Add engine oil!!!

[Truston Gunter]

2 hours ago, Chuck FB said:

That is excellent information and as I see customboss was also wondering about the servicing of the k&n filter, I used to run one in a truck of a dated vintage that had no air flow MAP or MAF sensor and still own the truck and I did service the filter regularly. However for a few reasons I came to the conclusion that it was probably in the "new" engines best interest not to run one and go back to the dry filter element and I took that nice pricey k&n and threw it in the garbage. Having said that I don't mean to shock you by that comment but I have my own reservations about the filter and I certainly won't be putting one into my new truck.

 

Ok so my own personal thoughts ( and no I am not a mechanic ), I'll put it this way with your truck with my line of thinking and lets hypothetically say that you sold me your truck and you had told me its history. Knowing that direct injection engines seem to be even more prone to fuel dilution issues, I would start out by using the same brand oil but change it at 3000 mile intervals and grab a sample of oil at that time to send off to see what the fuel dilution number looks like as well as whatever else it might tell me like sheered viscosity ( or if fuel dilution lowered it ) and so on. I would take the k&n and set that aside and put the factory dry filter in but also get at the MAF sensor and clean or replace it and clean out the filter oil if any within the intake tract ( although probably the factory box would go back in to fit a factory filter ). I would run some techron fuel injector cleaner through it at intervals to help clean the injectors to give the best spray pattern they are able to produce.

I too am NOT a mechanic, I would classify myself as a youtuber DIY. Most things I understand but there is ALOT that I do not. I say this because I often go by what a manufacture recommends unless I have compelling reasons not to. In the case of the K&N filter, The manufacture recommends service intervals of 100K. I have also read on forums that servicing it often will lead to filter oil being "bled" into the intake which is not good. I have also read that if you can see the filter wire, then service is not required. I do check mine for leaks but I have not clean and re-oiled it. Being half-way through the recommend service internal I see no harm if cleaning it early and may do so this weekend. 

Edited March 17, 2025 by Truston Gunter

[Chuck FB]

6 minutes ago, Truston Gunter said:

I too am NOT a mechanic, I would classify myself as a youtuber DIY. Most things I understand but there is ALOT that I do not. I say this because I often go by what a manufacture recommends unless I have compelling reasons not to. In the case of the K&N filter, The manufacture recommends service intervals of 100K. I have also read on forums that servicing it often will lead to filter oil being "bled" into the intake which is not good. I have also read that if you can see the filter wire, then service is not required. I do check mine for leaks but I have not clean and re-oiled it. Being half-way through the recommend service internal I see no harm if cleaning it early and may do so this weekend. 

You touched on at least a couple of items I came to have real reservations about with the k&n filter and reading articles and watching videos of a testing apparatus with fine particles passing through said filter compared to dry filters gave substance to my concern, a concern that I felt the filter itself was partly to blame for the eventual failure of that trucks engine although I had no real way of proving it. Your correct, the k&n filter bleeds and when re oiling it its either putting too much oil on and having good coverage of the pleats for "hopefully" catching the dirt trying to pass through or if under oiling it leaves area's without sufficient oil and most certainly allowing dirt to pass through like air passing through cheese cloth and over time dust the engine. And again about the too much oil applied to the filter, that in itself adds to restriction as well as the bleeding into the intake sensors, nether is an item one wants to occur.

 

The problem with not cleaning the filter if lets say the dirt is building up on it excessively, that is causing air restriction and typically costs more in fuel and that potential for fuel dilution, of course newer engine systems are trying to balance the fuel injected with the volume of air but there would come a point of not being able to overcome the restriction.

 

I would never make a good salesman, that is fairly evident ! LOL. But those are the reasons why I will stick with the factory filter on my new truck and change it out as required and do services like that myself so I know what condition my old filter looked like relative to my driving surroundings dirt wise, know what quality of filter went back into it and installed properly  so dirt won't get past and that I didn't have some twit strip out the plastic threads in the filter housing with his power driver over torquing the screws which in itself would lead to dirt having a chance of getting past the filter as the cover isn't being held down properly at that point.

[customboss]

5 hours ago, Truston Gunter said:

I too am NOT a mechanic, I would classify myself as a youtuber DIY. Most things I understand but there is ALOT that I do not. I say this because I often go by what a manufacture recommends unless I have compelling reasons not to. In the case of the K&N filter, The manufacture recommends service intervals of 100K. I have also read on forums that servicing it often will lead to filter oil being "bled" into the intake which is not good. I have also read that if you can see the filter wire, then service is not required. I do check mine for leaks but I have not clean and re-oiled it. Being half-way through the recommend service internal I see no harm if cleaning it early and may do so this weekend. 

I’m sure you are a good family man Truston and you bought this wonderful truck to move the camper with and for that family. 

Have you kids be sure to watch, ask mom to place her hands on your windpipe. Ask her to squeeze it as tight as she can ( before doing this make sure you have a hand signal) to release.
 

This will enable you to understand the  air flow filter restriction our 6.6 is feeling. 

Once you give her the secret signal and (hopefully releases) you’ll understand what a clean well serviced air filter feels like to the engine. 

 

You’ve got to have 60,000+ miles on that air filter and it’s not flowing the way it needs too. 
 

