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Chevy 3500 Engine Oil Disappeared...

S

steve terplak

Member
I have a 1995 Chevy 3500 1 ton dump. It has a 454 with the engine oil cooler.
My dad took the truck yesterday...before he took off, I checked the oil, coolant etc...
He drove a half hour or so home, ran a couple errands, hauled some soil and, before heading back to my house, checked the oil, none registered on the dipstick.
This is by no means a clean truck, but there were no giant oil spots on his driveway, nor any drip drip drip lines heading in or out...
So, he put in a quart (all he had in his garage) (still nothing on dipstick) and headed to the hardware store around the corner, put 2 more quarts in and headed to my house. At my house, still no oil on the dipstick. No massive oil spills in or around the truck...
Where did it go?
Has to get inspected soon anyway, so it is going to the mechanic...but I am curious...the oil cooler line looks pretty oil covered...but it has always looked that way..
Our one thought is that it has to be a leak in that line when under pressure...right?
Haven't actually checked...
.
Thoughts?
 
Hello, terplak,

If the oil cooler developed a leak, you should see oil in the radiator. Tbat is my guess. If all the return holes in the head were 100% clogged, it would smoke real bad. I don't think that is the case though,

GUIDO.
 
The big block motors have an oil cooler below the radiator. Kind of looks like an oven heating element. Tube bent kind of in a couple of u's. They hd a problem with them wearing thru and spraying oil at high rpms. At an idle its barely a dribble. If your cooler lines are wet with oil, they are leaking.
 
I would think you have a leak somewhere .For it to be a head plugged up i would think with the oil being warm and thin it would run back down. I would check the oil cooler for sure
 
When you checked the oil, you did wipe off the stick before checking it didn't you? On lawnmowers that I work on, lots of people pull the stick and see its oily and think the oil level is o.k.

It could be burning the oil, too.
 
well first of all you did not even say if the engine was ever full of oil. just adding oil and not on dipstick, and driving. i have seen engines burn oil about as fast as you can pour it in.
its pretty easy to tell if the cooler is leaking just look under there and see if there is oil sprayed all over. the whole under of truck will be oil coated.
 
Intake gaskets may be sucked in and pulling oil from the lifter valley. Start truck and pull the PCV valve and fresh air tube from the valve covers. Put a thumb over each hole and see if a vacuum developers, it should built pressure. If it sucks on your thumbs, it needs intake gaskets.
 
Hello gleenster,


I thought it was part of the engine like a diesel truck.....thanks for the correction,

Guido.
 
Might be wishful thinking in your case but before I bought my dump truck I pulled the dipstick only to find no oil in the engine.
Closer inspection revealed that the oil in that 25+ year old well kept Cat 3208 was as clean as water and hard to see on the stick unless you caught the light just right.
 
steve, i screwed up, the cooler i was referring to is the power steering cooler, that looks like an oven heating coil. its located directly under the radiator support. i re-checked on my truck and the oil cooler is a small radiator type cooler, about 12 inches by 12 inches. it mounts behind the grille on the upper left side of the radiator. there is an oil filter adapter that bolts above the oil filter that has the fittings for the oil lines. when the cooler starts leaking, the fan will suck the oil vapor thru the radiator and kind of disperses it all over. check the inside of the radiator directly behind the cooler for signs of oil. also check the lines and the adapter housing for leaks. the part shows discontinued form gm, but is probably available aftermarket. sorry for the goof up, its been a while.
 
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