Oil in the coolant?

[dieselman69]

good luck coolant in the oil is usually a blown head gasket, or some other place , cracked head or block, plus you need to get the coolant out of it before it destroys the engine.

 

[dieselman69]

I'm not an expert but I looked in my I.H. DT466 service manual & lube oil in coolant or coolant in lube oil it says posiable causes , cracked cylinder head, block, or leaking cylinder head gasket, leaking injector sleeve, defective oil cooler, or intercooler, defective air compressor, I'm omitting the one other cause it lists because the cat 3208 does not have sleeves. hope this helps, hopefully just a leaking head gasket

 

[Ray_WA]

The mechanic didn't notice anything odd with the coolant? It just showed up on the analysis? Sounds like a small amount. Does the fluid analysis say just how much oil is in the coolant?

I would think a very small amount of oil could find it's way into the coolant innocently enough. I would definitely find out the source to be sure!

-Ray

 

[kotflb]

I've never had a 3208 but I do have 9 diesels that I maintain and 5 of those have air brakes. If you have "trace amounts" of oil in your cooling system, I would first flush the whole system real good and install 90% distilled water and 10% antifreeze ( outside temp permitting) and run it for at least an hour, park it and let it cool overnight and check it again the next day.

This is to make sure someone didn't mistakenly add oil to the coolant b4 they realized their mistake. Then if you find NEW oil mixed with your coolant start with the air compressor. Most compressors use the main engines antifreeze to keep it cool. Some even use the engines oil for lube, while others may not. I believe the 3208 Cat has an externally mounted compressor.

If you have globs of oil in the antifreeze, I would start with the engine oil cooler and look for tiny pin holes in the casing. More then likely the cause is from a lack of SCA additive in the coolant. More often then not, you would get antifreeze INTO the oil. If all this is above you skill comfort level, take it to a truck repair shop and first have them pressure test the cooling system.

Oil added to coolant by mistake, Air compressor, or Oil cooler. These are the most common causes I would look at b4 getting into major engine work.

 

[SHORTS]

have the coolant analyzed to determine if it is engine or trans oil contamination, then start with a good flush of the cooling system,
you probably have a cooler issue which is easiest and least costly to remedy.
IIRC the engine oil cooler is a plate type cooler directly above the oil filter, remove it and have a radiator shop pressure test it, they will determine if it can be repaired or if replacement is the best solution.

 

[Serendipitous_Bus]

Water Droplets in Crankcase

So, I know this post is really old, but I hope somebody can help me. We bought a bus a few years ago and converted it to a tiny home. As we took our first drive up into colorado mountains, I noticed at some point white blowby that increases as the engine warms. If I remove the oil dip stick/fill tube mfg (1998 DT466E) I get a train puffing. of white smoke out of it. When I put a paper towel over this though, It seems to be condensation steaming off, which would make sense why more would happen when the engine warms.

Here is the kicker. I am not getting any white smoke out of the exhaust. out of the exhaust I seem to be getting normal fumes when idle, and when under load.

I checked the oil while running and there were no droplets, but this morning I checked with the engine cold, and I saw 3-4 Tiny Tiny water droplets on the dipstick.

Any thoughts of why I would be getting coolant in the crankcase and not have any burning with the exhaust?

I did have a leak on one of the compressor coolant lines running from the block to the compressor, but I tightened that hose and it eliminated the leak. Not until after I lost a lot of coolant, but never ran it under load, just idle a few times and nothing above operating temp. 190 degrees.

I also bypassed the pump and heater pipes that ran through the body of the bus through the internal passenger heaters.

Could it be a leaking sleeve? or a bad compressor?

Anything helps. Thanks. Engine has 220000 miles and 12000+ hours.

 

[Placeholder Bus Name]

A few water drops on the dipstick after it's been sitting is not usually a cause for major alarm. It usually just means some condensation build up. Have the PCV valve replaced and maybe do an oil service to see how bad the oil actually is.

 

[EastCoastCB]

is the dipstick or dipstick tube rusty?

 

[Serendipitous_Bus]

Neither is rusty. This is something that just started happening and we haven't driven it very much since. My concern is more the white smoke/steam coming out the breather valve, and the dipstick tube (when removed). It's quite a bit, but not a ton of force from the pressure. Just a lot of smoke/steam. I feel there is coolant leaking into the crankcase somewhere, even though it may be a small amount. Although, there is no grey sludge in the oil.

 

[EastCoastCB]

Could be a liner seal, a leaking timing cover, the compressor, or a few other things.

 

[Serendipitous_Bus]

Could be a liner seal, a leaking timing cover, the compressor, or a few other things.

Do you think the best option is to just take it into the international dealer here in Denver, and have them do a once over on everything, Coolant, Oil, Fuel Filters, Transmission oil (if needed). etc? I need some new tires anyway.

That way I can be sure everything is in working condition and I won't do more damage while driving around the U.S. I'm pretty good at maintenance, but don't have the time now to research everything thing wrong and fix it.

 

[EastCoastCB]

Do you think the best option is to just take it into the international dealer here in Denver, and have them do a once over on everything, Coolant, Oil, Fuel Filters, Transmission oil (if needed). etc? I need some new tires anyway.

