Excessive oil consumption???

Hey Folks,
details first:
1964 McCormick D326 (German made farmall)
3cyl Diesel (DD-111) motor

Going through quite a bit of oil the last few weeks. Rod bearings had to be replaced because I didn't realize it and ran out of oil. Anyway, engine work is all done and things are OK EXCEPT ......... Starts a little harder (takes longer) and smokes pretty bad for a little bit. Runs fine after it warms up. Looks like a classic valve seal problem, but goes through a bunck of oil. No oil in water or water in oil, no visible leaks, doesn't smoke after it runs a minute or so.
Should I be looking somewhere else? Is there a wonder drug that will tighten the valve seals to get me through the winter (need it daily in winter and can't afford downtime)?

Thanks for any tips,


Dave

Original valves and seats ground? New rings with old pistons and sleeves? Oil viscosity?

He did nothing to the head or pistons. oil is 10w40.

Dave

sounds like bad rings, pistons, and sleeves

Ok...you ran it out of oil, yet you only replaced the rod bearings? I hope you understand that the oil lubricates things other than just the rods. If you replaced the rod bearings, but didn't have the crank ground, you're probably just fooling yourself that you actually fixed anything.

I don't know of anything to "fix" valve seals short of new valve seals...if that's even the total extent of what you damaged when you "ran out of oil." There are lots of "mechanic-in-a-can" products out there, but none I know of that will magically repair worn-out valve seals.

Do you not check oil before you start your tractor? If so, it appears you've had some sort of major oil consumption problem long before it "ran out of oil." If not, maybe you need to start doing a "pre-flight checklist," like pilots do. When I was doing commercial mowing for Pappy years back, besides making a round with the grease gun before starting out, we checked ALL "vitals"--oil, coolant, and fuel--before we ever started the engine. Maybe that's old-fashioned, steam-thresherman type routine that's no longer in vogue, but we NEVER had a lubrication-related failure.

I think you're just gonna have to bite the bullet and make necessary repairs...or else start buying oil by the drum until you can make the proper repairs.

If it was a "classic valve seal" problem, it would only be using oil at first start, or while coming downs steep hills with a low gear holding you back.

Gas engine has vacuum pulling oil through the valve stems. I assume your diesel engine does not. Very few diesels have vacuum. A few old ones with air-governors do - e.g. a Fordson diesel or IH B-275.

Scored cylinder walls and/or worn top piston ring-grooves will cause excess smoke at starting along with high oil consumption. If you actually ran this thing out of oil once, I suspect that is the problem

Winter starting will suffer bot how about some straight 40wt?

Never see anything good happen with a engine that has been run with little or no rod grease.If it got the rod bearing's it got the rest of it too.

well it sounds like a wore out engine with new rod
bearings . If it doesn't burn any oil after it warms
up a lot of diesel are like that . they have some
blue smoke until the engine warms up and can burn
all the fuel injected in it.

I do not think 10-40 oil was ever approved for your diesel tractor engine. I will not run it in any of my tractors, gas or diesel. It is too thin of a base and when hot is thinner than water. Feed that crap to your tired VW (or Yugo if you got one).

The currently approved oils for most IH tractor engines are the offroad diesel rated 15w-40 #1 Engine Oil sold at CNH. It also comes in 30 wgt, 40 wgt, and a 10w-30 viscosity. I think your climate is much more mild than we experience here in MN, and so the 15-40 will be appropriate all year. My Ford 401 cu inch diesels will consume the lighter stuff (like a frauline at Octoberfest), and so will your tractor engine. The needs of a good heavy oil for a diesel relate to the relatively high compression of about 400 psi (cranking, but not firing), compared to a gas tractor engine of about 100 psi. The heavier diesel rated oil helps to seal the rings, helping to maintain this higher compression. Maybe 10-40 was a good choice in 1970 in your Pinto engine, but has long ago been disapproved for tractor diesels. The 15-40 diesel rated oil is significantly heavier than 10-40 gas engine oil.

And yes, your tractor engine probably needs new rings and/or complete overhaul, but I doubt the oil starvation you experienced had the disasterous effect that others are suggesting. And I doubt the valve seals are significant. There are never seals on the exhaust valves, and maybe (not always) seals on the intake valves. There will be wear on the valve stems and the stem bores, but that doesn't make much difference in oil consumption (unless the oil drain passage from the head to the oil pan is gunked up). If the oil is pooling in the head, then you will have a lot of oil consumption and smoke, because the oil will then go down the valves.

Does your engine have a significant stream of blowby? Most likely caused by ring wear or stuck rings.

My advice now is to put a good heavy diesel rated oil in it and put it to work for a number of hours of heavy tillage...whatever it will pull at 3/4 to full throttle. It will probably clean up and use less oil.

Good Luck

Paul in MN

I had the engine in my Cat rebuilt and it went through oil like crazy, yet had no smoke at all. Apparently the rings didn't seat. It was fixed on warrantee though. Dave

Hmmm. You did the rod bearings. Now you get to do the mains, the rings, pistons, liners and head.
Sorry... but I've been down that road enough times with Ford Windsor's. It just doesn't ever pay to do part of the job or even think about trying to be cheap. It bites you hard on the hole, most times VERY soon afterwards.

Rod

10w40 is not thick enough,you need 15w40 like Shell Rotella or any good diesel oil thats 15w40.Like somebody else said 15w40 was made to replace the old Diesel oil that was used back in the 1960s called series 3 or straight 30 weight.I guess you could try some straight 30 weight diesel oil,but 15w40 does a better job of lubricating your bearings and if you have them worn out 30 weight wont help on that part.It might stay in the seals better a little bit,but 15w40 is better oil for a Diesel.Ask somebody at an International shop about it.If all he did was put rod bearings in and you ran it out of oil then its probably going to need to be rebuilt after you find out where the oil was going when it ran out of oil.If its leaking,nows the time to fix that while you are working on it.Putting rod bearings and 10w40 in a engine thats got bigger clearances now because of lack of oil is not going to do much good maybe.