Massive Coolant leak

[LilBusDude]

Ok,

Couple updates:

Hard task but managed to put the freeze plug back on after taking appart the transmission. How fun !

To bad i had to do that to fill up water to realise something i was not expecting and kind of got me down. There is a 9 inch crack on the block, just above the starter .. I could never believe cold would kill suck a great engine.

I will probably end this post here, as i am thinking about wrighting a last word in memory of Lil'Bus who is on his deathbed.

Last chance is to try any of those block/headgasket/miracle seal and see if that can do any good ...

 

[ewo1]

that sucks! why people don't use coolant and use water instead???

 

[Cheezewhiz]

I've patched blocks back together with JB weld before, but ahh... always had all the pieces.

You could try JB welding a chunk of metal that fits in the hole.

Maybe patch over the top of that with a snip of a sheet of steel and a dollop of RTV if you got room.

May or may not work at all, but it ain't gonna break it more

 

[ewo1]

If you want to go old skool crazy, weld it back up!
It is done in many countries, some crazies do it here!

 

[Hatch-SKO]

Pull thermostats. Old time drugstore for liquid glass. Keep water level where you can see it but not overfilling. Crank engine and add glass with engine running and warming up until crack stops leaking. No fuss no muss except find out who was supposed to check antifreeze cause this might not be the only bus.

 

[LilBusDude]

To be honest , i am the only one to blame. Always lived close to the ocean where the need for anti freeze is quite legendary .. which is a quite hard lesson to learn here, but i get it .. it only screwed a lifetimes dream, hopefully not twice.

 

[LilBusDude]

If you want to go old skool crazy, weld it back up!
It is done in many countries, some crazies do it here!

Would you have any tips, links, or any kind of ressource that could help me go that way ?? I realy want to try everything possible, so might as well go full on.

Thinking about sodering 3 or 4 points around that "freeze plug" so i don't have to take down the tranny a third time.

 

[LilBusDude]

If you want to go old skool crazy, weld it back up!
It is done in many countries, some crazies do it here!

Would you have any tips, links, or any kind of ressource that could help me go that way ?? I realy want to try everything possible, so might as well go full on.

Thinking about sodering 3 or 4 points around that "freeze plug" so i don't have to take down the tranny a third time.

 

[LilBusDude]

Sorry for being si needy

Is somebody willing to give me a briefing of what this seal is for in some main line purposes way.

At this point the crank shaft has a tiny drip, and since i will be treating coolant system with miracle liquides, and the amount of time this beauty of engine will hold on, not sure it's worth worrying si much about that tiny leak..

Please tell me your thoughs

Thank you,


M@

 

[ewo1]

Would you have any tips, links, or any kind of ressource that could help me go that way ?? I realy want to try everything possible, so might as well go full on.

Thinking about sodering 3 or 4 points around that "freeze plug" so i don't have to take down the tranny a third time.

Find yourself an OLD_SCHOOL welder.... today's generation just might not know/understand how it is done, but it can be done!
A new skool welder might not understand how to dress the ends of a crack or might not even know how to stick weld. Most guys today only mig weld...and they call themselves a welder.... LOL..

Welding a crack in a cast engine block???

 

[ewo1]

Sorry for being si needy

Is somebody willing to give me a briefing of what this seal is for in some main line purposes way.

At this point the crank shaft has a tiny drip, and since i will be treating coolant system with miracle liquides, and the amount of time this beauty of engine will hold on, not sure it's worth worrying si much about that tiny leak..

Please tell me your thoughs

Thank you,


M@

Crankshafts do not have drips.... the front or rear seals on each end do drip when they are in need of replacement.

 

[nikitis]

What you can do is remove the engine. Find both ends of the crack line or all ends if it split in different areas. Drill a small hole at the end of the cracks. The round hole prevents further splitting after you weld it back together. The drill hole has to go through completely or the crack can continue splitting later even after a weld. If you miss the crack or it strays away from the drilled hole you’ll need a bigger hole to capture the crack. Any left behind crack will split your weld down the road.

Once that is done. You can do two things. You can do a brazen weld into the cracks to seal it up or simply weld along the crack. The former takes talent but if done right works best. The latter works too and is easier to do and still may last you the remaining life of the engine as if it had never cracked but there is a smaller possibility it could crack again down the road.

Otherwise new engine.