That way I can be sure everything is in working condition and I won't do more damage while driving around the U.S. I'm pretty good at maintenance, but don't have the time now to research everything thing wrong and fix it.

You can do the oil, filters, etc yourself. maintenance is easy.
If you take it to the dealer they'll charge you $200-$300 just to look at it. As in just to lay their eyes on it. If its the timing cover you're looking at $10,000 or more. Liner seals probably looking at 8-10 grand at the dealer. Maybe more, idk. The compressor wouldn't be so bad. You could most likely do that yourself if that's what's wrong.
Best to find a good independent diesel shop.

 

[cadillackid]

want to know whats in your oil? order a blackstone kit, run it about 20 minutes shut it off, drain a little oil and send it in for analysis.. you'll know within a few days if you have water in the oil.. if you have oil in the water thats often an oil cooler issue.. the oil cooler can cause water in the oil too but more likely to see mixing both ways or just oil in the water if its the cooler

 

[Serendipitous_Bus]

want to know whats in your oil? order a blackstone kit, run it about 20 minutes shut it off, drain a little oil and send it in for analysis.. you'll know within a few days if you have water in the oil.. if you have oil in the water thats often an oil cooler issue.. the oil cooler can cause water in the oil too but more likely to see mixing both ways or just oil in the water if its the cooler

I have the blackstone kit. I was waiting to change the oil to send it in, but you raise a good point that I'll just get a bit out of it and send it in before doing the oil change.

I've just been putting it off with other projects.

 

[Serendipitous_Bus]

You can do the oil, filters, etc yourself. maintenance is easy.
If you take it to the dealer they'll charge you $200-$300 just to look at it. As in just to lay their eyes on it. If its the timing cover you're looking at $10,000 or more. Liner seals probably looking at 8-10 grand at the dealer. Maybe more, idk. The compressor wouldn't be so bad. You could most likely do that yourself if that's what's wrong.
Best to find a good independent diesel shop.

I guess I"m wondering what the order of operations should be. If I do all the maintenance myself, and they need to pull the liners would I be duplicating the cost of the maintenance?

Do you think this is an issue that needs to be taken care of immediately, if I'm not losing a bunch of coolant, and the bus still has power? Or should I wait until it goes, and then pay to replace it at that time, meanwhile just doing the maintenance.

Lastly, do you know of any resources for me to check what coolant goes into this engine. When I got it, it had the Red high mileage diesel stuff in it from the school district via a reseller. But then reading some of these posts people said the mfg yr 1998, sell year 1999 DT466e's needed the Green stuff with PH checks.

Any Idea on that one?

 

[cadillackid]

you actually can call an IH dealer with the VIN and they should be able to tell you the correct coolant to install.. i was thinking that it was model year 00/01 before the red coolant became a thing.. HOWEVER.. AMSOIL makes a polyorganic coolant that can run in the older engines.. and yep ofcourse you guessed it.. its RED! so unless your school told you exactly what they use including brand and product you'll be hard pressed to know exactly whats in there..



OIL..

run the engine 10-15 minutes at idle.. then drain your oil into a CLEAN BUCKET!!



shortly after draining grab your sample for blackstone. you want your oil good and circulated and not contaminated by the drain bucket, and not just the bottom layer of the oil pan if you just drizzled some out of the plug.. so as you do your oil change its a perfect time to grab your sample..



used oil is best as it will also tell you any metals present.. which are indicators of bearing wear and such.. or fuel which would be an indication of a cylinder skip or bad injector..



-Christopher

 

[EastCoastCB]

I guess I"m wondering what the order of operations should be. If I do all the maintenance myself, and they need to pull the liners would I be duplicating the cost of the maintenance?

Do you think this is an issue that needs to be taken care of immediately, if I'm not losing a bunch of coolant, and the bus still has power? Or should I wait until it goes, and then pay to replace it at that time, meanwhile just doing the maintenance.

Lastly, do you know of any resources for me to check what coolant goes into this engine. When I got it, it had the Red high mileage diesel stuff in it from the school district via a reseller. But then reading some of these posts people said the mfg yr 1998, sell year 1999 DT466e's needed the Green stuff with PH checks.

Any Idea on that one?

If "they" have to pull the liners the cost of a bucket of oil and a few filters will seem so tiny you won't even notice it.

 

[Serendipitous_Bus]

@ cadillacKid. (didn't want to post the entire quote).

I called the dealer and since it's a 1999 it should have been the green stuff. (that was not what was in there when I drained it). I added the Final Charge "Red" stuff in and filled it up when I added my coolant. Would you recommend me draining, flushing, and then adding back in the Green stuff?

Also does anybody know how much damage I might have caused by adding the Red stuff, if Red stuff was already in the system, but we only ran it for one 2 hour trip there and back?

 

[Drew Bru]

Liner seals probably looking at 8-10 grand at the dealer. Maybe more, idk.

A friend who bought a bus from the same school district lot that I did had failing liner seals. He had a bit of sludge on the dipstick, took it to the IH dealer and they diagnosed the problem. Said the liner seals usually fail catastrophically instead of weeping like his were. He had the engine rebuilt to the tune of 9K or so.

 

[jazty]

What you are describing sounds like normal blow-by for an older diesel engine.
Best to rule out any possible faults of course, but if everything comes back clean on an oil analysis then it might not be anything to worry about.