Oil in air cleaner - universal diesel

[Skipper]

Motoring in last night I noticed an abnormal amount of smoke lit up by the stern light. Also smelled the diesel which usually/mostly can't.

Today I inspected the air filter and found about a teaspoon of oil in the air cleaner box and on the element. It's been a couple years and about a hundred hours since I put in a new element. There was no element in there at the time (don't know why) and only an oil residue.

Breather hose is routed to the mouth of the air cleaner, not a direct connection.

I just changed the oil 4 engine hours ago and now the crankcase/dipstick is a little on the full side when cold. It's supposed to take 2-3 quarts and I put in 2.5 but it's above full.

Anyway ran the motor today after cleaning air cleaner box and soaking up the oil out of the element. Runs perfect zero smoke. No other issues at all.

Would it be caused by a too full crankcase? Or any other thoughts.

 

[njlarry]

I think too much oil would raise the level up to the crankshaft where it would be beaten into a foam and then overwhelm the pvc system. Just a shadetree mechanic theory.

 

[ALNims]

I think you are right the crankcase is too full.

 

[Capt jgw]

Over filing can do that, as well damage the rings and bearings as oil foam is not a good lubricant. One more thing to check, after correcting the oil level, see if there is gas being dispelled under pressure from the breather hose. A tiny bit of blowby normal, but a lot indicates worn rings, and will be evident before you notice a decrease in engine performance. This oily vapor will accumulate in the breather hose and air cleaner.

 

[JK_Boston_Catalina310]

I had a similar issue from a direct connection to the air filter from my crankcase breather valve. My final conclusion was that the direct connection was sucking too hard on the breather due to a dirty filter. I changed the direct connection to include an air/oil separator and cleaned the filter (it's a K&M).

This is one of the reasons I do an analysis of the oil each time I change it. One of the test that is performed is the % of fuel in the oil. By tracking that over time you can start to get an indication of worn rings as others have noted. There was a discussion on oil sample analysis here a couple of weeks ago.

As to the too much oil, remove some. I use an oil pump to change the oil and can just remove a small amount to get me below if I overfill.

Good luck and fair winds,

Jesse

 

[Benny17441]

It is hard to suck all the old oil out so when refilling I would say add 1 1/2 quarts and check the level. It should be low so add a few gulps and check again until you are above the low mark. If replacing the oil filter then run the engine for a minute to fill up the filter and then let it rest for the oil to drain back into the crankcase and resume filling by small gulps and checking the level until you reach the desired level of around 2/3s up between the low and full lines.