QuestionQUESTION: Drew,
I see that your experience is mostly the last 20 years, but hopefully you can provide some insight.
I have been working a 1970 Ford 4000 3 cyl. diesel that has my local NH dealer and myself stumped. It had oil in the water, new head gasket, machined head, water pump gasket, thermostat gasket, head pressure test. Starts and runs fine, but there is still oil (maybe diesel) in the water. Absolutely not water or diesel in oil. Here's the weird part, removed plate where power steering pump would be and it is all coated with the same white frothy oil/ water "milk". After looking at the parts diagram on the CNH website, it shows a cup plug behind the engine front cover. But the bottom line is, we can't figure how the oil or diesel is getting into the water and not vise versa. In addition to this, the only thing that I could find on the web was a blog about drilling out the oil hole on the front main bearing area and install a sleeve. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
ANSWER: Well here we go. Are you positive that the oil getting into water is engine oil. If yes then you need to check liner protrusion ( how far the liner sticks out of the block). If one is off then you could be causing the head gasket to leak. If NO then you have a transmission oil cooler that is probably cracked. Which is the bottom part of your radiator. Look for the lines from the hydraulic filter to the radiator. Let me know what you find.
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QUESTION: Drew,
There is no oil cooler on the unit and the top of the block is dead flat. This weekend pulled timing cover, engine front plate and head looking for some sign of cracking. Nothing found. Someone on ssbtractor.com mentioned the injector sleeve as a source of the problem. Ever hear of such a thing?
ANSWER: No, never heard of injector sleeve. But did you check what I suggested the liner protrusion? The oil cooler is on a specific type of transmission but still curious if the oil is engine oil.
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QUESTION: Yes, we did check protrusion and the sleeves are even with the block. Also, we are sure that it is engine oil. Before we tore it down, we ran it and checked the dipstick; it was low. We also drained the coolant and let it seperate out.
From your experience, what do you think of this; You know how they pressure test a head to 30 or so PSI. Hypotheticly, why couldn't you make a plate for the intake manifold, on top of the block in place of the cylinder head and a third plate where the water pump is located. On the water pump plate drill and tap a 1/4-20 thread for a piece of brass to connect an air supply to. Basically pressure test the block in the frame. What pressure would you go to? Prior to filling with air fill the water jackets with boiling water to bring block to operating temp. Talking out loud, but give me your thoughts.
AnswerI have thought about this a lot. I have one question that could answer a lot. have you ever checked your radiator cap. The only way oil can get in your coolant is an oil cooler or low pressure in coolant system than the oil pressure. There might be a crack in your water jacket in the block and is transferring do to the pressure difference. Why don't you check the cooling system with the pan off and see if it has coolant draining into the pan reverse from what is going on but the pressure tester eliminates the cap. What you where asking will work see what you find and let me know.