Once the ECM hits the stops on retarding timing, changing injector flow, and other adjustments you maybe can’t feel,it’s all physical things like a restricted air filter.  I betting your your oil usage drops significantly, mpg might even improve even towing if we get you some more O2

to the cylinder. 

 

 

 

Edited March 17, 2025 by customboss

[lundimpact1775]

Trying a different oil is going to be my solution. Pennzoil high mileage synthetic 5w-30 first, since it's very available in my area. If it's still consuming like a 2 stroke, then I'll go for mobil 1 after I run out of Pennzoil, which won't be until later this year. 

 

Test drove a 3.5 ecoboost f150 today. Would have pulled the trigger but I cannot wrap my head around the itty bitty little bed. What goes in there, like 2 grocery bags?

[Pryme]

45 minutes ago, lundimpact1775 said:

Trying a different oil is going to be my solution. Pennzoil high mileage synthetic 5w-30 first, since it's very available in my area. If it's still consuming like a 2 stroke, then I'll go for mobil 1 after I run out of Pennzoil, which won't be until later this year. 

 

Test drove a 3.5 ecoboost f150 today. Would have pulled the trigger but I cannot wrap my head around the itty bitty little bed. What goes in there, like 2 grocery bags?

You can get those with a 6.5’ bed. Gotta look though. Not common. 
 

[lundimpact1775]

Oh I hear you. Found one with good maintenance records and prices correctly. Zero interest here paying more than 40k for a used truck and nearly 60 for a new one so my options get rather limited. 

 

Just going to live with this "in spec" consumption for now, hopefully an alternate oil will solve it. If not, I guess it's back to shopping.

[Chuck FB]

To anyone that has been following the L8T oil use issue closely since the inception of the engine such as a GM mechanic for example, has there been any change in pattern in number of trucks that have had this issue as the model years progressed as now there are 5 years of that engine out there. Of course logic dictates that the older models will have accumulated more miles relative to current 2025 models but I gather this oil consumption issue shows up fairly early in some engines. I wonder if any internal changes have been made to the engine since it came on the market ?.

Edited March 18, 2025 by Chuck FB

[Truston Gunter]

15 hours ago, lundimpact1775 said:

Oh I hear you. Found one with good maintenance records and prices correctly. Zero interest here paying more than 40k for a used truck and nearly 60 for a new one so my options get rather limited. 

 

Just going to live with this "in spec" consumption for now, hopefully an alternate oil will solve it. If not, I guess it's back to shopping.

where are you able to find zero interest??? Id be very interested what bank if offering this! Thanks in advance!!!!

[Pryme]

51 minutes ago, Truston Gunter said:

where are you able to find zero interest??? Id be very interested what bank if offering this! Thanks in advance!!!!

I think he’s saying he has zero interest in paying that much for a new truck. 

[Truston Gunter]

8 minutes ago, Pryme said:

I think he’s saying he has zero interest in paying that much for a new truck. 

Ha Ha Ha!!! I TOTALLY misread that!!!!

[lundimpact1775]

Yeah I phrased that poorly my bad. I have zero interest in paying the market price for new pickup trucks today. 

 

In other news after topping off my oil my truck's been sitting here a few days and I have an oil drip somewhere. Looks like possibly oil cooler lines but I'm on the road right now so I'll have to check when I get home. Maybe I'm not burning oil and it's just a typical 100K wear item. I'd actually be a lot happier if this were the case.

[lundimpact1775]

Confirmed, oil cooler line went to hell, that explains my recent excessive "consumption". This has brought me a sigh of relief. I'm no stranger to oil lines wearing out, same happened on my 1997, 2010, and 2016. Wish they were a better design but at the end of the day it's not a huge ordeal.

[customboss]

35 minutes ago, lundimpact1775 said:

Confirmed, oil cooler line went to hell, that explains my recent excessive "consumption". This has brought me a sigh of relief. I'm no stranger to oil lines wearing out, same happened on my 1997, 2010, and 2016. Wish they were a better design but at the end of the day it's not a huge ordeal.

Happy for ya. 

[Grumpy Bear]

9 hours ago, lundimpact1775 said:

Confirmed, oil cooler line went to hell, that explains my recent excessive "consumption". This has brought me a sigh of relief. I'm no stranger to oil lines wearing out, same happened on my 1997, 2010, and 2016. Wish they were a better design but at the end of the day it's not a huge ordeal.

 

There is. AN fittings. 

[Black02Silverado]

On 3/17/2025 at 1:50 PM, Truston Gunter said:

I too am NOT a mechanic, I would classify myself as a youtuber DIY. Most things I understand but there is ALOT that I do not. I say this because I often go by what a manufacture recommends unless I have compelling reasons not to. In the case of the K&N filter, The manufacture recommends service intervals of 100K. I have also read on forums that servicing it often will lead to filter oil being "bled" into the intake which is not good. I have also read that if you can see the filter wire, then service is not required. I do check mine for leaks but I have not clean and re-oiled it. Being half-way through the recommend service internal I see no harm if cleaning it early and may do so this weekend. 

It would be interesting to see a used oil analysis, especially since the air filter has not been serviced in so long.