a story and a question

[1968k10blue]

First of all I want to tell you guys a story of what happened last Friday, I went to go see my grandparents who live roughly 50miles away from where I do and they wanted to sweet new truck. So I made sure I was full on gas and oil and headed out. I made it there safely and almost all the way home without a problem, but 2 miles away from home without warning, my front drivers side wheel comes off the truck and plows into a parked car.the off thing is somehow the lug nuts worked their way off even though I have changed many tires in the past, and I made sure the lugs were tight by hand. Also it took almost 2-300 miles for these lugs to finally fall off. After I got out of my truck to see the damage I noticed there were still 5 of the 6 lug studs still on and worn down by the wheel.

But anyway the question I have is my truck loses oil, but it doesn't smell like it is being burned, at least at idleappreciated so is there any other explanations?my first guess is there is oil filling the dimples in the intake but the level of it never seems to go up and it never looks fresh after a drive. Would a new oil pan gasket be a good place to start? I do plan on rebuilding the engine next summer because this is my winter driver cause it has 4 wheel drive. Any help on this subject is appreciated

[Orange Crate]

I hate to see someone post a question and a bunch of people view it and get no responses so....If your oil quantity is going down rapidly when you check, it is going somewhere right? Since you stated that you are going to rebuild the engine then the possible reasons for the loss will be taken care of like getting past the rings and being burned (blue smoke when you step on the gas, getting past the valve seals (when you let off the gas blue smoke out of the exhaust) or it is leaking out the damn block somewheres, oil pan gasket, timing cover gasket, rear crank seal (drips from the weep hole in the steel flywheel cover) ect. If you can't find the source then rebuild it sooner....Good Luck now..! Rebuilding is fun because you can do a better job than the factory when you take your time....

[zeldman]

How many miles on the engine? It is possible the oil return galleys are gummed up and not letting the oil return as fast as it should, whic would then start gaskets leaking. Or possibly the PCV is stopped up, which could cause gaskets to start leaking. Just my thoughts before you tear into the engine.

[PanelDeland]

Start by cleaning the engine and engine bay.Use a degreaser or Dawn dish soap and wash it with high pressure water at the car wash.Don't get the distributor wet and try to let it dry a few min before you start it.Once it's clean you should be able to see where the oil is leaking,if it's a leak.This will narrow down what gasket if any need replacement.Diagnosing problems is a skill that takes patience and practice to learn.

[1968k10blue]

Thanks for the responses guys, I really appreciate it. I will run the truck this winter, then come summer time I will year apart the engine, I have no idea how many miles it has. It is a 350 from a 73 Chevy pickup with many mods to it including hei, carb, cam, intake, and headers so my guess it has been rebuilt before, but not knowing the history of the engine, I want to just get it done and not have any failures in the future, but we will see