Cat 3046 in Cat 315L excavator If I use it 8-10 hours a day, it consumes, not leaks, about 2-2.5 GALLONS of oil a day. Yes it pretty smokes bad but not like a cloud. It won't let me upload a video. I can see oil literally dripping out of the turbo exhaust before the muffler. It won't let me upload a video I also thought I remember it dripping, slightly, out of the exhaust port at #5 but that may have been residual oil. My thoughts were it could be 3 things. Rings on #5, head gasket, turbo seal.(The turbo was replaced in June of last year) I pulled the head off. Head gasket showed no signs of being compromised anywhere. #5 cylinder was just as dry as the other cylinders. The exhaust manifold was slightly wet. The exhaust exit on the turbo was wet. The exhaust blades on the turbo were dry. I checked the return tube from the turbo. It was clear and not stopped up. I put a straight edge(a 3' level) on the head just to see if I could see any warping. Did not see any but I know that that is not a true test. The only real thing left, in my opinion, could be the turbo seal? I have never pulled a turbo apart, but I know the exhaust 'seals' are really just tiny piston rings. How much of a PIA or difficulty is the pulling a turbo apart to check? If anyone has any other ideas, PLEASE, spill the beans. LOL
How is the exhaust dripping but the turbo exhaust turbine dry? Do you have the serial number of the 315L? I can look up in SIS.
You have to host the video somewhere else then link to it. Do you have any idea of the total hours on the engine.?
Serial number is 6YM02363. It's definitely going thru the exhaust. I've attached a picture of the bottom exhaust bolt of the turbo. It drips about every 1-1.5 seconds from there. I've also attached a picture of the smoke. I know pictures don't tell much of a story, but I would have to find a place to upload them. Would Facebook work for that? I have no idea on the total hours. It is either a '94 or '97 machine. On another note, I did take the turbo apart today. I did notice some play on both ends before I took it apart. Is there supposed to be ANY play in there? I'm gonna guess no? I'm a car guy but never messed with turbos. Mostly N2O, LOL
See if this works for the videos Items Shared on 1-30-2025 315L Videos
There should be almost no vertical movement of turbo shaft. There will be a very slight amount of plunging movement. That picture looks like your turbo shaft seals are pushing oil to the turbine side of turbo
That's what I was thinking as well. Looks like this turbo only has 1 'seal' on the exhaust side. I will see if there is also a replacement brass bearing/bearing on that side as well. I didn't get the impeller out of the pressure side. Is there also a seal behind that impeller that I can replace?
Bad thing is this turbo is less than a year old.
Oil starvation.? Or was it an eBay special.? You shouldn't attempt to mess with turbos at that level. After resassembly there is no way you can re-balance the rotating parts of the turbo cartridge. Buy a replacement cartridge (if available) provided that the compressor and turbine housings are in good condition. Reman Part Number for turbo assembly is 10R7605.
Buy a cartridge. Agree
I'm going to go with oil starvation for the mere fact that when it started giving me issues that I noticed my oil alarm was going off that I had low oil pressure. I think at that point it's starved the top of the turbo and that fried the seal. That's the only thing I can think of. It wasn't an eBay special but it was from a company I buy a few parts from. That replacement part number you gave me is that for a cat replacement turbo or the aftermarket? I have the model and serial number and everything of the turbo. I'll look that up as well. Thanks for all the advice and heads up. Much appreciated
If I can't find a good cartridge to replace it with I think I'll just be safe and expensive and replace the whole Turbo. LOL
Turbo tag
The number provided is a CAT reman number
A 10R7605 Reman would be cheaper than buying another turbo of the 1177867 OEM Part Number that's on the tag.
Googled that reman number and I get -0- hits that are worthy.
Cat dealer is your only option for the Reman Part Number. Use the 117-7867 P/N and search for suppliers who offer Reman turbos for that part number. You will have to return your old turbo as a Core to obtain credit for it, which lowers the price.
Gotcha. Will do. Thanks again.
New turbo. Same thing. Ran it at idle for about 5 minutes and could see oil start coming out of the turbo exhaust side. When I started it I cracked open the oil feed line and oil was flowing out of it. Before I assembled it I made sure the oil drain tube was clear. I'm at a loss. Stunned.
Simple test. Pull exhaust manifold off, plug turbo feed line off and plug turbo drain line. Start unit to watch if oil is pouring out of one port. Could have crack in head that leaks oil out of exhaust stud hole. There has to be some way to figure out where the oil is going. Simon C
I thought of doing something very similar. Pulling the turbo off running to feed line into the drain line and start it just for a few minutes to see if any oil comes up through the manifold.
Yes. That is a low expense way to diagnose cylinder or head condition. Have done it about half a dozen times in my life. Works good to see which injector is causing the smoke, if smoke is caused by a faulty injector. Have seen crack in middle of head 2 times in my life. Talking about a crack in oil gallery part of head. Try it and let us know. Simon C
A few gaskets is cheaper than a turbo anytime. This will prove interesting. Simon C
I've always been an advocate of not running a motor with no exhaust manifold on it due to possible valve warpage.
When I pulled the head and manifold off last time I don't remember seeing a big accumulation of oil in any of the manifold ports.
Your first post says 2-2.5 gallons in 8 hours. You have a big puddle happening on the ground or in the belly pan or you will see heavy burn in a cylinder or visible leak.. Have to try something. I have run numerous engines like we are talking, and never had an issue. Simon C
No leaks. I'll try pulling the turbo first and bypassing the feed and drain line and see if I get any oil coming through the manifold. If I do then I'll pull the manifold and see which cylinder it comes from. Thanks for help.
