Coolant in Oil

[hesutton]

Yes, I think this really was a bad head gasket and/or head bolts. There was tons of watery snot up in the valve covers (worse on one side), indicative of the leak. The heads checked out fine under magnaflux.

So really I had two problems (head gasket/bolts and corroded freeze plug), and luckily both got fixed.

Yup,with the age on that 6.9 and coolant in the oil, the head gaskets needed to be changed. Same thing with my '86 6.9. I also went with ARP studs. I too run a filter with DCA, never hurts to have insurance against cavitation, even on a 6.9.

Great to hear you found the problem. That's a 1st for slow coolant loss. Gary (icanfixall) had a freeze plug failure, but it was catastrophic and sudden. Glad to know you got it shut down before any serious damage was done.

Heath

 

[godieselgo]

Thanks for posting an update!

 

[bigblackb****]

just a word of advice a oil cooler will not put coolant in the oil because oil pressure is higher than coolant pressure witch is only about 15psi while oil is up towards 40 on most diesel engines. so if your oil cooler goes it will be oil in your coolant

 

[Shadetreemechanic]

just a word of advice a oil cooler will not put coolant in the oil because oil pressure is higher than coolant pressure witch is only about 15psi while oil is up towards 40 on most diesel engines. so if your oil cooler goes it will be oil in your coolant

That is not necessarily true. Oil pressure is higher than coolant pressure at high rpms, but alot of these trucks will bounce around 10 psi oil pressure at idle. I had coolant in oil that was fixed with an oil cooler.

 

[eatont9999]

I'm glad to hear it wasn't a warped block or cavitation. You're on the right track with the coolant filter. I am running Fleet Charge in my system. I am losing coolant, slowly in my 7.3 but I am pretty sure that is because of a leak in my coolant system somewhere. No coolant in oil or oil in coolant, so I am thankful for that.

 

[eatont9999]

just a word of advice a oil cooler will not put coolant in the oil because oil pressure is higher than coolant pressure witch is only about 15psi while oil is up towards 40 on most diesel engines. so if your oil cooler goes it will be oil in your coolant

It will if you lose oil pressure or have a mixing situation after the engine is shut down. The cooling system gets up to 13PSI so it is not far off from the oil pressure and after you shut down the engine, oil pressure is 0 and coolant is still at 13LBs. I would replace the oil cooler first because it is a lot easier than replacing the head gaskets or block. I start with the easier/cheaper things first.

 

[halogen25]

It will if you lose oil pressure or have a mixing situation after the engine is shut down. The cooling system gets up to 13PSI so it is not far off from the oil pressure and after you shut down the engine, oil pressure is 0 and coolant is still at 13LBs. I would replace the oil cooler first because it is a lot easier than replacing the head gaskets or block. I start with the easier/cheaper things first.

Thanks for your comment eatont9999. My problem has not actually been solved. I'm still getting water sucked into my oil. After replacing all of the lifters (all failed at once due to water contamination), I temporarily put just water in the radiator. Sure enough, after driving it only 50 miles and letting it cool down, water comes dripping out of the oil pan when the drain bolt is loosened. It must have dripped about a quart of clear, colorless water -- not emulsified snot. So it must be sucking it straight out when the engine is cooling, with no opportunity to get mixed around. Would coolant go straight into the oil pan like this if the oil cooler had a hole in it?

 

[racer30]

If running just water, The engine will turn the water to steam and condence in the valve covers then run into the pan as clear water, or it will push into the pan from the cooler after shutdown when coolant is under pressure. try running with the rad cap off then there is no pressure at shutdown then do the water in the pan test. just some thoughts.

 

[Kevin 007]

A slow leaking block heater was the culprit to my recent coolant loss expierence. Thank Christ that it wasn't a cracked block, this is a 6.9 A block so I installed a freeze plug in its place.

When it warms up I will install a lower rad hose coolant heater for future winters but this winter I will do without a coolant heater.

Glad to hear you got er going again!! What a feeling!!!

 

[halogen25]

I wish it were fixed, Kevin, but not yet.... Racer30, yea, I certainly have gunk in the valve covers, indicative of water vaporizing in the hot-running oil (not to mention my oil cap!). But this latest observation is just way too much water in the oil pan, and it is way too clear/clean to believe this came from the cylinders. (There are also no fuel vapors or oil in the coolant.)

So if there is a leak, it must be happening upon cool down, with the coolant system pressuring it into the oil pan. My question is, where is the leak?? I already changed the oil cooler gaskets, so if it is the cooler, than it is the unit itself!

 

[eatont9999]

Since the water is clear, I want to say that it is something other than a head gasket. In most cases, a failed head gasket will leave you with milky colored oil or the coolant will be exhausted.

Let's try this. Remove your CDR valve and drain everything in it into a clear container. See if there is any water in it. In theory, if the water is being pushed into the oil after shutdown, it shouldn't be in the CDR. A similar test would be to drive with the radiator cap off, mentioned by racer30.

 

[halogen25]

I took the manifold off to replace the lifters a couple of weeks ago, and I didn't notice anything strange (like water sloshing around), though I didn't take off the CDR and inspect it. I'll give that a try and post the results.

 

[racer30]

Wow I still can't stop thinkin about that cooler leaking after shut down. I would look for a new or known good cooler assembly and swap that in. just seems like the water is going into the pan back through the pump from the cooler. does the oil pressure come up smoothly or a little jumpy?

 

[icanfixall]

When you removed the intake manifold to replace the lifters did you replace the valley pan gasket. When the manifold was off did you see coolant passages open or plugged with small freeze plugs next to the intake ports in the heads. Some 6.9 heads have openings that are ruf cut and some have machined holes where a plug fits tightly... My WASG is your leaking coolant or water from those passages into the engine..

 

[halogen25]

When you removed the intake manifold to replace the lifters did you replace the valley pan gasket. When the manifold was off did you see coolant passages open or plugged with small freeze plugs next to the intake ports in the heads. Some 6.9 heads have openings that are ruf cut and some have machined holes where a plug fits tightly... My WASG is your leaking coolant or water from those passages into the engine..

As a matter of fact, when I pulled the lifters, I forgot to drain the coolant first. Antifreeze rushed out into the valley when I pulled the pan before I opened the radiator plug. So yup, they are open. I don't recall seeing any plugs either...