Cracked head?

[Vaebrin]

I have a 2000 Thomas with DT466E with possibly a cracked head or gasket. I can’t see any white smoke or smell out the tail pipe but the crankcase breather is producing a lot of moisture. Currently near Eugene, Oregon on a trip from Alberta, Canada with my family on board. Any advice or suggestions of good shops in the area would be very helpful at this point. Thank you.

[Danjo]

How much moisture?
Does it look like a milkshake in valve cover? Did you add coolant when it was hot?
Does it overheat?
Are You losing coolant?

[Vaebrin]

There is a semi melted wax type looking sludge around the breather pipe o ring as well in end of breather tube. I added coolant awhile ago but into a partially full reservoir. It has in the past heated up to the point of buzzers and lights but never to the spilling point. It was almost on add this morning at start up in north of Seattle. I parked tonight near Eugene, Oregon and noticed a small pool under bus the sludge on breather and coolant reservoir is slightly below add mark.
Thanks for the response

[Danjo]

What’s the pool under the bus?

It’s good you didn’t add coolant to a hot engine. The overheating part is concerning, but unless you added coolant while it was hot you probably don’t have a cracked head or block. Does it blow steam or white smoke out the tailpipe? Or does it drip water out the tailpipe after it’s all warmed up?

[Vaebrin]

The bus recently had the oil pan gasket changed because it developed an oil leak shortly after the last time it heated to the point of buzzers. I suspected the rear main because of where it seemed to be coming from. The shop ran dye through it and decided was the pan gasket but did notice some oil running down the block from breather pipe. The tailpipe is dry, smells like it always has and no steam. The breather on the other hand has a constant discharge of moisture.

[Vaebrin]

I think maybe the pool is from the breather tube. It appears black but thin. I’ve looked under it every time I’ve stopped but left the engine running. Maybe it was pooling somewhere from the fan running, which is why I didn’t notice till tonight

[Danjo]

It’s not sounding combustion related, al least if it is it’s small or in the early stages of failure. All my experiences with blown heads and cracked blocks have all been pretty obvious; boiling coolant, milkshake in the oil, blowing steam, overheat fast. It sure does sound like coolant in the oil, maybe not a lot. Could it be an oil cooler leak?

[Vaebrin]

I’m not sure but wouldn’t that show up
On the dipstick? The engine oil was changed about 40 hours ago and is still clean and level hasn’t changed.

[Native]

Check the oil level. If coolant is getting in the oil, the oil level will rise.

[Brad_SwiftFur]

If you're getting coolant in the oil, or oil in the coolant, the oil won't be nice and golden brown, it'll be milky grey, and the coolant will be similarly contaminated. It'll be fairly obvious. However, it could be as Danjo mentioned, an oil cooler failure.

[Ronnie]

Eugene is a pretty humid enviroment, not sure what Alberta is like but if it is dry in Alberta, and now you are in humid conditions that may well explain it.

as others have said keep an eye on the oil and coolant and any big change in level or turning to milkshake is the tell tale sign, of the two mixing either from an oil cooler or head gasket.

[cadillackid]

cracked head and blown head gasket are pretty uncommon failures on these..



as brad me ntioned, oil cooler is a possibility.. if its been over-heated to the point of lights and buzzers , the Cylinder liner seals are a good possibility.. its an unfortunate weak spot in all wet sleeve engines.. getting them hot..



the oil cooler isnt too bad to remove and have tested... testing for liner seal leaks is a little tougher.. involves pulling the oil pan and pressurizing the cooling system and looking for drips of coolant to come down from the engine .. if the drips come from the outside around the liners then its the liner seals.. if the drips come from inside the liners where the pistons are then its head, head gasket, or Injector cups..



if you truly are diluting the oil with coolant and continue to drive it very far you'll end up ruining the bearings..

-Christopher

[TJones]

You can always pull an oil sample and have it tested. A small amount of coolant will show up in the test. It sounds like you may be seeing blow by out the vent tube. If it's a high milage engine the rings could be getting worn and the blow by excessive. This would turn your oil black pretty quickly. Here is a good video discussing this.

https://youtu.be/DQ4fgUJJPN8

Ted

[EastCoastCB]

I had a steamy oily mix of vapor coming out of the vent tube on my last bus with a DT466E.
That engine's issue was a leaking, cracked or worn internally timing cover.

Not saying that's your issue. Just throwing it out there. Hopefully it isn't its a horrible thing to have happen.

Its likely something that Chris or other have mentioned. They've summed it up perfectly.

[FamilyCircus]

I have to add that im my humble opinion its probably the liner o rings. I have a DT466e that I bought because it was overheated and the #6 liner orings died. They have updated the oring design from 2 narrow orings to one very wide oring.

This is the one weak link that I know of on the DT466e from talking to all the techs at International. Its solid just dont over heat it, ever.

This is why I beefed up my cooling package.

[Vaebrin]

Wow, I wasn’t expecting so many responses!! Thank you all for the advice and suggestions. In Edmonton CAT does oil analysis, where down here do you get that done?

[Native]

Our local CAT dealer does the oil analysis as well.

[Vaebrin]

The engine had a primitive emissions system on it consisting of a bunch of 1” hose a paper filter and a return line to the engine oil dipstick tube. I disconnected and plugged the return line using a bolt and hose clamp.
Then I cut the 1” as close to the crankcase breather tube as possible making sure to leave enough engagement for a 90. Then used some of the extra hose to plumb it from the 90 down underneath (away from the turbo) and zip ties it to the frame. Several hours later it was barely puffing and I’m now currently near Houston,TX

[Danjo]

Congratulations. How was that causing coolant to get in the oil?

[Vaebrin]

I don't think the coolant was getting into the bottom end. Ive been keeping a close eye on the level, colour, smell and feel of the the oil and it seems to be wearing just fine. I was just concerned about the amount of condensation coming out of the top end. I'm going to change the oil tomorrow and ill grab a sample just in case. I just wanted to post how I remedied the excess moisture issue, and update everyone that gave advise. Thanks again!