The Adventures of Ash and Baby Taco

Looks like they are going to be a good match for you and probably will be my next tire as well.

Donated plasma for the first time and it was an enjoyable process. I forgot my book so I sat for about 30-35 minutes without anything to do but it was relaxing. With bonuses I will be getting $50 per donation for the first 4 donations. Not a bad gig!

Now for the bad news. Been checking the oil level on the reg and it looks to be dropping significantly. To the point where I don't even feel comfortable driving the truck 45 miles to the next dealer. Looks like I might be paying someone out of pocket...

 

Any idea where the oil is going? Is it smoking a lot? Oil leaking would probably end up in one of three places, in the combustion chamber (smoke from tailpipe), on the ground (noticeable puddle under truck), or into the cooling system (oily residue in radiator/coolant in oil).

 

I think it is in the combustion chamber. I haven't seen a visual smoke really but I do smell it at a stop due to my exhaust placement. I am going to have someone look at the exhaust on a cold start later today. Calling a new shop that I think will be able to help me out. Kinda tired of it at this point and would rather lose some cash. Normally I would be doing mountain adventures or ice fishing but instead I am going a few miles around town and constantly looking at a dip stick

 

Well, spent a large part of the day researching the v6 swap. It basically isn't an easy swap and would require quite a bit of time and money to do. Which means I am likely going to fix my current engine regardless. I really hate when something breaks but I am happy to say that I have learned a decent bit about my engine that I hadn't know before.

 

bummer about the swap. Whats a new motor run? what about just getting a new one and pulling the old one for a spare Everyone needs a spare engine.

 

Not sure, probably be cheaper to fix it regardless. Never got around to calling the shop but I will do it tomorrow and see what they have to say.

 

Really how hard is the swap?

 

I hear ya man. It's frustrating for sure. Before I got my 2014 I had an old '91 Pickup and I spent many a beautiful weekend trying to get it to pass safety inspection. I put up with it stalling at every stoplight for over a year, I had to keep a foot on the gas at all times. Eventually I was happy to pony up a bunch of cash and have something nicer.

At least you did learn a lot in this process, knowledge is never wasted.

I still am surprised the motor is burning that much oil and there isn't a huge plume of smoke coming from the tailpipe.

 

Most of what I had read was all speculation as no one other than total chaos has done it (that I can find). I would basically need to find a donor vehicle for the motor, tranny, wiring, and all the small tid bits (not cheap). Additionally you would need a custom drive shaft.

According to Total Chaos, they installed their own motor mounts but didn't specify if that was really needed. Since it was a race truck they just stripped 75% of the wiring and couldn't say everything was plug and play. They also had issues with getting the 6 speed tranny to work and installed a different one instead.

The hard part would be getting all the wiring to work right. I am sure someone with experience in engine swaps and solid mechanical skill could do it but I am not sure I would be willing to pony up the cash for a mechanic to do it and no way would I take on that project myself with the current garage/graduating in a year. I also simplified what was said. What I read went into far more depth on the work involved. It would be cheaper to fix my engine and add a turbo or SC than install everything for a v6. It would make more sense to just go straight to a v8 too.

Sounds like one of them mods that turns your wallet into a black hole. "All you need is this!...wait, I forgot this!...crap, I didn't think that would happen, buy this to fix that!"

 

Haha yea those tend to do that. Most motor stuff does.

Bummer. Figured it would be much easier. You sure that that wasn't a 1gr into a 1st gen truck?

 

Yeah, a lot of the reg cab guys want to do it. Specifically the street scene. I am not against doing it in the future but I need a job and a DD to drive until the swap is over.

 

Ok, update. Driving out of the gym parking lot I kept my eye in the mirror. I had smoke pouring out like crazy. I thought I had seen this in the past but I wasn't positive. It had a blueish tint but I can't be positive. I called the most reviewed mechanic in laramie to see when he could see my truck and he said the earliest would probably be friday morning. After explaining the issues he believes I have starved my cylinders. He suggested I go to the local store and buy 5w-20 oil. He said if it has been running on synthetic since leaving the lot then it might not have properly "sealed" everything. The heavier oil, with addition to BG-MOA, may do the trick.

One thing that scared me was he said this when I told him the year and engine of my truck "shit, those are pricey engines".

 

Load of crap, just fyi.

And this just sounds like a setup to cost a few extra thousand

 

I didn't get the vibe he was trying to screw me over. When he mentioned the cost of the engine there was a confusion that I was trying to replace it. After explaining everything done he suggested doing that and monitoring the oil. It's probably obvious I don't know much about engines but I would assume most guys get the idea that I have researched,understand the work involved, and am not a complete idiot. I live in a small town and reviews are pretty much non existent but this guy has solid reviews from 15 or so people. Most of them are happy because he fixed their car for the cheapest hourly wage and didn't suggest crazy overhauls like other mechanics did.

 

If he is suggesting a heavier oil try 5w30. 5w20 is still pretty thin.

The least amount of down time will probably be a motor swap. Most likely your motor can be rebuilt for less money but it will take extra time for any cleaning and machining work. See if you can find an identical engine at a salvage yard or even online, though shipping will be pricey. Then drop off your truck at the shop with the new (to you) motor in the bed an just tell him to swap it. Should be a 1 or 2 day job for a competent shop.

 

Took your advice and went with the 5w-30. Just drained the oil and there wasn't much there. I went with the cheapest oil and filter. I will run sea foam through it and monitor the oil level for a few days to see how things are progressing. If it seems to be dropping fast, Ill take it in to the shop. No reason to swap the oil out right away if it's just going to be worked on.

I confirmed it was blue smoke too. I am rather interested in taking on this project myself. My roommate has an extra car, a crappy volvo, that I might see if she will let me use. It's hard for me to understand what is happening without being able to physically see everything. I am at this point assuming it is the valve guides giving me grief. How hard is it to take on this task?

 

The head will have to come off for a valve guide replacement, but the engine block can stay bolted into the truck. Really shouldn't be too hard, pick up a Haynes repair manual and read through the cylinder head removal. You probably have to remove most of the accessories like the alternator and such to remove the timing cover. Remove intake and exhaust manifolds, valve cover, then timing chain. You might have to drop the oil pan too as part of the timing cover removal, not sure tho.

 

Lol, tipped over my thing of used oil. This is just super

 

He wanted you to run a thicker oil so he suggested 5w-20? That stuff is so thin it almost doesn't even protect the engine... I run 10w-40 in mine; Tor runs a 50 in his!

 

I agree. 10w-40 ftw.