yesterday my trucks check gauge light came on, i then realized my truck was really hot. like 220 230 so i shut if off right away. poped the hood and oil coolant mixture was coming out of the over flow tank for the radiator. all most all my oil was in the radiator. barely was able to get a reading on the dip stick. towed it home, took the oil cooler off and the gasket was blown out in two spots. well i got a new one along with gaskets, replaced it and now i have coolant in my oil. compete oposite of what is was 2 days ago. any idea of what it could be. hope i didnt screw up the gasket when i put it all back together. any ideas would be GREATLY aprreciated. thank you.

 

It sounds like you have a blown head gasket, cracked head/block or both.

Why did you think to pull the oil cooler? You said you replaced the oil cooler and the gaskets? What was the problem with the oil cooler that made you replace that?

If you have coolant in your oil you have at least a blown head gasket. Most likely the coolant was in your oil two days ago you just couldn't tell because it was below the dipstick.

You are in for a head job for sure. I just installed a new head because of cracks. Make sure you send your head to a machine shop to be cleaned, decked and magnafluxed. Good luck.

 

thats the problem. i just blew the head gasket 2 weeks ago and then put studs in. had the head presure checked and it was ok. had it magnafluxed and it had three cracks but none were a problem. the block is darn near brand new. only has 15000 on it. had a 53 block but cummins gave me a new updated block. i thought about the oil cooler becuaes thats the only real place where oil and coolant are close to each other. its weird because 2 days ago, i only had oil in the coolant system, so i took the cooler out and sure enough, gasket was out. replaced cooler and gaskets just to be on the safe side and now i have coolant in my oil system. oil is no longer going in the radiator, well not to to sure, but its weird. filled it up with oil and flushed the radiator, now oil wont even register on the dipstick and no oil in radiator. oil has to be going somewhere, im not blowing smoke while driving so i have no clue. i just took it to cummins west here in fresno and they are going to do a presure test to find out where its coming from. if not the cooler gasket, i sure hope its just head gasket and not a cracked block.

 

I don't think I have ever heard that cracks in a head are not a problem. How many quarts of oil did you put in the engine after you replaced the oil cooler? I know I put about 13 quarts in when I perform a regular oil change. Your truck is heavily bombed, If I were you I would either have the head replaced or the cracks fixed, especially if you are towing. The ARP studs are capable of a torque up to about 120 lbs. I think I torqued mine to 110. I can't imagine that somebody told you that three cracks in your head weren't a problem. The most common place to have oil and coolant mix is from the head gasket or head cracks. I would be willing to bet that is your problem again. I would say the cracks are suspect. The oil must be going into the combustion chamber, that is the only place it can go that you would not see it. After you fill it with oil, how long does it take before you don't see it on the dipstick?

 

Out of curiosity, how many miles on your rig?

 

Just gotta ask where you took your gallery pics at. looks like its around the shields/Mckinley and Westlawn/monroe area I used to live in the area till i was 20

 

Zfort, it was taken on maple in between adams and manning.

as far as the head being cracked, you will not find a cummins motor that doesnt have atleast one crack in it. i had it presure tested and magnafluxed and the crackes were no where near oil or coolant passages. i have only 22000 on the motor, cummins gave me a brand new one after i showed them my old 53 block. i mean, it might be the new oil cooler gasket i put in. mabey i messed it up because i seriosly mabey got less than a half of cup full of water in the oil but man, all my oil is going somewhere. after i changed the cooler, i put new oil and filter in and it took 12.5 quarts. let it idle for about 30 min, trying to flush out oil in radiator, then thats when i decided to check oil level and it wouldnt even register on the dip stick. my problem is if it is still going into the radiator, how come its not pusshing the coolant out this time. i have no freakin clue whats going on here. hope the motors nots cracked. hope its just oil cooler gastket AGAIN or even a HEADGASKET again. long as the motor is still good.

 

Which is easier to check, oil cooler gasket or head gasket? I'd check the oil cooler gasket first then go on to the head gasket. Anyway thats my 2 cents worth

 

thats the thing, i just did. i replaced both the oil cooler and both gaskets and its still doing it. my question is y would this lead to a head gasket? i thought the head didnt have high presure oil? i thought the only place whre high presure oil and coolant are close is the oil cooler. if its not that, i surely hope its just a head gasket and not a cracked block.

 

how many of you have heard or by chance have had a cracked block besides the 53 block. i havent heard of any in that matter so i really hope i am not the first.

 

There is oil all over the top of the head in the valve train area. A crack in the head can suck this oil in on the cylinder intake stroke and on the combustion cycle force it through another crack or head gasket into the coolant.

 

gotcha makes perfect since. never thought of it that way thanks for the info. hopfully it is just the oil cooler again, if not i sure hope its just a head gasket or head and not the block

 

was just thinkin and talked to my dad and came up with this. if it was a head gasket like you were sayin, wouldnt i have lost compresion in atleast on cylinder. truck would have been running really ruff on just 5 cylinders. i also never saw my boost go lower than 46 at WOT so if it was a headgasket, wouldnt my boost be lower than normal?

 

If the truck isn't burning oil, then it wouldn't be sucking oil into the cylinder.

 

There are high pressure passages through the head that feeds oil pressure to the valve train, the only way to get oil to valves is to go throught the block through the head gasket and then through the head and into the valve train.

If you have oil in the antifreeze there is one way to eliminate a blown head gasket, just fill the radiator to the top and start the engine with the radiator cap off, if you have a blown head gasket, you will have water and possibly air bubbling out of the radiator. As far as having low compression, yes that is a possibility, if you have access to a compression guage with the correct adaptor you could run a compression check on all cylinders and see if one is low. If you have a cracked head, then it would not show up on a compression test I don't think. Just try filling the radiator, and running it without the cap, this will tell you if its the head gasket or not. Let us know what you find.