Truck bought for parts, got it running, but…

[Maxjeep1]

I would clean it and put dye in the engine oil. My M1165 was described as visible blow by. I had fuel in my oil from fuel pump failure and truck had 83 miles since returned to A condition. I changed the oil and let it run and the vapor that was visible was gone. I installed the CDR valve probably helped also. My truck doesn’t smoke and it doesn’t move the oil cap. I think a lot of stuff will get better from being driven. I would put 500 miles on it and see where your at

 

[T9000]

I would clean it and put dye in the engine oil. My M1165 was described as visible blow by. I had fuel in my oil from fuel pump failure and truck had 83 miles since returned to A condition. I changed the oil and let it run and the vapor that was visible was gone. I installed the CDR valve probably helped also. My truck doesn’t smoke and it doesn’t move the oil cap. I think a lot of stuff will get better from being driven. I would put 500 miles on it and see where your at

I washed the engine today and let it run for maybe one hour, the blow-by is still visible, but the pressure looks to be lower as the cap doesn’t get pushed away like before, when I put it upside down, now it just sits there and bumps up maybe 1/16”. I will give it some miles, hope it will go away.
The oil leaks look like they are all from the driver side valves cover, it leaks in 3 places around the screws that secures the cover.



I will check if they are tight, hard to believe they are not, but again the exhaust wasn’t tight and it was leaking fumes (it’s fixed), found 2 more loose screws on the underside cover between the engine and transmission and also the catalytic converter bracket was loose and the heat shield (both were rattling).

 

[T9000]

After cleaning the turbo area, it seems that there is a very small leak at the top, circled in red:



Is that where O-ring #2 goes?



EDIT: Typos

 

[Maxjeep1]

After cleaning the turbo area, it seems that there is a very small leak at the top, circled in red:

View attachment 888772

Is that where O-ring #2 goes?

View attachment 888778

EDIT: Typos

Dye would really help you. Might have a turbo base gasket leak. Maybe pull the turbo off and see if it has oil in it. Shouldn’t. I took mine apart on my non runner and it was clean and shaft was tight.

 

[T9000]

Dye would really help you. Might have a turbo base gasket leak. Maybe pull the turbo off and see if it has oil in it. Shouldn’t. I took mine apart on my non runner and it was clean and shaft was tight.

Yes, I am planning to open the turbo, is there any good video or instructions on how to take it apart? I have not worked on the turbo before I prefer to not reinvent the wheel if I don’t have too.

Separate question, you mention the base gasket leak, which I presume it’s the “snow man” #8 in the parts diagram, just for my own understanding, how would the base leak affect or be related to the leak at top in my previous picture? Or that’s not what you meant?

 

[Maxjeep1]

Yes, I am planning to open the turbo, is there any good video or instructions on how to take it apart? I have not worked on the turbo before I prefer to not reinvent the wheel if I don’t have too.

Separate question, you mention the base gasket leak, which I presume it’s the “snow man” #8 in the parts diagram, just for my own understanding, how would the base leak affect or be related to the leak at top in my previous picture? Or that’s not what you meant?

It just looks like it might be leaking from the picture, hard to tell from the picture. I took mine apart and I have never done it before. I put a reference line on it before I separated it. The one bolt will not come out unless you spin it. I cleaned it up and checked the play and I put a wicked wheel on it. I cleaned the housing up and put a little bit of grease on the flange so it would spin easier when I assembled it.

 

[Mogman]

That is the turbo air outlet, sometimes diesels tent to slobber an oily substance into the intake from idling too much, likely in your case from the excessive blow-by.
As long as the exhaust is not smoking blue I would not do anything but monitor it at this time.

 

[T9000]

That is the turbo air outlet, sometimes diesels tent to slobber an oily substance into the intake from idling too much, likely in your case from the excessive blow-by.
As long as the exhaust is not smoking blue I would not do anything but monitor it at this time.

Yes, there is only a puff of black smoke right when it starts, which I think it’s normal based on my other truck which does the same, and otherwise there is no visible smoke coming from the exhaust, it runs clear.

I tightened down the accessible valve cover bolt and the oil leak stopped so far in that area:



I tried to reach the next bolt up, but the injector lines are in the way, and words of wisdom on how to get to those remaining bolts without, like removing the alternator?

