Fuel in the coolant? What the.....?!?

[spencnaz]

The UV dye will come in two forms, one for the cooling system and another for fuel systems.

 

[Cheaper Jeeper]

i had one do this.dont know what it was,never tore the engine apart to find out.just replaced it.it ran perfect no over heating or anything,just dumping fuel into the cooling system.

Awww MAN! You're killin' me here!

I've had several other people on another site tell me (more or less)
"fuel in the coolant isn't possible - there isn't place/point where they meet in or on the engine for them to mix"!

Since you never figured out how it was happening, how long did you run it that way?

Trying to figure out what kind of problems this could create if I can't fix it right away, because I need to use the truck right now and don't have time for doing a major repair.....

 

[Cheaper Jeeper]

The UV dye will come in two forms, one for the cooling system and another for fuel systems.

Good info. I didn't know since I've (obviously) never tried using it for anything. Is it very expensive?

Since I don't have a UV light, what do you think of the MMO idea instead?

 

[94f450sd]

well,im not sure how long it was doing it.i do know that last august we needed the truck to work the demo derby to drag cars out of the track.it was my buddies truck.it had a coolant leak that i later found was a freeze plug.well we filled it with block sealer so we could use it.halfway into the 25 mile trip the freeze plug popped out.i was told just drive it and get it to the fair.so me and another buddy drove it atleast another 5 miles till it wouldnt run anymore.we towed it back to the shop,replaced the freeze plug so it could be used as a yard dog.well then my buddy decided to replace the cab.as i drained the coolant it has black gritty stuf and clear oily substance floating in it.i figured the black stuff was soot and the oily substance was fuel as the cooling system and coolant wreaked of diesel and exhaust.the truck ran perfect though with no problems to show it had a cooling system problem.we used the truck from august last year till sometime in january this year when i ripped the cab off of it.

 

[Cheaper Jeeper]

well,im not sure how long it was doing it.i do know that last august we needed the truck to work the demo derby to drag cars out of the track.it was my buddies truck.it had a coolant leak that i later found was a freeze plug.well we filled it with block sealer so we could use it.halfway into the 25 mile trip the freeze plug popped out.i was told just drive it and get it to the fair.so me and another buddy drove it atleast another 5 miles till it wouldnt run anymore.we towed it back to the shop,replaced the freeze plug so it could be used as a yard dog.well then my buddy decided to replace the cab.as i drained the coolant it has black gritty stuf and clear oily substance floating in it.i figured the black stuff was soot and the oily substance was fuel as the cooling system and coolant wreaked of diesel and exhaust.the truck ran perfect though with no problems to show it had a cooling system problem.we used the truck from august last year till sometime in january this year when i ripped the cab off of it.

OK, so if I'm reading you right you never knew when the fuel started getting into the coolant - or even that it was getting into the coolant until January, but you at least suspect it started when you had the problems back in August. And when you did find out about it in January it was still running fine? Does that about sum it up?

Two questions. How much was it being used as a "yard dog"? Lots of daily use, or only occasional use?

Also, when you drained it, what is your best estimate of how much fuel was in the cooling system? A lot (quart or more) or only a little (cup or less)?

 

[94f450sd]

yup you read it right

since it was running fine it was being used on the road daily till january when i started the cab swap.

my best guess would be a lot of fuel in the coolant.i drained it after it was driven so most of it wouldve been mixed together as it had about 30 minutes for it to cool down and seperate before i drained it.

 

[Cheaper Jeeper]

yup you read it right

since it was running fine it was being used on the road daily till january when i started the cab swap.

my best guess would be a lot of fuel in the coolant.i drained it after it was driven so most of it wouldve been mixed together as it had about 30 minutes for it to cool down and seperate before i drained it.

Thanks man. It doesn't solve my problem, but that info at least makes me feel a lot less anxious about the situation and my inability to do anything major to address it immediately.

 

[spencnaz]

Good info. I didn't know since I've (obviously) never tried using it for anything. Is it very expensive?

Since I don't have a UV light, what do you think of the MMO idea instead?

Just get a blue LED flash light, that will make the dye show up quite well.

 

[Agnem]

I'd also send a sample of all your fluids to Blackstone for analysis. They can probably test the water too.

 

[Ironman03R]

Would it be possible to have a crack in the head and a fuel injector leaking in its bore?

 

[yARIC008]

Did you have anything floating on top of the water in the neck of the radiator? If so, what color was it? What color was the cloudiness? Any smell?

I would think that if it was from engine oil you'd have been seeing droplets of oil on the water, that the droplets would be black, the cloudiness would be kind of milky white, and there wouldn't be much of a smell. Is that what you saw?

What I'm seeing is droplets of very thin greenish-yellow oily stuff floating on top of the water, the cloudiness in the water is more the color of tea with a little creamer in it, and it has a strong fuel/solvent smell......

Hm.. it was a long time ago. I remember the oilly stuff floating at the top mostly being blackish. When the engine would run it was mix it up some and it was slightly milky in the rad. Don't recall a smell, infact i don't think i ever put my nose up to it to smell it. Sorry can't be more help. On my engine though like i was saying the thermostat got stuck open somehow. So i could take off the top hose going to the rad and keep it connected to the engine, then i could pour water from a hose into the top of the rad and it would spill out the top of the engine. That was how i was making sure it was getting completely flushed. You could do it the other way around too by pouring the water into the top of the engine and have it spill out the rad.

Cheaper Jeeper, can you drain out a little bit of oil, does it smell like diesel? When was the last time you had an oil analysis done?

 

[yARIC008]

Would it be possible to have a crack in the head and a fuel injector leaking in its bore?

I'd say that'd be a long shot, plus it seems he'd be getting misfires and low compression in that cylinder if that were the case.

 

[Cheaper Jeeper]

I'd say that'd be a long shot, plus it seems he'd be getting misfires and low compression in that cylinder if that were the case.

My thoughts exactly. Plus I can't see how fuel could get through to mix with the water without compression leaking out into the water jacket too.....

 

[Cheaper Jeeper]

Cheaper Jeeper, can you drain out a little bit of oil, does it smell like diesel? When was the last time you had an oil analysis done?

Haven't drained any, but I pulling the dipstick while its running (so everything in the crank-case is all mixed up good) and checked it. No diesel smell to the oil - just smells like used oil.

Haven't ever had an oil analysis done - just got the truck 6 months ago....

 

[Agnem]

http://www.blackstone-labs.com/