rpsinc Posted February 2, 2016 Report Share Posted February 2, 2016 I have a 2001 4700 DT530 that I bought a year or so ago. I havent used it much and while preparing for a trip today, I decided to drain the air tank to see how much water it had. WELL, quite a bit of water drained but what was pretty unsettling was also quite a bit of oil too. Any body else have this happen and where did the oil in the tank come from? Just trying to get an idea where to start looking. Any way engine oil can make its way to the air system? Thanks in advance for the help Marcel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill B Posted February 2, 2016 Report Share Posted February 2, 2016 Air pump is run as an accessory off the engine via gears. The compressor is lubricated by engine oil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skp51443 Posted February 2, 2016 Report Share Posted February 2, 2016 Drain the tank well, park on a bit of a slope if your drain valve is at the front or rear to get the tank really empty. Once empty start draining it once a week and see how much water and oil you are getting over that time period. If it is an ounce of oil and you have driven less than 1000 miles I'd say there is an issue. I'm sure there is an "official" test somewhere but my method should be good enough to start with. If there is a lot of oil you'll want to take the truck to the dealer for a look at the compressor, it is usually on the front driver's side of the engine and is lubed with engine oil as was mentioned above. Personally I always drained my air tank when I was through driving for the day, kept the water and oil amounts being vented small and made sure that I didn't wake up to a frozen tank during the winter. It only takes a few seconds to drain the tank, just until it stops spitting - no need to fully empty it, so doing it often is a good idea. If you don't have a pull handle on your tank you can usually add one easily or I believe there is an optional electric drain valve you can get that is even easier to operate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rpsinc Posted February 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2016 Bump Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill B Posted February 9, 2016 Report Share Posted February 9, 2016 Marcel-a bump is good and all, but have you tried any of the things that Stan mentioned? As he mentioned, the daily draining, etc. With something like this, you need history to go with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rpsinc Posted February 9, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2016 All suggestions are being worked. Was curious about other ideas if any are out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjhunter01 Posted February 9, 2016 Report Share Posted February 9, 2016 A possible cause for oil in the air tank could be due to worn rings on your air pump piston. Does it take a long time to build air pressure in the tank? You could disconnect the pump air exhaust line, install a pressure gage, roll the piston to TDC and see how quickly it looses pressure back through the rings (drawdown). Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rpsinc Posted February 10, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2016 It doesnt seem to me like it takes long to build pressure(less than 5 minutes from 0-120), but it is my first experience with this. Although, it does lose air completely in 1 day. Not sure if that is typical, but that is the condition I have. I like the pressure gage idea, although I have one on the dash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjhunter01 Posted February 11, 2016 Report Share Posted February 11, 2016 Yes, losing air pressure in a day is normal. The gage on your dash tells you the pressure in the air tank. The main cause for getting oil in the air tank would be through the air pump itself. You should have a oil line feeding engine oil to the bottom crank case of the air pump. The air pump piston could be worn allowing oil to pass past the piston into the air tank. One way to check this is similar to doing a compression check on a motor. I will say I haven't done this to a air pump, but it seems like you could remove the air pressure line and install a temporary pressure gage. You would then roll the piston to the top and your gage should read 120+ psi, then time how fast the pressure drops off which would determine if your pump piston is worn. You could remove the pump and take it to a diesel garage to have it tested. Removing the pump is not much harder than removing a alternator on a motor. Just throwing out some suggestions here. Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob A Posted February 13, 2016 Report Share Posted February 13, 2016 If there is oil in the tanks the only solution is a new or rebuilt compressor, oil in air destroys air valves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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