WG CRD dumps oil why

[55zed]

Hi, I have had my CRD 2.7 WG only for 2 weeks, got it cheap 'cause the black death, was hoping there was no other problems, drove for 2 weeks and now have oil in the water reserve.. it is engine oil but only about 1 ltr, rest of cooling system seems clean, no oil caught in the top tank of radiator, I ordered a replacement oil cooler, while waiting I removed the old cooler and tried to pressure test in water and really cannot see any bubbles, so I'm not sure if it is the cause, any suggestions out there? not looking forward to pulling the head.. is there a oil galley near water jacket at the head gasket? the engine was running fine and pulling well, never ran hot, sorry for all the questions, Cheers John

[fester]

Originally Posted by 55zed

Hi, I have had my CRD 2.7 WG only for 2 weeks, got it cheap 'cause the black death, was hoping there was no other problems, drove for 2 weeks and now have oil in the water reserve.. it is engine oil but only about 1 ltr, rest of cooling system seems clean, no oil caught in the top tank of radiator, I ordered a replacement oil cooler, while waiting I removed the old cooler and tried to pressure test in water and really cannot see any bubbles, so I'm not sure if it is the cause, any suggestions out there? not looking forward to pulling the head.. is there a oil galley near water jacket at the head gasket? the engine was running fine and pulling well, never ran hot, sorry for all the questions, Cheers John

John I would suggest 1 litre of oil in the water is excessive. You won't see much oil in the top tank of the radiator as it floats to the top and the highest point in the system is the expansion bottle. If there are no other symptoms normally associated with head gasket I would still be leaning to the oil cooler. Mine has lunched 3 of the coolers but no more as I have finally bypassed it.

How did you test the cooler, were you testing the right passages as per my pic. I have not read of any head gasket issues with this motor on either the Jeep, general Merc or Sprinter forums not that it is impossible from poor past treatment. For the record there is nearly always an oil gallery near a water gallery in most heads.

How did the fancy oring look when you pulled the cooler it wasn't leaking there was it. You would be better to get a leakdown or sniffer test done before pulling the head but I would be checking the cooler more thoroughly if it were me.

[55zed]

Hi Fester, I agree any water in the cooling system is no good.

I pressurized the water side as it was easier to fix the air line onto the barb.

The fancy O ring seal thing looked good with no sign of leaking.
Just waiting for the new cooler to get here, I will be having a look at bypassing the motor mounted cooler in the future.

[fester]

Originally Posted by 55zed

Hi Fester, I agree any water in the cooling system is no good.

I pressurized the water side as it was easier to fix the air line onto the barb.

The fancy O ring seal thing looked good with no sign of leaking.
Just waiting for the new cooler to get here, I will be having a look at bypassing the motor mounted cooler in the future.

The water passage might not show up due to the nature of how the water travels through it (not sure though). I put a bit of hose into one oil passage and pressed my blower into that. Put my finger over the other oil hole. To give you piece of mind I would be trying through the oil passages. I also shoved the end of the hose into one oil hole and could see water squirting through the other as my leak must have been right near the opening.

[55zed]

Hi Fester, I am still getting some oil in the reserve tank, I may still have some
floating around the cooling system, what did you use to flush the oil out of
your system?
Cheers John

[fester]

Originally Posted by 55zed

Hi Fester, I am still getting some oil in the reserve tank, I may still have some
floating around the cooling system, what did you use to flush the oil out of
your system?
Cheers John

John I've still got a tiny bit too but then I only finished mine a couple of weeks ago so haven't been running that long.

I used one of the CT degreasers. CT14 bilge and engine cleaner. It works pretty well but not sure if somethign else would work better. Someone else on here told me they used Septone Citrus degreaser but I couldn't get it locally in less than a 20 litre drum and I couldn't wait till my next run to Brissie to track some down. It sounds good cause I know Jeep used a citrus based product when they did it for the previosu owner. I know there is a citrus radiator flush that Merc use as I read about it on a US diesel web site but again I couldn't get it from the nearest Merc dealer. I'm assuming what Jeep used was the same. I wasn't Septone but they are the onyl ones I came across that also had a citrus product.

I ran the degreaser through the engine at the recommended concentration but only around the block a few times each time due to time constraints. I also wonder if it would help to have it in the car on an extended run.

My other thought to try is to get a big syringe with some rubber hose on the end and continually suck the oil off the top of the reservior as it would appear that the oil will gradually make its way there given it floats on water and this is trhe highest part of the system.

I think regardless it can be a slow process. I noticed each time I filled the radiator and dumped it through the bottom hose that the water appeared clear but when the last dribbles of water came out and I held my hand under it I could see little traces of the oil slithering out, yet could not see any in the main stream of water.

[55zed]

Thanks Fester, I will have a look tomorrow and keep trying..