Coolant leaks - Oil Cooler

[Mopar1973Man]

Dang! 

 

I'm not catching any breaks these days. Doing my weekend inspection on the truck and noticed my coolant reservoir is down to the add mark just about and then noticed the small drip puddles on the floor. Tracked down the leak to my oil cooler gasket is leaking. Hopefully, that is a fairly straightforward repair for that gasket. Any information on this task would be great.

[Silverdodge]

Should be fairly straightforward

[Dieselfuture]

Never done that one yet, but something is telling me that job is around a corner ha ha. I think a lot of these repairs are more time related rather then wear. 

[Silverdodge]

I've seen them out of engine should be nothing behind it just unbolt and fix

[Mopar1973Man]

I'll pick up a gasket for that and get it done. 

 

[Guest 04Mach1]

Just  a gasket sandwiched between the block and oil cooler and another gasket sandwiched between the oil cooler and oil filter housing. Torque the 15 bolts holding the oil cooler and oil filter housing to the block to 212 in. lbs.

 

Not too hard of a repair. Just be careful about buffing or cleaning the block because there is a passage that goes straight to the main bearings so any debris like dirt or metal shavings in that passage will cause catastrophic damage to the rotating assembly. 



[Mopar1973Man]

Thanks for the warning on the oil passage. Ill make sure to watch that close.

[Marcus2000monster]

Iv got what I think a front main seal going out that I need to fix. Leaking oil pretty bad and plastering the underside. Also my truck threw a crank sensor code today and started bucking so that’s next tomorrow. I might add that I put a new track bar in tonight and I started on the heater core. Oh and it got a new steering gear last week and running boards etc. the list goes on. 

[NIsaacs]

12 hours ago, Mopar1973Man said:

Dang! 

 

I'm not catching any breaks these days. Doing my weekend inspection on the truck and noticed my coolant reservoir is down to the add mark just about and then noticed the small drip puddles on the floor. Tracked down the leak to my oil cooler gasket is leaking. Hopefully, that is a fairly straightforward repair for that gasket. Any information on this task would be great.

 

Make really sure where the leak is coming from, oil cooler gasket is rare. Use a flashlight. Head gasket leaks right above the cooler are common. The narrow band print-o-seal gasket next to the coolant bypass port is suspect. I know you are an excellent mechanic with excellent trouble shooting skills....this is just a heads up from another good mechanic...leaks are hard to pin point sometimes.

 

Note how fragile the gasket is at the blue dots and the coolant bypass port. I blame Cummins for this, Lol

[dripley]

Thats where mine is weeping.

[Dieselfuture]

2 hours ago, NIsaacs said:

Note how fragile the gasket is at the blue dots and the coolant bypass port. I blame Cummins for this, Lol

Now that I'm taking a closer look at the gasket, that is pretty thin. Why didn't they isolate the head bolt hole from coolant  maybe because when it's all clamped down them little red lines don't matter much anyway and the gasket material  itself is keeping things from leaking. I did my head gasket last year and now wondering if I shouldn't have used a little bit of rtv in that spot to join the two red lines. There's always something isn't there.

[Mopar1973Man]

In my case it's the top side of the oil cooler towards the front. The head is dry.

[NIsaacs]

28 minutes ago, Mopar1973Man said:

In my case it's the top side of the oil cooler towards the front. The head is dry.

 

I figured you were clear about the leak but thought I would ask for a double check, lol

1 hour ago, Dieselfuture said:

Now that I'm taking a closer look at the gasket, that is pretty thin. Why didn't they isolate the head bolt hole from coolant  maybe because when it's all clamped down them little red lines don't matter much anyway and the gasket material  itself is keeping things from leaking. I did my head gasket last year and now wondering if I shouldn't have used a little bit of rtv in that spot to join the two red lines. There's always something isn't there.

 

That hole is not a head bolt hole, it is the bypass port. So a lot of coolant pressure there with a very thin line, (about 1/16") of material to seal. When I do a head gasket, I don't sleep well for a while

Edited November 6, 2018 by NIsaacs

[Mopar1973Man]

I think mine is mostly coolant pH issue. This last go around I was way past due for the coolant change being MoparMom's adventure. I know that coolant was way past due and I'm betting the pH level was corrosive enough to eat the head gasket and now the oil cooler gasket. The very thing I preach not to do is the very thing I did... 

