96 12Valve bad blow-by and coolant in oil!!
 

Just bought this beast and previous owner said he had the head magnafluxed (whatever that is...) and a new head gasket with ARP studs installed by a performance diesel specialty shop. Don't know what the tech was smokin', cuz now my oil is totally contaminated with coolant. Could the oil cooler possibly be the cause? Another cummins tech told me that the cooler failing would only cause oil in the coolant, not the other way 'round... Any ideas? :argh:

I would start with the oil cooler .. if that fails to make a happy result .. Your gonna be pullin the head .. :argh:

Fun Fun! :jump: Anything I need to know about the oil cooler job? Might just get one from RockAuto unless I should get a certain brand...?

Failed oil cooler usually leads to oil in coolant sounds like gasket or cracked head or head gasket blew prior and the previous owner though he could get away with not resurfacing the head

I would make sure you get a high quality part .. and Detroit may end up being righ ton the money .. But .. its a place to start .. least you will know its done ..

and yeah you most likley will end up pulling the head .. possibly a stud thats loose coolant worked its way through the HG material .. :ouch::argh:

I doubt it's the cooler bud, oil pressure is always greater than the coolant pressure so oil makes it's way to the coolant but not the other way around, more than likely going to have to pull the head and see what's going on. How long ago was the work carried out?

Cummins parts only

I have seen oil in coolant and coolant in oil .. and it wasnt the HG .. Coolers can suck in coolant .. once cool they can and will do that ..

BUT... Ur right .. it typically is the HG tha makes coolant in oil .. :tu:

Time to blow the bank :(

Mine did the same thing if I remember correctly like bootjunkie says it's highly unlikely that it's the oil cooler....hate to say it but most likely your head gasket is leaking somewhere


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took a chance and changed the oil cooler... Didn't help, and I could have had the head off by now. :argh: Anyway, I'm pullin' the head now. Do I need to buy new head studs? It's already got ARP studs in it. What do I torque them to? Is there a certain brand of HG that you guys recommend? Anything else I should know?

Buy a CUmmins stock HG
The studs are fine, Torque them in 3 steps, 40, 60, 90#'s .. then run and retorque to 100#'s ..
:tu:

If I were you I would go with a mlx layered headgasket much stronger than stock hg, thats what I did with arp 2000's (12mm studes)haven't had a problem , you can find the head gasket on jegs performance website.:rocking::tu:

The only way I would do the MLS HG is if you had the block and the head milled ... the MLS HG will not seal with micro scratches on the head or block surfaces ...

The stock HG with studs with out o-rings will hold about 60# boost... with o-rings around 90# boost ( depending upon the type of studs used of course ...

I am doing a Stock HG, with ARP 2000's , seen manny trucks at near or above 600HP with out rings .. :tu:

Sounds of it he might end up milling the head

IMO personally I would have the head checked at a machine shop make sure the heads not warped...seeing as that was supposed to be a new HG....and you putting a new gasket on a warped head or block is gonna put you right back in the same boat you're in already.... once you see If it need machining then you can decide what thickness HG you'll actually need


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So I pulled the head, and I can't see any signs of the HG leaking at all! Can't see any cracks in head either... Where do these heads normally crack? I'm going to get it magnafluxed again and pressure tested and checked for straightness. Anything else I should check while it's off? :scare2:

Start looking for cracks in block around the bolt holes .. if you can .. Go get some Dykem and clean you block real good .. then smear dykem all over the HG surface and allow it to dry .. then with a nice 2x4" piece of box steel and some 600 grit .. gently sand over the deck at a Diagnial direction .. after you have done this in 2 directions .. you should be able to wipe block with a bit of Aceotione and there maight be streeks that would indicate cracks ..

Got the head off and can see no signs of HG leakage anywhere. Took it to a really good machine shop and they said the head was perfect! I was looking on another forum and ran across a post saying that it could be the Tappet cover (expansion plug leak). Is there any chance that that could be the issue? I'm so frustrated, just want to find a smoking gun! :dang:

Tappet cover would leak oil on ground .. an Expansion plug .. maybe .. or a crack in the block somewhere .. BUT . Just cause you dont see the leak in the HG dosent mean it wasnt the issue .. Get some studs and get that bad boy back on the road !!

So it could possibly be an expansion plug? How could a failed expansion plug leak coolant into the oil? I'll stick the head back on first and see if it fixes it. Sure hope it does!

Not sure if there i any plugs behind the tappet ove that go into the Coolant system or not.. :humm:
I wil open the manual and see what I can find... :pca1:

AAAHHHHH!!!!!
 

Got the new head gasket on, did everything right... torqued it all down right. head was checked. Block is flat. Still dumping coolant in my oil! I am going to get to the bottom of this. I have a hankering that there is another place that the oil and coolant get cozy with each other... Does anyone know where? :argh:

I've read some other posts on other forums and starting to wonder if my "no vacuum" problem is linked to the white blow-by? Is there a chance that it is not coolant that is making my oil all frothy? My vacuum pump works a short time when the engine is started, and then completely cuts out. The bad white blow-by starts to appear after that...

There is some freeze plugs behind pushrod cover that could be ur problem

Do I have to pull the inj. pump to get to them?

YUP ..:argh:

Same issue I’m getting coolant in my blow by catch can
 

Trying to see if you ever figure out what the problem was. I’m running into the same right now. Can’t seem to find the problem. Already did the head gasket with arp studs, new oil cooler and still getting coolant out the crank case breather.