EDIT: It doesn’t look like it’s leaking at the first bolt from the engine front, only at the middle two.

 

[Retiredwarhorses]

Don’t worry about minor blow by…that’s what the CDR valve is for.

 

[T9000]

It just looks like it might be leaking from the picture, hard to tell from the picture. I took mine apart and I have never done it before. I put a reference line on it before I separated it. The one bolt will not come out unless you spin it. I cleaned it up and checked the play and I put a wicked wheel on it. I cleaned the housing up and put a little bit of grease on the flange so it would spin easier when I assembled it.

Yes, there is a leak, a very small drip of oil coming there at the top of the turbo, where it's circled in red:



I am thinking now that I have less blow-by pressure, that eventually should go away, it must be some residual oil from before.
And I am looking to study the turbo in detail to fully understand all the details.

 

[T9000]

Don’t worry about minor blow by…that’s what the CDR valve is for.

I am, not sure if it's minor, the pressure it's definitely lower after the oil change as the cap doesn't get pushed away when sitting upside down, but it's clearly visible and it whistles when it's open.
I am thinking it's a good thing that the engine was rebuilt and maybe it didn't get enough miles so will give it some time, like you guys said.

 

[Maxjeep1]

Yes, there is a leak, a very small drip of oil coming there at the top of the turbo, where it's circled in red:

View attachment 888798

I am thinking now that I have less blow-by pressure, that eventually should go away, it must be some residual oil from before.
And I am looking to study the turbo in detail to fully understand all the details.

I don’t think you should have oil coming from there. I would think that it’s getting past the turbo. When I replaced my injection pump I took everything off to get better access. Mine looked bad on the outside but clean and new on the inside. I cleaned everything up before I put it back together. My pump was on back order for a month or so.

 

[T9000]

I don’t think you should have oil coming from there. I would think that it’s getting past the turbo. When I replaced my injection pump I took everything off to get better access. Mine looked bad on the outside but clean and new on the inside. I cleaned everything up before I put it back together. My pump was on back order for a month or so.
View attachment 888799View attachment 888800View attachment 888801View attachment 888802View attachment 888803

Thank you very much! Those disassembled pictures are excellent!
It really helps to get my mind around on how it all comes together.

 

[Mogman]

Again, I would not worry about that seepage, certainly not worth the effort at this time to expose the intake, any time you disturb the intake you risk getting contamination into the intake, and a little seepage is quite normal there, many turbo 6.5L engines have oil residue around that connection.

 

[T9000]

Again, I would not worry about that seepage, certainly not worth the effort at this time to expose the intake, any time you disturb the intake you risk getting contamination into the intake, and a little seepage is quite normal there, many turbo 6.5L engines have oil residue around that connection.

Got it!
How about getting to the two bottom middle bolts on the valve cover on the driver side without disturbing the key parts?
Tightening the rear one (by the turbo) it did fix the oil leaks.
Any suggestions?

 

[Mogman]

Sorry, never tried that, sometimes you can take a cheap Harbor Freight tool and cut/bend/twist it to get into a difficult location

 

[T9000]

The manual says that only the dog house and air horn need to be removed to access the two #4 screws in the diagram:



It looks a lot easier in the picture, especially without the alternator and all other parts around it, but maybe there is a way

 

[T9000]

I put a wicked wheel on it

What model Wicked-Wheel did you get? (not sure which one is for GM7, didn't find one specifically labeled)
Are you seeing any significant improvements?

 

[REF]

Wicked wheel 2 for the Chevy/GMC 6.5L I ordered from dieselsite.com their P/N DS.ww:ww65. It was $163.07 with shipping.
But the big change came when I went to an adjustable wast gate. I bought one, but mogman did a great write up and pictures of converting a stock one to manual on the HMMWV hot rodding thread. That made a difference Not sure the wicked wheel was a bang for the buck kind of deal

Turbo waste gate conversion to adjustable

I was asked to make this its own thread. I converted the stock waste gate controller to make it adjustable, was really easy, just grind off the crimp in the middle of the "can" until it gives up the "cover", then carefully grind the end of the rod (spring end) until the spring cap is free...

steelsoldiers.com

 

[Maxjeep1]

What model Wicked-Wheel did you get? (not sure which one is for GM7, didn't find one specifically labeled)
Are you seeing any significant improvements?

I got this one. I also did the Mogman wastegate upgrade