 

[cadillackid]

wowsers!! I just came to this thread.. I once "JB-welded" a crack in a block.. it was a couple inches long .. and wasnt a hole... was into the water jacket and not the oil galley.. I sucked a proper vacuum on the radiator.. the top hose was flat as a pancake. sprayed brakleen into the crack. waited 15 minutes or so with vacuum pump still going.. then deluged the crack with super glue, wiped off the excess befre it hardened, after a minute I killed the vacuum.. spread JB weld all over the outside of the crack, waited 2 days, filled it up and drove it a few years before the truck got so rusty I couldnt keep it cool inside in the summer. (yep that ole rusty truck had A/C and it worked..).. it was a chevy and not a diesel. I ran a low pressure 7 PSI cap on it and bent the spring so the fan clkutch would come on early making sure it never got hot..

not saying I would ever do that to one of my busses but on an ole rusty truck that was beyond restoration but still driveable it was a fix... I once Expoxied a leak in the case of an automatic transmission once too.. went from leaking a quart in 30 minutes to half a quart in 30 days...

cold ruining engnes is real.. I live in Ohio we are serious about our antifreeze.. we had a period this winter where for 3 days it never got above 10 degrees out and at night it was minus 5 to minus 10 (F).. that will fully cold soak any engine that hasnt been run recently..

also antifreeze in diesel engines is a requirement to prevent Cylinder cavitation and rust.. there are additives you add to the radiator for this (wix-cool or similar). or use an ELC coolant.. a 2001 7.3 can use a coolant like the AMSoil HD polyorganic which doesnt require additives..

 

[nikitis]

JB weld can certainly work but in most cases a crack will split beyond the weld. Many have tried this and it fails again shortly afterwards. You may have been lucky.

It is however a great on the side of a road stranded fix. Not meant to be a long term fix. Not saying it couldn’t work but whatever stress originally caused that crack will continue with a weaker JB weld. The original metal is harder than that JB weld product and it cracked so really nothing much stopping it from cracking with a weaker solution.

I think your situation may be different and the crack wasn’t as bad.

 

[LilBusDude]

Here is a close up on LilBus's crack.

 

[LilBusDude]

One might be tempted to ask what's that crap comming out of Lil'Bus crack. It's some bars sealant "treatment" from before the plug blew off again

 

[cadillackid]

JB weld can certainly work but in most cases a crack will split beyond the weld. Many have tried this and it fails again shortly afterwards. You may have been lucky.

It is however a great on the side of a road stranded fix. Not meant to be a long term fix. Not saying it couldn’t work but whatever stress originally caused that crack will continue with a weaker JB weld. The original metal is harder than that JB weld product and it cracked so really nothing much stopping it from cracking with a weaker solution.

I think your situation may be different and the crack wasn’t as bad.

oh i know i got totally lucky.. im just saying sometimes the wierd off the wall "fix" works for awhile.. I dont believe mine was frozen though... it was just old and wasnt massive.. it was definitely a smaller crack than this one.. and being an old rusty truck it was either junk it or try the cheap.. I sure wasnt going to build a new engine for it.. the thing was given to me really to use as a parts truck for a better truck I was building.. the better truck didnt have A/C and I was wanting factory A/C parts to add proper A/C..the rusty ole thing was given to me and I thiought it had neat character to it so I gsve the JB a go then it became a joke as to how long I could keep driving it before it would leak or the truck split in half...

 

[nikitis]

From the picture it looks like you may even have some room to work without removing the engine. You won't be able to do a brazen weld though because that has to drip into the crack and it's half vertical. If you can get a drill in there on both ends of that crack, go for it without removing the engine. Clean up the surface real good, then just weld it, you may be able to save it without removing the engine.

 

[LilBusDude]

I am highly considering doing exactly that. Just stress testing a bit the engine under normal pressure to make sure the Bar's Block Sealant has done it's best job, coating that with some JB Weld. And if problem persists, i will drill the babe, and try exactly what you've suggested.

From the picture it looks like you may even have some room to work without removing the engine. You won't be able to do a brazen weld though because that has to drip into the crack and it's half vertical. If you can get a drill in there on both ends of that crack, go for it without removing the engine. Clean up the surface real good, then just weld it, you may be able to save it without removing the engine.

 

[LilBusDude]

Totaly différents topic, but had to reajust the transmission gear switch with the gear command. Gears are passing fine but OverDrive switch is now blinking and i pull a nice p0705.

First is someone able to simplify this gibrish so the lost frenchman can have ab easier way of decoding this :

" Trouble Code P0705: Transmission Range Sensor TRS Circuit Malfunction. Your vehicle uses a transmission range switch, or TRS, to communicate the position of your gear shift with your powertrain control module. A TRS circuit malfunction will create trouble code P0705."

?

And also note : eversince i travel with Lil'Bus, sometimes when i will engage any gear, it will bearly have enough juice to engage it without choking dead the engine. Most times a little push on gas will compensate, more rarely it won't. But it always ends up working more or less fine. A very random problem.

Almost feel like some sensor somewhere getting tired, or malfunctionning, not giving proper feedback to the PCU, like miss reading rev data, or something around those lines.

Had some engine sensor issue once that had oil comming through the sensor it self, and have noticed taking them off twice in the past week, that some of the connectors had some oil-ish shine inside them. Espacially the one on the passenger side of the transmission.

If any of this makes any sence to anyone, please share your though(s).

Thank you all