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Oil in the coolant

Hyperdrive

Hyperdrive

Seasoned Expediter
Owner/Operator
I have just discovered oil in my coolant expansion tank. It is engine oil. Just had WW Williams in Atlanta look at it and they say my oil cooler is not leaking. They took it off and pressure tested it. The truck is a Sterling with the 330 HP MBE. 6 speed Allison transmission.
They say it being a head gasket is a 1 in a million chance on this engine.
Do any of you have any thoughts as to where the oil could be coming from. No more than a couple of ozs. found. Not sure how long this has been going on.
 
davekc

davekc

Senior Moderator
Staff member
Fleet Owner
Has this truck had the radiator replaced recently? If so, then it is oil out of the replacement radiator that was put in for storage. If not, then you are going to many places including your head-gasket, cracked block, damaged head or block seals, EGR, with the latter being a common problem on Mercedes.
Have to run more tests to determine the problem. Best bet is a Detroit Diesel shop. Stay away from dealers as most are parts changers rather than actual technicians that can diagnose something.
 
Turtle

Turtle

Administrator
Staff member
Retired Expediter
Pulling off the oil cooler and pressure testing it won't test for bad oil cooler o-rings, which is probably where it is leaking. Since the oil is finding it's way into the coolant, it has to be from someplace where it is under pressure above cooling system pressure, and that usually points to the oil cooler and its seals. That's assuming the oil is engine oil, and not transmission oil, where a cracked radiator can allow transmission oil into the coolant.
 
Hyperdrive

Hyperdrive

Seasoned Expediter
Owner/Operator
We are at the WW Williams shop in Atlanta and they are Detroit Diesel Allison Transmission service center. New o rings will be put on when they reinstall the oil cooler. Hope this was the problem. They say it is a small amount of oil and probably will not cause much of a problem as long as I watch fluid levels.

Thanks for the input.

Dave I now owe you another lunch at Max and Ermas at the Expo if you ever make it to another one. :)
 
P

purgoose10

Veteran Expediter
Hyperdrive said:
We are at the WW Williams shop in Atlanta and they are Detroit Diesel Allison Transmission service center. New o rings will be put on when they reinstall the oil cooler. Hope this was the problem. They say it is a small amount of oil and probably will not cause much of a problem as long as I watch fluid levels.

Thanks for the input.

Dave I now owe you another lunch at Max and Ermas at the Expo if you ever make it to another one. :)
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Get both the coolant and the oil analyzed at speedco there in Atl. It should tell you, but it might be o-rings around the cooler. If you have a trace of anti/in your oil it's probably the head. I would start with the analysis. :cool:
 
davekc

davekc

Senior Moderator
Staff member
Fleet Owner
Hyperdrive said:
We are at the WW Williams shop in Atlanta and they are Detroit Diesel Allison Transmission service center. New o rings will be put on when they reinstall the oil cooler. Hope this was the problem. They say it is a small amount of oil and probably will not cause much of a problem as long as I watch fluid levels.

Thanks for the input.

Dave I now owe you another lunch at Max and Ermas at the Expo if you ever make it to another one. :)
Click to expand...

I may take you up on that! Good luck on the fix. Sounds like they got a handle on it.
 
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