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CAT C13 Questions

Yahoo Message Number: 17583
I have a couple of questions about the C13 in our '05 Intrigue.

1) Is it likely that the dipstick is accurate? I ask because there seems to be some oil from the slobber tube and sometimes this indicates an overfill situation. "Some oil" means a spot the size of a half dollar when I park.

2) I seem to be burning some oil. I haven't measured how much but the dipstick currently shows about 1 quart low. With 10K on the engine I've added 4 quarts up till now. How much is reasobable?
3) The maintenance schedule says to change the oil at 20K miles, 3100
gallons, or 400 hours. It doesn't mention any calendar time. I'm thinking about changing annually since I don't expect to reach any of the other criteria within a year. What do you think?

Bob

'05 Intrigue LE #11872

Re: CAT Dipstick - C9 Engine

Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 17584
I cannot address the C13, but I will have my C9 dipstick "recalibrated" by Cat tomorrow. There is a service letter out regarding the engine installation in the Inspire that causes an erroneous oil quantity reading - - a two to three quart over service if filling to the dipstick full mark. The Inspire engine is canted 5° forward. In practice, that meant blowing oil all over the toad on my first serious mountain ascent.

Jay Williams

'05 Inspire 51457

Re: CAT C13 Questions

Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 17603
Bob: I don't have a Cat, I have SOB (Cummins) but I would question the recommended service intervals you mention. In RV usage, there are lots of elements working against those 20,000 mile oil changes such as prolonged periods of non-usage, lots of cold starts, etc.
OTR tractors operate under optimum conditions for extended service. As you know, some drivers never shut them down. (Grrrrr)
Most owners I talk to agree that servicing once a year is wise regardless of miles driven. Changing oil, filters and especially the fuel filters is cheap insurance compared to a service call or DOA on the freeway.

Larry
Intrigue
10762

Re: CAT C13 Questions

Reply #3 –
Yahoo Message Number: 17605
Bob

I attended a seminar presented by Cummins a couple of years ago. A major portion of the seminar was spent on the subject of dip stick calibration and oil levels. Cummins was very clear in mentioning that their comments would be true for all diesel engines. There were several CAT hats in the crowd. First they agreed that dip sticks are notorious for not being accurate. Little time is spent on them because they are just a relative indicator. What they did say that surprised me was that diesel engines will tend to seek an oil level that is correct for each individual engine. There are so many design factors that it is difficult to predict. What often happens is the owner receives an engine that is somewhat overfull but may read full on the dipstick. Over the first few thousand miles the engine will force out the oil until it reaches the correct level. The owner dutifully keeps checking the oil and, seeing the drop adds a quart or two thus starting the cycle all over again. In the end the owner becomes convinced that the engine is either leaking or burning oil. Cummins recommended that if you see a drop in oil level do not add oil right away. Continue to check the oil to see if it tends to level off after a few thousand miles. There is plenty of oil in the reservoir so if you see anything at all on the stick and probably way below that things should be fine. There is so many digital and analog measurements being taken and examined either by the computer of visually that in no way is the manufacturer going to let low oil pressure damage the engine. I had a digital oil pressure sensor go bad and it immediately degraded the engine performance to only enough to get to the side of the road and then died.
Cummins said that one way to calibrate the dip stick is to be there on your next oil/filter change and make sure that the service tech adds exactly the amount called for in the book. They often fill it using the dipstick to bring it to the full mark rather than quart measure. Cummins did however caution that the manufacture's design may not necessarily be the correct level for any particular engine.

Don & Mary Seager
2004 Allure 31046

Re: CAT C13 Questions

Reply #4 –
Yahoo Message Number: 17606
I also posted these questions on the CAT Owners forum. The response from the CAT tech that monitors that site is that the dipstick probably needs calibration and that I ought to change the oil and filters annually (or 20K if that comes first). I'm supposed to call him to set up an appointment with CAT service to get this done. I'll probably wait a month as that will be the annual date. I have been letting the oil go recently to see what level it adjusts to. Until the last trip it was staying pretty constant on the 1st D in "ADD" so I suspected it was the dipstick. I'll check it again tomorrow after the coach has sat for a couple days and the oil has drained. I normally check the oil just before leaving on a trip not usually at the end of one. I've owned 4 diesel pickups and they tended to have their own oil level also except for the '95 Chevy 6.5L that burned a quart of oil for every tank of fuel. Thanks for all the responses.

Bob

'05 Intrigue LE #11872
 

Re: CAT C13 Questions

Reply #5 –
Yahoo Message Number: 17633
Bob,

We have 11k on our C-13 and we have added 7 quarts so far. I don't think thats unusal for a new engine and we have had our valve cover off twice. Each time some serious work was done on the actuator valves so we lost some oil that way. From what I can see the dip stick is pretty actuate but I do get the spot on the garage floor now and then. We are doing our oil change annually regardless of mileage and I use the maintenance minder on the Silver leaf to determine when to do some of the maintenance. I'm going to ask the Cat rep at Fargo about our oil burning. I don't think it is to high, never see any black smoke or oil on the toad.

Bill G. 2005 Magna #6425