Good plan. No major parts cannon of expense. Always check the simple things first in logical order of course. Simon C
Wellllllll pulled manifold and ran. Oil coming from several cylinders. Probably warped. Time to pull it off again and get it to machine shop.
If you see oil coming out of cylinders with no turbo connected, pretty simple, the new turbo was not the problem. Maybe that head has a crack that opens only under heat, and can only be seen with manifolds off as you have done. Know a guy that put 3 remaned heads on a Cat engine only to find out in the end that the 3 remaned heads were no good. A new head fixed the problem for him. Imagine the grief he faced. Maybe you can put some closure on this. Simon C
Lol he had the wrong machine shop then. I'm going to bring it to my guy tomorrow when I get it off. I have it down to the head bolts now but can't take it off. I need to go home and get my compressor and impact. I'm doing all of this out in the field. Attached is a screenshot of a new bare head from Cat. No way I can swing that and then have it built out. Anyone know a place that sells complete used/reman heads? I have a few leads but I'm also going to give my machine shop a try.
The 3 reman heads I mentioned in post #30 were all from Cat for warranty work. The problem with a reman head is that they can never perfectly emulate everything including vibration and sonic waves that go on in an engine, not including heat. Yours may be a simple fix, time will tell. Simon C
Was a compression test performed? Worn oil control rings will cause similar problems
Simon - - I hope it turns out good Vetech - - no compression test. None of the cylinders themselves have any oil in them at all. Plus no excessive blow by. Crack or warpage is my best guess. We'll see
Have you looked into the cylinder head exhaust ports? If you have valve seal leakage you can usually see oil on the valve stems.
Could be a couple of valve guides that are worn right out, or if it has seals on the top, they could be junked. Agree with Vetch63's comment. Repair shop if they are good will see what is going on. Simon C
Yeah I am going to have him check everything and let me know if repairs could be close to buying another one. But then I also risk buying someone else problem. Basically I'm just going to have to see what happens when he gets it and where I go from there. Buying a bare head and having it all assembled can get expensive as well.
If it is infact the valve guides that are dumpimg hot oil into the exhaust port, that can be fixed for a decent price. If the head is cracked, the price will go up a lot. You will know eventually. Simon C
This whole situation is comical. I cannot think of any plausible condition that *multiple* cylinders will be pushing raw oil into the exhaust. I think this engine is so worn out that it's leaking the oil past the rings, and the oil he perceives as coming from the ports is in fact unburnt fuel slobber. If no compression test was done, I feel like he's going to be right back here after spending whatever he ends up spending on a replacement head.
Yeah valve guides are a fairly simple press out and press in. Warpage is a bit more with decking. Yep, we'll see.
Wouldn't this also appear as excessive blowby? I agree with Shimmy we jumped pretty fast past anything with rings/pistons as there was no discussion of blowby or compression testing. I know this doesn't help the OP but it might help someone else down the road to look at all possibilities before doing the 'pluck and chuck' with parts.
Post #1 said that the cylinder walls were dry. He already had the head off in post number 1 before we offered any advice. Then the turbo got changed and still smoking. That was when I posted to check exhaust ports, so now the head is being tested and resurfaced. I have not seen the inside of the engine myself more than any one else. Head should be planed to rule it out anyways. It should of been done the first time it was off before the post ever started. Now we will have to wait and see. If head is not the problem, then he is into a inframe or more. Simon C
Is there any photos of the cylinders? There should be cross hatching visible. No polishing. No vertical lines or scores. Is the engine intercooled? The intercooler my be full of residual oil.
Head is at the machine shop. Hopefully I will know something this week. Cylinders were dry and pistons had no side to side movement. On the first go round, with the turbo having a good bit of side to side play, that's what I thought it was. LOL, evidently not. Engine is not intercooled. This is a 1997 machine so there will be some wear in the cylinders.
Got a call from the machine shop. Several loose valve guides and the head was not true/square. Should have back tomorrow. Well, I'm actually glad that they found some problems and they were fixable. Better than a new head at about $23-2500. This fix will be <$700. Here's another question for you. Being that the head gasket I just replaced was only on for about 2-3 hours, would you reuse it?
No. It has been compressed by torquing the head bolts and will have taken a set.
I tried that once, it was a hard lesson.
Yeah the more I thought about it I just ordered a new one
Did an in frame rebuild. New rings and new rod bearings. When I pulled the pistons out the oil rings were almost flat. No 'groove' left in them. Brought pistons and new rings to my machine shop. Had them clean the ring grooves out, clean the pistons and install the rings. Put everything back together today and got it running. NO MORE POURING OIL. Everything seems to be good. Ran it just off idle for about 20 minutes to get everything up to good temperature. Shut it down to cool overnight and let the rings seat.
Running up and down on the throttle with light to moderate load is the best thing when new while checking often. Don't idle for any unnecessary time, watch the water and oil level in case of a leak. Simon C
On a fresh rebuild, I have found seating the rings, the most important. No oil additives, not much idling and multi loads through the engine rpm’s, help the rings seat for the first 10 hours. On engines that I did not do this, excessive blow by and oil consumption, were noted. Sometimes I just forget and find myself just running and trying to baby it. I have found this to be true for diesel and gas engines, I rebuild a lot of HD motors and they are really temperamental for this, especially.