2005 dodge 3500 diesel/6 speed manual burning oil can;t figure it out
 

My dodge has 130,000 miles on it, it just started using about 2 quarts of oil every 7 or 800 miles. I do not tow with it or hammer it, just use it as a daily driver, in town type driving mostly.
It leaks hardly any oil at all on my garage floor, little drips over a month
No oil in coolant,
No diesel smell on dip stick,
No coolent in oil,
CDR unit seems fine,
Has lots of power,
Starts in 15 degree or colder weather perfect
Idels great,
Runs great,
Sounds great
Engine noise in cab is about the same as it has ever been, very little!
No gases or smoke coming out of the oil cap when I take it off, I can put a white cloth over it and its fairly clean when running,
Doesn;t appeaer to have any oil coming out of exhaust pipe when cold or ideling, no white or funny colored smoke coming out, but hard to tell on diesel in cold weather.
No oil on the rear of my tailgate or side panels,
No oil all over enigne to show its leaking someplace either on the top side or bottom side

So what could it be, its driving me nuts I can;t figure it out myself. I have not had it to a shop, haven't compression tested or pressure tested the engine.

Any ideas would be helpful

---AutoMerged DoublePost---

??????

Pull your CAC tubes and check for oil fouling in there. If there is no obvious external leaks and you have no appreciable blow by look at the turbo.

To check for blow by you will needs some rpms and load on it. Compression and leak down test will help tell. You could a broken ring on 1 or more cylinders.

Thanks for the info, I do not know what the CAC tube is?
You are correct I should have a compression test and leak down test done but for me things are to wierd to be a ring(s). If it were rings wouldn;t I see odd smoke coming out the back or have oil on my chrome bumper from the exhaust pipe or sever engine rattling or when I first start it up see smoke or hard to start in cold weather like 15 above zero type cold. I have even had a friend drive my truck and get on it hard as I followed behind and seen nothing odd. I am not even sure I would on a diesel.
Something else that is odd, I have been tracking the oil loss for the past two months. I put about 200 miles a week on the ruck. Some times I go 500 miles and 2 quarts, sometimes 1200 miles and 2 quarts and the last time 750 miles????
Can you tell me more about how the turbo could be my problem. Doesn;t seem like anyone has any idea expect you on this forum?

CAC is charge air cooler, the intercooler which is really and after cooler on these trucks.

The turbo shaft seal could be leaking either into the compressor or turbine. The small amount of oil it leaks won't usually show in the exhaust as smoke or build up.

It could also be a ring problem and won't show in the exhaust.

Not sure why the usage in miles varies so much other than driving type and style can effect that if its the turbo.

Thanks, I think you are right about the driving pattern becuase sometimes I drive to work on the freeway and other times in traffic and I think when I drive on the freeway I get better "oil mileage" then in traffic. But I am surprised no one else has had this similar situation with a cummins. seems like cummins turbo and injector issues cause a lot of fits and $$ for owners in these forums. I am actually surprised no one has said something about the injectors related to my situation!

Injectors operation won't cause oil consumption. They may have contributed to ring wear that is causing oil consumption but that is something that needs to be investigated after the source of the oil consumption is found. Along those lines you should have seen a drop in your normal mpg to indicate it is over fueling.

Did this situation just develop suddenly or slowly over time? What has you average mpg done in the same period?

It happend all the sudden after an oil change. After the oil change I checked my oil to make sure all was good and it was about a quart low. I know I put the right amount in becuase I have done it seveal times before and I buy it in the 5 quart jugs. So I thought maybe I just didn;t put enough in. As usual I check my oil at least once a month just as a habit and it was down again about 2 quarts, now I am starting to worry so I start keeping track and this is were I am and checking everything I can before taking it in. I am in Spokane Washington and the dealer here is'nt that great and not many cummins repair shops that anyone really brags about being good at what they do. For fuel mileage it gets around 18 since the day I bought it and it still is running around that tracking by hand not by the lie o meter on the dash. These guys that get 20 plus I always wonder how they are doing that??? Thanks sounds like maybe the turbo, I can only hope it is. But like I said I am surprised no one else hasn;t had the same symptoms on here.

If it happened suddenly it coul be either the turbo or a borken ring. Both things have been the solution that I have seen. Not a frequent happening so not everybody really is aware of the issues.

The only time my truck gets over 20 mpg is 60 mph in 100+ degree ambient temps. Speed it up or cool down and all it will do is 18 on secondary roads and around 17 mpg on the interstate.

Running between Boise and Lewiston on 95 in the summer I could hit consistently hit 20-22. Speed and temp was the whole thing, but, thats slow driving for the most part. Once you get over 65 it starts dropping and 70 mph is a wall.

I know whats going on here, the turbo is blowing oil out of the compressor side into the charged air going into the intercooler. It collects at the bottom, then its picked back up and sent into the the engine. I have had a couple of turbo's do this, caused by a un balanced compressor wheel.

How do I fix it? Or better, what is the best way to fix it in your opinion or anyone elses?
Thank you