I recently have had an ECM put on, A/C work and now I am noticing more things. I took a trip to Branson, MO last week pulling a 33' trailer- bumper pull- in the hills and noticed less power than previous. I don't believe that the a/c work affected it, but I also have had a fairly significant drop in MPG. I usually see between 17-20 empty and 14-16 pulling a load. Hand calculated last two tanks, one coming back and the other running empty was 9.6 and 12.3. I have 204000 miles and is stock, minus a muffler. Also, have noticed a HUGE usage of oil, but there doesn't seem to be any leaks that I can see. The truck doesn't smoke like it's burning any. Any suggestions as to what to look for?

 

turbo- how much boost are you making.

 

Right around 30 psi. I also assume I need to adjust my valves. Would that affect it that much? It doesn't seem to be running rough like they are out of adjustment, tho. (I bought the truck with 156,000 miles on it and doubt they have been adjusted)

Thanks.

 

valve wont effect it unless they are WAY out of wack. the oil has to be going somewere if its not going on the ground. so center cection of the turbo is distroyed or your rings are toast. cant really think of what else would make you go through that much oil. is there any oil in your intake or oily tailpipe?

 

I am guessing my rings are bad. Is that the only way to tell, lots of oil consumption, or is there something else I can check before I have to take the engine apart? I have noticed more soot out of the tailpipe on the side of the rear quarter panel when I went to wash it the other day. Is this blow-by? Any idea on $$ to replace rings on this truck??

 

you could do a compression test but you will have to take an injector off. you could do each cylinder individually to see if its just one bad cylinder. (i doubt it though) and replacing rings will be a complete engine tear down. i dont know exact numbers but if you dont do it yourself labor will be very salty. just rings and a good hone wont be much at all.