[Guest 04Mach1]

14 hours ago, Mopar1973Man said:

I think mine is mostly coolant pH issue. This last go around I was way past due for the coolant change being MoparMom's adventure. I know that coolant was way past due and I'm betting the pH level was corrosive enough to eat the head gasket and now the oil cooler gasket. The very thing I preach not to do is the very thing I did... 

 

I know coolant has been horsewhipped already but Cummins as well as I recommend coolant that meets CES 14603 spec. Most coolants on the parts store and Walmarts shelves do not meet Cummins or any diesel engine spec. Coolants designed  for light duty automotive gasoline engines does not hold up to the demands of our medium duty diesel engines because the cylinder walls get a bit hotter in a diesel engine when the fire gets built going down the road compared to gasoline engines.

[AH64ID]

8 hours ago, 04Mach1 said:

 

I know coolant has been horsewhipped already but Cummins as well as I recommend coolant that meets CES 14603 spec. Most coolants on the parts store and Walmarts shelves do not meet Cummins or any diesel engine spec. Coolants designed  for light duty automotive gasoline engines does not hold up to the demands of our medium duty diesel engines because the cylinder walls get a bit hotter in a diesel engine when the fire gets built going down the road compared to gasoline engines.

 

I’m a big fan of the HD long life coolants. The one I am running now is maintenance free for 8 years. It’s Peak Final Charge. It meets CES 14603. 

[Guest 04Mach1]

2 hours ago, AH64ID said:

 

I’m a big fan of the HD long life coolants. The one I am running now is maintenance free for 8 years. It’s Peak Final Charge. It meets CES 14603. 

Same here. I'm running Fleetgaurd ES Compleat in both of my Cummins pick-ups. 

[Dieselfuture]

12 hours ago, 04Mach1 said:

Same here. I'm running Fleetgaurd ES Compleat in both of my Cummins pick-ups. 

That's what I'm using too, blue in color. They just came out with some red stuff that supposed to last even longer but for now I'm sticking to this ES stuff. I know we don't have sleeves that can pit from detonation/cavitation but still I'll use the stuff that prevents it from pitting. I think es is good for 150k but I'll probably just change it every 3 years since I won't put that many miles on it, maybe 5 years. But 5 seems like I'll be stretching it without testing.

[Guest 04Mach1]

10 minutes ago, Dieselfuture said:

That's what I'm using too, blue in color. They just came out with some red stuff that supposed to last even longer but for now I'm sticking to this ES stuff. I know we don't have sleeves that can pit from detonation/cavitation but still I'll use the stuff that prevents it from pitting. I think es is good for 150k but I'll probably just change it every 3 years since I won't put that many miles on it, maybe 5 years. But 5 seems like I'll be stretching it without testing.

I've still have seen cavitation in 6BT blocks. I even saw a first gen 2500 with cavitation so bad it went completely through the cylinder wall on number 3 but I can't vouch for coolant maintenance on that truck though. 

 

Little known or followed fact is all IHC built Powerstroke engines which are also parent bore engines is they require molybdate and nitrites by IHC standards. Ford actually sells an overpriced coolant additive to maintain molybdate and nitrites in the Powerstroke engines. Fleetgaurd DCA4 or Baldwin BTA is the same thing Ford sells.

 

Testing coolant is recommended every preventative maintenance interval by Cat, Cummins, Detroit, and pretty much every heavy duty diesel engine manufacturer. My take on "preventative maintenance interval" is every oil change.

[NIsaacs]

19 hours ago, 04Mach1 said:

Same here. I'm running Fleetgaurd ES Compleat in both of my Cummins pick-ups. 

 

That sucks, I just checked my stock and out of three brands none are CES 14603. This is good to know, I have never heard of it, and this is from a 20 year log truck owner. Was this around in the 70's and 80's?

 

As far as pits in the cylinders/blocks, isn't that more electrolysis than anything?