Antifreeze in oil, Help
 

I had a oil analysis done recently and they found potasium in my oil. They said that the potasium could be from the engine assembly, but told me to check my antifreeze level. I just changed my oil today and also checked my antifreeze level. The antifreeze is low, almost to the add line. The oil analysis also found aluminum in the oil alomg with several other things. Here is a copy of the oil analysis so that you can see the results.

http://dodgetruckworld.tenmagazines....SEL/360339.jpg

So my question to you all

1 - Do I worry about it?

2 - Do I put my Diablo puck/predator combo on?

3 - Do I run it a while and send in another oil analysis and see if it is still there?

4 - What can cause such results in the oil analysis?


Thanks

06 DIESEL

Travis Hoene

How many miles do you have on your truck?

Rick

take it to the dealer. it must be still under warranty

22,8xx

You have a pm.

Rick

I would take it to the dealer along with the oil analisys report

let them give ya an answer....its free....well you paid for it in the beginning so ya just as well use it

If you are getting antifreeze in your oil , you will also be getting water, if this antifreeze water mix is very much in quantity you will notice the oil will have a milky white color.

The oil was as black as coal, not milky white, but it did run more like diluted oil than oil.

I would definitely take it to a dealer and maybe contact Cummins , as I have heard that dodge can be a pain to work with. Also Cummins would know more, most of the techs at these dealers know very little about theses diesel engines.

Unless something has very recently changed Cummins won't work on your 3rd gen engines anymore. Contract dispute between Cummins and Dodge over Software rights to be able to work on them.

Good Luck with this Sounds Scary to me

D<

Can't see the report very well. Potassium is almost exclusively engine coolant. Other coolant elements can be silicone, chromium, and sodium. Are any of these elevated? What did OA recommend... to change oil? If it came back ok, you might be able to wait and run another analysis later, but definitely don't go beyond warranty miles. If the OA was ok, at least your not compromising wear protection. Tough call.

Good advice there Heath.

I'll get a better copy up here shortly. Several levels were increased and some dramatically. Thanks for the advice.

Here is a better copy

http://dodgetruckworld.tenmagazines....SEL/360911.jpg

The levels that are increased/decreased off average and by how much are as follows-
Aluminum +4
Chromium -1
Iron +14
Lead +2
Tin -1
Molybedenum -15
Maganese +1
Silver +1
Potasium +25
Boron -79
Silicon +2
Sodium -1
Calcium +385
Magnesium +227
Phosperous + 595
Zinc + 257
Barium +97

OA = Oil Analysis? If so it said that the oil was fine with a TBN at 9.6 and recomended to change oil just to see if that would take care of the potasium level. They suggested running 7500 on the next change before even sampling, but I think I might put like 1000 on and sample it just to check it out and be safe.

The question that begs to be answered is what kind of oil are you using?

Rick

P.S. I'll have a difinitive answer a little later this evening.

Cen-Pe-Co 15-W-40

Thanks BTW

Sounds like a good recommendation. Just to show some variation in labs, here are some normal levels according to Oil Analyzers Inc.-specified for a diesel engine.
alum-<10
chromi-1-8
iron-10-40
copper-3-15
lead <15
tin <15
nickel <5
silicon <15
sodium <25

According you this, you look good except for that potassium. I think if any shows on your 1000 miles, you have good reason to have it looked at.
Heath

Cen-pe-co. That's local from around here. Farm Services bought them out about a year ago. Based right out of Iowa I believe. They are high paraffin oils...that's their selling point. Not the best for winter months though. It's used a lot in farm equipment around here.

I run it because that is what we run in all of our farm equipment and semi's back home, never had a problem with it in say 20+ years I think.

FYI,

Heath is right on the money with his cliff notes version of oil analysis. (Thank you Heath)

From my source(s) unless you are putting bannas in your oil, Coolant is your only culprit.

My question is if there were actually coolant in there why was there no water?

Rick

??? Your guess is as good as mine. I checked the level again tonight and the radiator is still full but the level in the resivor is 1/2" lower since sunday. I am calling the dealer in the morning and get me a appointment on sat morning.

Good idea. That's a bummer. Things like that shouldn't be happening to such a new truck:mad2:

They put some dye in it today and told me to drive it for 500-1000 miloes and bring it back in so they can look for the dye and see where the antifreeze is going.

06 DIESEL

Just an idea, but your levels are not that high in your UOA. Are you perhaps checking your oil with a coolant soaked rag on a regular basis? Did you add oil from a container that once contained coolant? Also, for the leak-check the tightness of your heater hose above the turbo. Just a few ideas...

Especially at the dip stick seal, oil fill cap and crank case vent. Any place steam can escape this milky substace will collect.

New development
 

I took a new oil sample tonight and it was really runny and had a sort of bubbly mixture on the top of the sample. I also checked my antifreeze level in the overflow. I marked it cold a few weeks ago and it was hot today when I checked. It was about two inches lower than the mark. I am sending off the sample in the morning, I hope that they can get to it fast so I can find out if the antifreeze is going in to the oil. :se:"give::scared2:

Let's hope for the best.

So if it is antifreeze, what is the cause...head gasket?

Most likely. Could also be a crack in the block, but it's rare.

Still waiting for the analysis to get back. I think that there is a problem though since the truck is starting to make wierd noises and run like crap. I am hoping for the best but fearing the worst.