Engine billows white smoke, no oil reading on dipstick after adding 5 gallons!

[outdoorsguy36]

Engine used so much oil driving 20 miles, I poured 5 gallons in and it still didnt register on the dip stick, it was full when I left the house. I cant see any leaks under the chieftain and it billows white smoke when in overdrive but not otherwise. any suggestions helpful, but I think engine needs rebuild

[tiinytina]

Sounds like a blown head gasket  ... check your radiator to see if any oil in it... if you are loosing that much and doesn't seem like you're burning that much, its gotta be somewhere....
Tina

[Froggy1936]

IMPOSSIBLE !!  5 Gal of oil would fill it to overflowing  Or did you mean 5 Qt ?    And unless there is a hole in the oil pan it will read on the stick.  Unless you are  wampoo. Frank

[outdoorsguy36]

Ok, thanks for the info but I figured out the problem. I drove back to the parking lot that I left the winne at yesterday morning with my tools to try and figure out the problem. I discovered that the dipstick tube had broke in half near the exhaust manifold. The dipstick was running outside the tube and not actually going into the pan and that's why I thought the pan was empty. I had stopped twice, before I parked her and had a friend pick me, up to recheck the oil and because of the broken tube I thought it was eating oil like crazy and kept pouring more in. Eventually there was so much oil in the engine it started to pour out the pvc valve on top of the valve cover and the broken dip stick tube and running down the exhaust manifold, that why all of a suddenly it started to smoke. I lucked up and the engine was fine once I drained all the oil, filled up the actual amount 9 quarts, and let the engine idle until all the spilled oil burned off. When I replaced the broken area of the tube with rubber fuel line and clamps it eventually cleared up and ran fine so I as able to drive it home without a problem. I had actually poured in 5 gallons because I never was able to find information on my 413 engine and I had heard that commercial vehicles and some RV's have extended pans so the oil stays cool and can hold several gallons. Each time I stopped I poured in over two gallons of oil so I'm lucky I didn't blow a seal, but everything is ok now. I found out from a retired mechanic friend of mine that has two older RV's that the 413 holds 7-9 quarts like the 440.

[DaveVA78Chieftain]

Like I aid in the other post, get the service manual from the CWVRV Store (a measly $19.95 for both Service and Parts Manual).  Will save you much time and frustration.
http://www.classicwinnebagos.com/forum/index.php?action=store;sa=view;id=144

Dave

[outdoorsguy36]

The manual is one of the things I bought right off the bat when I joined the site, but as far as I can tell in 74 they switched out the 413 for the 440 engine and there are not any specs on the 413, just the 440 and the 318 engine.

[Oz]

Actually, the specs are there for all engines in the '69 - '77 manual.  Chapter 9, pg 9 dash.... nope, not going tell you.  You'll have to look yourself   :)rotflmao   Engine - Specifications.  318, 413, 440.  Right there.

[DaveVA78Chieftain]

Yep, just looked myself.  One seperate Table for Engine Oiling with One column for each of the 3 engines.  Includes capacity with and without oil filter.
The manual is designed such that specifications portion for each section (Engine, brakes, axle, etc.) is always loacted in the same place for each section.

Dave