Oil Pressure drop

[ScubaAl]

Hello,

I have a 2002 Duramax with 147,000 miles. The injectors have not been replaced.
A week ago my oil pressure began dropping was about 70lbs at 70mph and 35 at idle. Last week dropped to 55 or a little less at 70mph and about 22 at idle. Also has a slight diesel fuel smell after shutting the truck off. Mileage has also seemed to of dropped about 1-1.5mpg

Took the truck to my local dealer, of course my first concern was the injectors. I had checked to oil level and it did not seem to be over full. Also all this time the truck is running fine. No excessive smoke on acceleration. Dealer say's if the injectors go bad I would definitely know it. They check the truck including the injectors and tell me there is no problem.

So I'm thinking may be the oil pressure sending unit might be going out. Take the truck on a trip this weekend. Oil pressure is now down to maybe 30psi at 70mph and just under 20 at idle. Still a slight smell of fuel when I get out of the truck. Also idle starting to get a little rough. But running fine at speed.

I get home and see something on my running boards, I start checking and the whole underside of the truck is sprayed with fuel. The whole underside including the tail gate. I open the hood and from above can see no obvious leak.

So any ideas as to what I'm up against? Thanks for your help.

Al

[DmaxMaverick]

You have a fuel injector body failure, or a fuel return line failure, all under the valve cover(s). The crankcase vent will dump excess oil (fuel/contaminant) out of the crankcase, and spray it under the truck as you run the engine and drive. If your truck/engine were still under warranty, it would be covered for the replacement of all 8 injectors, and/or possibly return lines.

DO NOT drive it. Get it fixed. If you must use the truck, keep the oil fresh, and your oil pressure up. Once the oil pressure begins to drop, the oil is diluted, and can cause damage to many components.

[ScubaAl]

Thanks for the reply, out of warranty so will have to break out the CC

Al

[ScubaAl]

Just got the call from the dealer. $5300.00 for injectors, out of warranty, unreal.

Al

[More Power]

I spoke to another OOW (Out Of Warranty) Duramax owner who reported his dealer wanted ~$4200 for an LB7 injector replacement. Hurts to be OOW.... You might want another opinion about replacement costs.

If using a non-GM shop, be careful about where you get the injectors. I've heard some not so good things about some diesel parts suppliers.... Get written guarantees, especially if not getting them from your local dealer or an authorized Bosch reman/new injector retailer.

Jim

[THEFERMANATOR]

From personal experience I would reccomend ONLY using BOSCH injectors(GM's are BOSCH). I used a set of the EBAY $150 ones and after 7 out of 10 failed I swapped them out for GM ones. BOSCH will sell nozzles seperately, but not the rest of the parts to fully rebuild the LB7 injectors. So only they can fully build them.

[ScubaAl]

The dealer call yesterday to tell me it would be at least 3 days before the injectors show up. Need to be ordered VIN specific or so he said. So just waiting..........................................

Al