Sodium in Engine Oil

The only way to test the egr cooler is to remove it and bench pressure test it. I can be tested on engine, but it is just easier to take it right off. Usually when they fail and basically dump coolant into the intake is remove the intake throttle valve and look inside and see it is soaked with coolant. Since your leak is small those easy indicators won't be there. So it is easy for some mechanics to say the cooler is good. Just make sure you don't have a small leak somewhere before you start pulling things apart. Does your engine have the small intercooler on top of the valve cover? This is different and sometimes confused with the EGR cooler.

 

No that top part is called an intercooler. It cools turbocharged air. It can also leak coolant into the intake, but the EGR cooler is the more likely culprit. The EGR cooler is mounted on the engine block on the right side of the engine under the turbos, below the exhaust manifold. It is a rather large aluminum housing. These are not fun to remove. As for your engine, you have a 2010 model Maxxforce DT. The Maxxforce DT, 9 and 10 all use the same book. They are basically the same engine, but different hp and internal displacements. Yes, the link you provided is the right manual. It will show how to remove and test the egr cooler. The tools to test it are dealer specific so I recommend if you are going to remove it your self is to take it to a dealer have them pressure check it. The last one I did showed no signs of leaking visually but did not hold pressure and therefore was leaking.

 

you just keep running until the antifreeze washes down the cylinders and the $500 wont matter

 

Silly question have you tried running it without adding to see if level keeps going down ... I had a Cascadia that if I kept topping up to top line it would drop to just above the add line but if I didn't add any more it stayed there and didn't drop any lower ..

 

Hey Magoo,not only is that not a silly question,it is a GREAT one!I have a shop,so I deal with "broken"equipment daily.You would be suprised to know how many times that over filling solves a coolant loss issue.

 

Yes, this is very true. We have customers over fill coolant and oil all the time and this ends up being the root cause, improper maintenance. The cooling system will only hold so much until pressure and thermal expansion pushes excess out. Your coolant reservoir will have the COLD MAX mark and COLD MIN mark. Check the coolant level at the beginning of the day and adjust the coolant level to be half way between MAX and MIN levels and then recheck it each morning. Having to add every day is a problem and not normal. These engines have a lot coolant connections, not only on the engine, but also for cab heaters too. It is imperative to make sure there are no external leaks. Most oil samples will come back with glycol and potassium if coolant is being burned by the engine. Do not add coolant to a hot engine. Excess coolant will be pushed out from the rad cap and so the reservoir will have coolant stains on it.

 

Another sign of coolant in the oil is elevated aluminum levels in your oil sample. The aluminum will be present in the coolant naturally from aluminum coolant housings and related parts.