Oil in radiator

Discussion in 'Freightliner Forum' started by simon999, Jul 4, 2014.

  1. simon999

    simon999 Light Load Member

    240
    95
    Feb 6, 2014
    0
    I have detroit s60 egr engine. I noticed oil in coolant reservour. Then I came to the shop they said it is oil cooler. They replaced oil cooler and flushed the coolant then filled with new coolant. I started driving a week later after repair I notice again some oil in coolant. I did oil analysis at speedco it shows normal potasium levels, oil analysis look fine. It cannont be air compressor becauseI replaced it earlier.
    Any ideas, thoughts ? What else could be?
     
  2. Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.

  3. tucker

    tucker Road Train Member

    12,647
    40,420
    Jun 13, 2008
    IN
    0
    Keep the hood closed
     
  4. Dakota1358

    Dakota1358 Medium Load Member

    431
    500
    Jun 15, 2009
    Staunton,Va
    0
    Might not have been flushed good enough.Once oil gets in certain places it sticks around.I replaced mine and the shop flushed it (they said 5 times) and still had a slight amount in coolant.replaced all my hoses as they needed it anyway and found oil in them.Flushed twice more and good to go.
     
    simon999 Thanks this.
  5. W900AOwner

    W900AOwner Heavy Load Member

    714
    1,282
    Jul 2, 2014
    0
    Agreed...it's tough to get it all out at once.

    Old school trick for you, if you're interested.

    Drain the coolant out and save. (Should be no more than 10-12 gallons, so have three 5 gallon pails clean and ready.) Re-fill radiator with water...and have a family-size bottle of Lestoil household cleaner there, add it into the radiator and run it to circulate throughout the system. Drain, repeat a couple times as long as you have the time and patience. It's a process, but that's unfortunately what it takes to get it cleaned out. At the end I like to remove lower radiator hose and run water and Lestoil directly through the core to get the last of it out.

    Any grease cutting agent will do, but Lestoil worked before my eyes a couple times when I had an oil cooler failure in the past.

    If any residual oil is in the saved coolant, you can easily skim it off with paper towels to remove the oil off the top, or oil absorbant pads if you have access to them too.

    Good luck with it!
     
    simon999 Thanks this.
  6. bad-luck

    bad-luck Road Train Member

    3,017
    5,396
    Nov 16, 2013
    Baltimore, Maryland
    0
    May not be oil. It might be diesel fuel. Detroits are known for the injector cups going bad.
     
  7. OldHasBeen

    OldHasBeen Road Train Member

    1,269
    923
    Dec 16, 2010
    0
    Maybe it was not the oil cooler. I've know mechanic to make such a mistake.

    Once had a Cummings that pushed oil into the radiator, it was the head, they replace it, flushed the radiator, never got no more oil.
     
  8. wore out

    wore out Numbered Classic

    14,322
    173,740
    Jun 5, 2013
    CHASIN THE DEVIL'S HERD
    0
    Drain the coolant fill with water and put powder form cascade in the reservoir, it wont foam and cuts the oil. Run it at operating temp for 20 mins with the idle bumped up, shut down drain and repeat. Then straight water till warm and circulating put the water hose in the reservoir and open the drain #### barely crack water hose. The goal is to keep it circulating while draining and keep fresh water coming in to replace what is draining. When all you are getting is clear water its good to go. Drain and refill. If you reuse the coolant you are not gaining anything as its got oil in it already. Also never put cold water in a hot engine, however it doesn't hurt a thing if they are at running temp so stay with it and monitor the temp gauge.
     
  9. country29

    country29 Medium Load Member

    518
    156
    Feb 27, 2010
    Arkansas
    0
    cascade powder does not work, they took the little blue crystals out and it doesn't work worth a crap anymore. simple green liquid works wonders though and doesn't foam, half a gallon on 1st flush usually gets it clean. I have seen very few 60 series oil coolers go bad, usually it is the head if it is oil or trans cooler will cause same problem also. usually cavitated block or liner will cause compression in coolant system but have seen them cause oil in coolant system occasionally.
     
    wore out Thanks this.
  10. Duramaxxed

    Duramaxxed Light Load Member

    155
    60
    Jan 2, 2012
    Bourbonnais, IL
    0
    Go to a cummins dealer and buy fleetguard restore cooling system cleaner and follow the directions to the T. Stuff works great.
     
  11. GrapeApe

    GrapeApe Road Train Member

    2,215
    2,202
    Jan 7, 2013
    0
    I'll agree with that. It used to work fine, but the last time I flushed one, it sucked. I used Cummins cleaner and it worked good.

    If it has a removeable reservoir tank, I remove it before I drain. It makes a mess, but most of the oil is in there, so I get it off and clean it out. No sense is draining it and getting all that oil back inside the block and radiator.
     
  • Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.