with 400,000 it past your turn and if it turns out to be the head instead..............I would still replace that while your there,
trying to get all that oil out of you cooling system, well it vary vary messy to say the least.

those that have had to replace the eng oil cooler can verify it really


If you haven't got at least 1" of oil floating in your over flow bottle by now...IT probably not your problem.

Flash.

 

Maybe the heater core is contaminated with oily gunk? I hear dishwasher soap ( Electrosol,etc) does a goos job of flushing oily crud out, I feel for ya...I HATE messes.

 

I doubt it's the oil cooler, since this happened at the same time as an overheat. Running without a thermostat for a few days didn't help either - the coolant does not circulate properly in the block and head without the thermostat, it tends to just run through the bypass. I believe it's time for a head gasket.

 

so have you pulled the head?


Flash

 

Poor dumb little old me, not knowing that I was supposed to special-order some eighty-buck special thermostat from Cummins just went to Advance and got a less-than-seven-dollar one, Stant I think, 180*.

I removed the old one, cleaned and flushed out the water-neck gizmo that it fits in, and put it all back together; this was when the engine was sitting in the shop floor.

I haven't touched it since, the engine warms right up to 180* on a mechanical gauge, and will stay there, up hill and down, heavy loaded or empty, idling or wide-open.

I have plenty of heat and it will run you out of the cab on LOW.

Just what is supposed to be so special about the Cummins thermostats ??

With the success I have had with my el-cheapo, I would probably try to get another just like it, should I ever need one again.




By the way, someone asked what PSI the radiator-cap should be.

There are four in the drive-way, and all the Dodge trucks have 16-PSI caps; the Ford/Cummins has a 13-PSI, but it also has a giant-size Ford radiator that has always had a 13-PSI cap.

 

I wanna make a joke about your lack of stack, but I cant kick a guy when he is down. Hope you get it fixed!!!

 

But didn't you make a joke simply by saying you weren't going to make a joke? Kinda like saying 'well, it goes without saying, BUT...' well if it goes without saying, then don't say it! Should have a +.020'' gasket in by 2008 and since my FEMA hauling gig fell through, there MAY be a 7'' miter in my stocking

 

What do you mean by grinding the head ?? just to put in a silly little thermostat ??


Please expand on the subject.

Thanks.

 

Some of the very early heads had excessive casting flash around the area where the t-stat goes. Although a t-stat will physically fit in the opening, the casting flash could catch the t-stat and hinder full opening or full closing. The Cummins unit comes with a template that bolts to the head using the t-stat housing bolts. If the template hole is the same size or smaller than the hole in the head, you're good to go. If any of the head surface is showing through the template, it needs to be marked with a sharpie and ground off. The dang stat came with 6 pages of instructions, pretty comical, really

 

The difference is in the spring weight( the cummins one is heavier) and in the "jingle-pin" openings.
ACcording to a TSB, many aftermarket stats have the jingle pins located where the shoulder the stat sits against will block them, causing an overheat problem.
There are pics of the Cummins stat and an unkown brand aftermarket stat sitting side by side in the stickey, and there is a noticable difference.
I am not saying an aftermarket stat wont work just as well, just explaining why they say dont use the aftermarket ones....

 

I've been experiecing the same kind of problems.....I'm in Southern Az. thankfully (sorry northen guys, couldn't help the poke). My gauge wen tto hot ONCE, never the same since. The gauge wanders all over the place and I have learned how to predict when the heat will "work'! I guess I'm looking at a headgasket, too?
Where is the 'cooler' you guys keep talking about? Tranny cooler in the radiator, I'm guessing, I don't have that. No white smoke, water in the oil, or tells of white crusties anywhere that would 'say here is where I'm leaking'
Don't mean to hi-jack, seams to be a problem many are having right now though. Anybody else?

 

Look here :

https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...6&postcount=10

and here :

https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...d.php?t=146039


Note that the thermostat in Jim Lane's picture appears to only have one weep-hole/jiggle-pin, whereas Chrisreyn's has two.

There are also some obvious differences in their construction.


I think I can find the box that my current thermostat came in, along with the one I took out inside the box; if I can find the box, I will go to Advance and get an identical thermostat in order to compare it with what we know thus far.

 

Well now, my t-stat has THREE weep holes--beat that! In the short novel provided with the kit, it says that the weeps are placed an even distance apart and that their orientation upon install(2 o clock, 4 oclock, etc.) doesn't matter. I will add that it wasn't a Cummins box, nor was it a Case box, now that I think of it. It looks like the pic I posted on page one of this thread, for those who may have missed it. What a bunch of hooey to keep a little 360 cool

 

I put the same thermostat in my truck that Greg did. I crossed a Cummins part # to Case. The thermostat has a Cummins part # on it! If Greg checks his 'stat, he'll find the same part # I gave him from TDR. My truck runs at an even temp, and no problems. The jiggles are so you don't have to bleed anything.

I have only seen 1 bad oil cooler, and overheating had nothing to do with it. It rotted out from the inside. Neglect on the part of the owner.

My opinion is the head gasket is leaking a little someplace. You can drain the oil, leave the plug out, and pressurize the radiator. Wait a while and see if the pressure drops, and look for A/F coming out of the drain hole.

I've worked on Cummins engines for over 10 years, and worked for Case 9 years in May.

My $.05!
pete

 

Where is this oil-cooler and is it for engine-oil or auto-transmission oil ??

There is a gizmo on the wife's automatic truck, sort of tucked down under the exhaust-manifold, on the right side, with some heater-hoses plumbed into it.

Her truck is the only one of four that has it.


As to the "neglect" part of what you said, how does one NOT NEGLECT this cooler in order to prevent this problem ??

Thanks.