Excessive oil passing into air tanks and purging out air dyer, HELP!

Well you checked the intake or bypassed it and it was still doing it so only thing left to check is the oil return or drain like heavy said. Good luck

 

I had a tractor that did that a while long ago. No air dryer in sight. The problem was easily diagnosed as Newbie inexperience (That is me...) and I recieved training on how to drain the three tanks every night completely by opening the brass valves to drain out whatever is in the tanks after parking her for the night. The first several weeks, every night she will drain up to three gallons of sludge, oil etc. then drip out another gallon by morning when I show up ready to work, close the valves and build up air and go.

That developed into a new problem due to no air dryer. The sludge made it to one of the brake chambers and literally ate away and rotted out a rubber diagphram that divided the spring brake side (Emergency spring inside the service brake can) and the air braking side where air is applied to activate the pushrod to press the brake shoe against the drum.

Once that rubber divider was rotted out and made a hole, every time brakes were applied became a race between successfully slowing to a known safe speed on a particular ramp off 695 eastbound onto I-83 jones falls expry southbound with two pretty stiff hills coming up and hoping to rebuild adequate air above the 65 psi threshold at which all the spring brakes clamp down.

This was my first and only encounter with sludge in the tanks We never had a air dryer on it so she will make it as the day goes by. It's silly and unnecessary.

The only other time I ever had a brake problem serious enough to kill me or kill people around me, I parked in the Petro at Doswell VA North side went in to have dinner. During dinner of about one hour during the evening rush hour on 95 outside northbound... the air compressor of my tractor (A 1987 Freightliner COE) quietly died. I get back to the tractor trailer, did my pti noticed that the aircompressor is sleeping and not going kerlunk kerlunk kerlunk as it always did... Punched the buttons off, they popped right back on. No air for love or money. Tested the aircompressor feed line carefully, stone cold meaning no air being fed to anything. No sign of stabotage etc.

If you wanted to kill a big truck and make it immoble that was how to do it. Better it did die in the parking spot over dinner rather than at 70 mph with 5 lanes worth of cars all around me and my empty flatbed coming around.

I called it into the company, was told they will get a tractor out to me in a few hours. Frederick to Doswell isnt more than around 5 hours max one way. I hit the sleeper went to bed for the night.

At 3 am, the tow man arrived with my replacement tractor. Unhooked my dead tractor and dropped my replacement where i promptly hooked to my trailer. Thanked him (Pretty surly which struck me as interesting and woke me up a little more to do a anti stabotage pre trip.) I also remembered that the tow driver complained that the replacement tractor aint worth a [profane bad word...] having served as a shop queen continually dyring a death of a thousand bolts broken. A unfixable truck.

Oh joy. Finish up the sleep until sunrise, get coffee and breakfast together and we will head on out back to the yard in frederick.

After leaving the onramp into the morning rush hour on 95 north as soon she hit 40 miles an hour and shifting into 7th gear the front end steering system went out completely. The steering wheel spun in my hands connected to nothing. That 18 wheeler turned about 20 degrees right and started heading for one of the biggest trees off the ditch and shoulder of the interstate.

I was a dead man and knew it, started the mental process of rapidly preparing myself to meet GOD in a few moments for judgement when that truck grabbed the steering wheel just enough to straighen out onto the actual shoulder inside that white line and highway grooves. I slammed her to a halt right there.

Put out the traingles. And went to bed. No cell phones, no internet, no satellite comms. You waited for someone to show up and knock on your door. In this case 20 minutes later two of my company trucks stopped and knocked on my door, can we help?

I told them the front end is gone entire steering is spun (Demonstrated the spinning of steering wheel to both of them sitting still, something you cannot do without power steering in a big truck. the steering wheel felt like it had nothing, the inspection of the drag link and all the other componets indicated a abused dead front end. Which tried to kill me. And a shop queen to boot. 5 hours later the same tow truck man showed up this time with a 1990 freightliner long nose conventional day cab with a big engine.

The tow man said two things. Newbies like me do not get to drive this particular tractor. But was bawled out by my boss and forced to deliver that big tractor to me. He took my shop queen cabover back.

I got that long nose freightliner day cab going and I realised I was now running a truely big dog tractor trailer. Just pushing the fuel pedal each of the pistons in that engine block felt like I could chain to the US Mint in DC and pull it deadweight down the road. rumble rumble rumble. Fun fun and fun.

I get back to yard. a half day of yelling on my part ended. With a brand new Mack CL daycab with 10 miles on the Odo. I wanted that freightliner. But no. I was also paid 500 dollars on top of and beyond my normal pay roll for the week, so it;s over a thousand dollars.

Two people considered for firing beause they delivered a known unsafe shop queen that nearly killed me vs a tree. Years later I carved my name into that one tree with my blade. It's probably still there.

That is a story as it happened with the air brakes. Developed into a potential end of life situation for me at 23 years old. It's not going to happen that way if I had anything to do with it.

 

I think your jumping the gun. Even though you installed a new compressor. You still have oil in the dryer filter and tanks. You will have to replace dryer filter and purge the system of all the oil. It will take a while.

 

That's what I thought too, but he said after installing the second compressor the first day it didn't spit any oil and then it came back the second day. I agree with you he's probably got lots of oil in the system still and will take some time to get rid of it. I would be draining the air tanks every chance he gets and change the filter regularly.

 

The oil will drain out of the compressor by gravity to the engine crankcase through the gear train housing. Usually there is a hole at the bottom of flange. Should be a gasket for the main flange and an opening for the oil hole. Should look something like this;

 

I'm almost thinking he has the gasket 180 degrees around and blocking the drain .

 

Geez that's frustrating.

Don't know what to say at this point. Sounds like you have covered all your bases. Must be something we are all missing here. Wierd

 

I went through 5 compressors in one year before I got one that didn't pump oil. It is a #### shame the quality of parts now a days.