire.

I'd see if your mechanic can do a compression test.

Click to expand...

Was thinking the same in regards to blow by but I believe a worn turbo that's leaking could still dump oil into the intake.

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Thanks guys! It's a very unsettling issue for a layman, such as myself, to consider having to rebuild an engine on a Cummings at 227,000 miles... I've had Silverados forever and I get a Ram simply for a Cummings engine (everyone raves about them) and I have these issues with it. Since I'm meticulous about my vehicles, i can assure you it's not a maintenance issue on my part. In fact, I have the oil changed every 5,000 - 8,000 miles on my truck, which is below the recommended change times, and I've had the injectors looked at over time, etc. It's just inconceivable to me that the engine has this problem. Look at it from my standpoint... My last Silverado had over 500,000 miles on it and all I ever had to do to it was replace the injectors at 350,000 miles. I would have still had it if some idiot hadn't run a red light and practically taken the front of the truck off. Oh well, I guess this mechanic will get back to me at his leisure and let me know what's going on with it. After everything I've read on here and other forums, it's still not clear what the possible issue is, as some of the symptoms are the quite similar. That's why we have professionals I guess!

Thank you again for the comments and suggestions, and hopefully I'll find out something in the near future.