Oil consumption 2003 Cummins 9L 370HP - Dipstick Accuracy?

[Jimmer]

Last 10,000 mile oil change it used 1 qt each 1,225 miles.

Is this normal?

I did a Blackstone oil analysis and all was good.  My max turbo boost is 24. Oil pressure and water temperature is normal. No oil drips.

What are things i should look at ?

 

[96 EVO]

When you do your oil/ filter change, how much are you putting in?

Can't always trust these dipsticks to be correct!

[timaz996]

As per what Ben said. The dip stick may be wrong. Try not adding any oil until it's three Qtrs. down. It may be where your engine wants to run. 

[Guest Ray Davis]

That's my case exactly,  if I fill to the full mark on the stick it'll go down a quart or so and stay there.   The oil change places don't know how much so they add until          it shows full.   In addition, the specs show a new empty engine and after it's been filled with oil you can't drain all of it out so if it says 24qts that is too much, it may actually only take 22.  It's not a really big deal unless it continues to use even more oil.   The excess oil is more than likely coming out of the slobber tube.  It's a rubber tube next to the oil filter.

[Tom Cherry]

I THINK this has been posted before.  It may be in the Cummins Engine Manual.  I talked to Cummins and they told me to NEVER trust the dipstick.  I have a briefer note on the sheet that I give to my OTR truck guy.  You need to call Cummins or look in your engine manual.  You want to know the capacity or how much oil is to be in the engine with the filter.  Then you follow this.  Cummins tech support will also go over the procedure.  The recommendation at the end to put on a placard or a note makes sense.  A LOT of shops will fill to where the dip stick is “Full”….but diesel engines are different…

CALIBRATING THE ENGINE OIL DIP STICK

THE NUMBER ONE CAUSE IS AN OVERFILLED CRANKCASE. 

CALIBRATING THE ENGINE OIL DIP STICK TO ENSURE THE CORRECT OIL LEVEL IN THE PAN "FIXES" OVER 90% OF THESE PROBLEMS.

If you "think" your engine has an oil consumption problem, you are seeing oil mist on your toad or you just want to verify that yours is correct; you need to verify that you are using the correct amount of oil. Note: the quantities listed INCLUDE the oil filter and is the total amount of oil you put in when changing oil and filter. 

Now, CALIBRATE THE DIP STICK. Since the same engines/dip sticks are used in many different applications with different angles of installation, do not ASSUME that the dip stick is correctly marked. Calibration costs $0.

At the next oil change, drain oil, remove old filter (as usual). Then install the drain plug and new oil filter and add the engine's correct oil capacity LESS THE NUMBER OF QUARTS you want between the "ADD" and "FULL" marks (let's say 2 quarts). So for an engine with 20 quart capacity you would add 18 quarts. Run the engine a few minutes, shut off and wait until oil has descended into the pan (at least 30 minutes and an hour is safer). Pull the dip stick and use a file or dremel tool to mark the oil level "ADD". Add the remaining two quarts, let the oil settle in the pan, pull the dipstick and mark this the "FULL" mark.

In many/most cases, you will find that your engine "throws out" the access oil and then "consumption" settles down to next to nothing. Put in the correct amount and your "consumption" issues may go away.

This applies to all ages (including brand new) of motorhomes and boats with every brand of engine.Also, when checking the oil level with the dipstick it is safest to do it in the morning after the oil has had all night to flow back to the pan.Do not add oil until the level reaches the ADD mark.

Finally, make a sticker to affix near oil fill: OIL CAPACITY INCLUDING FILTER: xx QUARTS.

[CTerry]

Sometimes oil consumption is caused by the brand of oil you have used. I had a truck using 0 oil with CAT brand oil. Shop decided not to carry that one  day and put in Delo. Used a GALLON in 1200 miles. Replaced with Shell and consumption went to ZERO.

[dl_racing427]

22 hours ago, CTerry said:

Sometimes oil consumption is caused by the brand of oil you have used. I had a truck using 0 oil with CAT brand oil. Shop decided not to carry that one  day and put in Delo. Used a GALLON in 1200 miles. Replaced with Shell and consumption went to ZERO.

Wow, that's surprising.
I've seen engines that would burn oil  when the oil had been used a long time.  Changing the oil would reduce the consumption until the oil sheared down and got old again.
Never really heard of oil brand making a big difference.