Of course I love my job!!! Where else could I drive a $60,000 truck with an oil cooler leak (1 gallon per 100 miles) and told to keep running it?
My cooling system is literally completely full of oil/antifreeze. There's enough pressure in the cooling system that the antifreeze filter is leaking. But, they told me to keep running it. BTW - everyone at my company had planned on getting my tractor towed back in - it was one of the owners that said to keep running. I'm just hoping it'll last another 600 miles or so that I'll have to run to get back to the yard.
I HAD that problem recently. All of a sudden there was oil in my coolant reservoir. Called the boss/truck owner and he called the mechanic. The prognosis made sense to me. Faulty seal in the OIL Cooler (or some other dohickey) letting oil INTO the coolant (sp?) system... but NOT coolant into the oil! [which would be a head gasket problem.] So, things were okay for now. I drove about 1k miles home from Dallas with no problems. I monitored both oil pressure AND temp gauges on the way home. NO problems. Just make sure your oil level is okay before you leave. Of course... your leak could be more precipitous than mine. Wouldn't hurt to stop halfway, shut it down, and check the oil level.
If it's good... keep on trucking to the house!
Wait a minute. 1 gal of oil for every 100 miles? That's pretty serious. Bigger "leak" than mine was. That explains why the filter was "leaking." TOO much pressure and being clogged by oil instead of "passing" coolant. You will need to replace the filter several times before getting home... or the coolant won't be able to FLOW through the motor... and you will probably overheat.
It's not a "towing" situation. But, it will take lots of attention, oil and maybe even coolant (though it won't show as low.) The FILTER will be the choke point.
I once drove a truck home (NC) from Kingman, AZ with NO engine fan cuz the company wanted to save a few bucks. I made it... but, I wouldn't recommend it!
I hope you're putting your initials in the dashboard of every truck you've driven in the last few years. Cuz I sure as heck don't ever want to DRIVE one of them!
Don't worry about oil in the coolant. Worry about oil in the OIL reservoir! (and the filter that allows coolant to flow freely.) If the chit hits the fan... pull into a T/A and tell the boss he needs to FIX it to get it home!
Sounds like my place at times, run'er till she blows. I just laugh and go "aight, not a prob." I know you don't want that though because your out on the road far from home whereas I'm a local driver. They going to pay for a hotel if you don't make it?
I made it back to the shop, surprisingly enough. I drove a total of 1,035 miles and went through 7 1/4 gallons of oil. The truck is still running good and has good oil pressure. I'll check it into the shop first thing tomorrow morning. Just hope it doesn't take too long to repair. I also hope they actually flush out the entire cooling system. Pretty sure that heater cores aren't designed to deal with engine oil filling them up (plus the valves).
I've never had oil in the coolant, but I have had fuel in the radiator a couple of time. First company had me stop at the dealer in Denver and have it fixed. Second one said to run it home. Both times, an O-ring let go in the injector sleeve. I have also had a seal let go in the oil cooler of a Detroit. But, that was leaking on the ground, not into the coolant. Boss had that one fixed in Norfolk, VA.
And, 7 1/4 gallons in a thousand miles is a whole lot. Oil does not cool as well as water... Not as efficient. Good thing it didn't happen during the summer heatwave.
Thanks Windy... that was what he said.... OIL cooler. He just said it was going bad, but that probably/obviously meant a seal. Mine didn't end up on the ground tho.... went right into the coolant system.
They've got the truck ripped apart in the shop. No doubt that it was the oil cooler since it had a huge hole in it. Hoping they'll have it done by tomorrow afternoon. They have me in a loaner truck for now.
Chances are, if the oil cooler had a hole in it, they'll have to wait for a new part. I don't believe that's something that dealers keep "on hand". The seals and o-rings, yes, but the cooler, itself, I don't believe is a "dealer stock item". You may be in the loaner for a day or two longer while the part gets shipped from half way across the country.
I don't see what engine you have. Detroit, right? As far as I know, that's one of their weak areas, among others.
Hobo, the oil cooler, unless you have another external one that uses air flow, uses coolant to cool the oil. The oil temp is higher than the coolant by virtue of the oil spray on the bottom of the pistons to keep them cooled. It depends on which system has more pressure. When they replaced mine, they were concerned about coolant in the oil pan, and found none. It can go both ways. Same thing when an injector leaks fuel into the coolant. If you start getting coolant into the cylinder, it acts just like sugar in the fuel. It's not a good idea to keep running a truck that has a problem like that, but many (if not most) companies consider it cheaper to do the repairs in their own shop rather than on the road. His isn't the only owner that decided to take a chance on making it back or having something more serious as a result of keeping on running it. When they told me to run mine the 700+ miles back to the shop, I had a bit more faith in the decission. The owner of the company had been a "head mechanic" for another company, for years, before he started his own. He knew the inside of an engine like the back of his hand. Something most companies do not have.
And, as for the water filter getting clogged with oil, true, but every truck I've driven has a "by-pass" for the water. Part of the water goes through the filter, and part of it goes through the by-pass. So, clogging up the filter won't stop the coolant from circulating. Matter of fact, the line with the filter had valves on both sides of the filter so they could replace the filter without shutting the engine down. Close the valves, unscrew the filter, and no water leaks. Replace it, open the valves, and you're good to go. But, if you look at the filter, the line for the filter, and the radiator hoses, there's no way that volume of water can flow through the filter only. On the trucks I drove, the diameter of the filter was about the same as the radiator hose, and the line to and from the filter was about half that of the hoses. It would be too restricted for all the coolant to go through the filter. Not set up that way, last time I looked. I would be MUCH MORE CONCERNED about coolant in the oil. It doesn''t lubricate very well, and crank bearings get torn up.
