3406E head/liner question

X-2 on the sweet spot @ underpsi.

 

Wow, impressive. The whole point is not adding the extra coolant. Who has extra money on wasting good oil and oil pan gaskets theses days.

What exactly do you think hes gonna find by dropping the pant that he wouldn't see in the oil?

Here's the best solution for you right here logtrucker25 just have an oil sample done, that will pretty much tell you right there. If one gallon of coolant a week is going in your oil you will know it.

 

speedco, 17 dollar.take them bout 15 minutes. you can take your own sample in there and let them test it for ya if you ever get close to one.good luck.

 

It's a long shot, but another thing to try is remove your primary fuel filter and dump it's contents into a glass jar and see if there is any anti-freeze in it. I have an acert that had an anti-freeze to fuel leak through the injector cups. The reason I say it's a long shot is that A-in the vast majority of cases, failed injector cup O-rings will put fuel in the anti-freeze, not the other way around and B-useing as much as you say for as long as you say SHOULD have plugged up your filter by now but it's worth checking. This is providing that you are getting a "check engine light" before adding. If you are just checking and adding because it appears low, then my money is on the "over filling" hypothesis. If you are getting a code (it's 12 on my acerts) then you ARE actually losing anti-freeze somewhere OR have a bad sensor/sensor contact.

 

Were you able to get an oil sample tested? Were you able to dial in the proper coolant level for the truck? A glob of grey sludge on the ground does not sound normal. As stated earlier, remove a valve cover or even the oil fill cap. You may find grey/milky residue. I have heard of the air compressor head gasket causing a water/pressure problem too. I have never had one go out on my truck.

 

I've been battling a similar issue for about 6 months on my C15. Mine was going through about 2 gallons a week. Truck ran fine and did not over heat. I got some good advice for the members here, but did not solve the problem. I wanted it to be anything but a cracked head or gasket. But all indications lead that way. I changed the water pump and air compressor but that did not solve the problem. Cat tech said it was a cracked head.

So here's the kicker. I decided to run a few more weeks to make sure I had the funds for Cat to tear into it. The week before it was to go into the shop, I was at a dock checking the coolant and this older driver walker up and ask the problem. I told him cracked head or gasket. he listened to it run, ask me what was it doing, when did it start, and what was the last problem I had before it started. He then opened the petcock on the top radiator hose and air pressure came out, but no coolant. And the coolant level did not drop when he did so. He said "your radiator is clogged" (Although someone here did mention this, but I didn't know what I was doing to check it)

Sure enough that's what it was. I contacted the previous owner and asked him about it. He said that the radiator sprung a leak in Texas about 2 years ago, and he added some stop leak to it and never had the radiator fix. A week after I got the truck, a heater hose ruptured and upon refill the blocked radiator would not take enough coolant to push the air out of the system; and I thought it was full. I swapped out the radiator with a good one. When filled I got coolant out the vent petcock. It's doing fine now. This is the second week since repair, and it has blew out about a half gallon. But i think it has found its sweet spot now.

Mine lost coolant through the reservoir overflow tube, and I didn't have any milk in my blow by, but you never know. Just some more ideas to feed on.