DT466E coolant in oil.

[BDaugherty]

I'm looking for a little advice from someone more familiar with the DT466E. I'm working on a 2000 International 4700 that was coming down the interstate, started smoking, and eventually shut down. It had coolant in the oil and very, very little coolant left in the radiator. I drained the oil and I'm planning to drop the oil pan and then refill and pressurize the cooling system to see if I can pinpoint the leak from under the truck. I'm thinking injector cups or liner seals... maybe head gasket. What have I not thought of?

 

[Bill Stockard]

Most likely liner seals and/or a pitted liner from not properly maintaining the cooling system. Check for liner pitting right at the grove where the O-ring liner seal fits in the liner. Pressurize the cooling system with the pan removed and you will probably see where the water is dripping down from a liner(s).

Bill

 

[BDaugherty]

Thanks for the advice, Bill. I just recently picked up a moving company as a regular customer and I'm trying to impress them despite my lack of experience on International engines. Most of my background is CAT or the smaller Cummins. I just wanted to make sure that dropping the oil pan and looking for liner leaks was the best route. I'll post back with findings so that I can get further advice.

 

[Wayne M.]

I'm leaning toward head gasket. Does that engine have jacketed injectors? HEUI like ford right? Did you notice the (contaminated) oil level before draining? Was it real high? All that coolant had to go somewhere. The smoke was from the stack? Was it running smooth when it did run?
You're doing the right thing by leak testing below first.

 

[Wayne M.]

Just thinking... We ran those 466E's back in the late '90's and remember doing lots of Waterpumps. When you do get it straightened out, check it over real good.

 

[BIGNASTY]

Mite take a look at the oil cooler just to be on the safe side

 

[BDaugherty]

It came to me "on the hook". There was enough coolant in the oil that I decided not to try to start it. It was running normally three weeks ago when I serviced it, installed a used ECM (reprogrammed by a dealer tech), and cam sensor. The coolant level was good and it had enough freeze protection. I didn't test the SCA levels. The driver said it ran great with no problems. He was heading back from Atlanta last week and it started white smoking and he got a temp/water alarm. He pulled over and it shut off shortly after. The oil level was well over full and it had some coolant mixed into the oil and more settled to the bottom of the pan. I thought about the oil cooler, but I think if it let go during operation the oil would have gone into the radiator. If I have to go through it to do liner seals or something, I will use a reman oil cooler to cover my behind. It does have a HEUI fuel system and uses brass injector cups. I have been told that if you drop the oil pan and pressurize the cooling system that you will either see coolant coming from/around a liner or from over the cam if it's injector cups.

 

[BIGNASTY]

My thought was that the oil pressure would be more than coolant pressure so there would be oil in the coolant or coolant overflow tank if there were a oil cooler problem but when the truck is stopped would it siphon back the other way. I DONT KNOW JUST THINKING OUT LOUD. I dont know what BILL S did or does for a living but seems to be a pretty sharp cookie might look at his idea sounds easy enough to do and would let you know for sure.

 

[NIsaacs]

White smoke is an indicator that it was burning water. A cracked liner (from pitting) could do this and also blow the water out of the radiator. You might turn the engine over by hand (at least twice) and see if it has a hydraulic lock.



Nick

 

[Wayne M.]

Sounds you're on the right track. Tell us how you do. There kinda jobs are brain ticklers. Is that a set back axle? Is the head under the cowl like our rams?

 

[E7mack96]

At the shop I work in, they had one dong that same thing. . It was rebuilt, and failed same day. . THey thought the tech screwed up, so they had another tech rebuild ( both were complete inframes) The 2ns tech even ordered a new head. When the 2nd tech started it up, it ran like 15 minutes and failed again. . Turned out there was a hairline crack in the water jacket of the block. so we ate 2 rebuilds, and mgmt decided to buy a complete short block. . Fun times

 

[BDaugherty]

So this morning I dropped the pan and filled the radiator with a garden hose. Water started running on the ground without me even putting pressure on it. It was pouring so much water I couldn't even get under it and look up. It seemed worse towards the front. It also got pretty hot. I could see 4 corner wear on each liner where the piston was towards the top. There were also small flakes in the oil pan that I noticed after the fact. Now I get to price a rebuild vs installing a used engine. 153K on the 2000 model truck. Rebuild gets him a new engine, but I have to stand behind it. Used gets a relative unknown, but someone else gets to warranty it. I guess we will find out.

 

[Wayne M.]

catastrophic...

 

[Michellelea]

Hi I'm having the same problem....what ended up fixing the mixing of oil and antifreeze

 

[Gonzo 1066]

I have had liner cavitation in MANY DT 466s. Usually around 6000 hours.

 

[BDaugherty]

The liner seals had let go. Once the coolant was gone, it got hot enough to score all the liners. I in-framed it and had the head rebuilt and oil cooler cleaned and pressure tested. I used PAI parts including a new water pump. It wound up needing a high pressure oil pump about a year later, but other than that, no further engine related issues.

 

[Bill Stockard]

I have had liner cavitation in MANY DT 466s. Usually around 6000 hours.

Yep, that commonly occurs when the cooling system wasn't maintained properly and many times less than 6,000 hours. Wet liner engines s require the proper cooling system maintenance.

Bill