Thought I Ruined It

[dusthomps]

Well boys, my 91 is out of commission for about a week. I left the drive way this morning and made it about a block when the oil pressure light came on. Booked back home and opened the hood to find the passenger side of the engine compartment full of oil. Shut it down immediately and let it sit for 15 minutes when I noticed oil coming out of the coolant overflow tank. My immediate thought was I blew the head gasket. Pushed it into the garage and called a friend and he agreed, probably head gasket. My buddy came over and we tore the engine down and finished in about three hours. I sent the head away to be cleaned, checked for cracks, and have the valves redone as long as I had the head off. Another friend stopped by who just graduated from tech school for diesel mechanics. Describe the situation to him and he thought we should check the engine oil cooler. After pulling that apart we put 15 psi of air into the cooler unit and sure enough, he was right. The cooler had separated from the plate its attached to. What a big mess for something so minor. The way I look at it, at least the upper half will be basically brand new when it's back together. Has anyone priced or bought an oil cooler? Just wondering if I should be in for a shock when I ask how much it costs. My one friend recommend that I turn the old girl down to avoid any future problems. I'm pondering the thought, but I don't think I will.





Dustin

 

[KBalzuweit]

I believe they are in the $250 range. There are a few dealers online that will disc parts up 35%. Thats allot better than the local stealers will do in my area. Karl

 

[Greenleaf]

Never replaced one. Good idea to have the head checked out. Be sure that they check for warpage while at the machine shop. Just to be safe. My shop will only do it if I specify.



Turn her DOWN!? How will that effect the oil cooler???? Better have that "head" checked out. But seriously, unless you have 150psi oil pressure,I dont think it's an issue here. Maybe check your psi when you get her up with a master gauge at the oil port.



One last thing..... paint mark each head bolt after you compete the finish torque/turn. Somebody WILL interrupt you.



Scott



I don't cork my bat

 

[RHancock]

Did mine about 6 months ago, thought the same thing head gasket but did a search here and found quite a bit about the problem. It seems there was a TSB when the 91's were new about the cooler seperating and causing the same problem.



I got my new oil cooler from the local freightliner dealer, they stock them, if I remember right with gaskets (buy the updated ones) it was about 230$.



BTW enjoy getting the two+ gallons of oil out of your cooling system. A little dawn dishwashing liquid and about 3 or 4 flushes works. I found it best to run it for about three days till the fluid looked like a gray consistancy then flush it. I used the pit where we wash Locomotives at work but you may have to find somewhere else to deal with the oil/water residue. .



At least yours did it at home I had to go get a trailer and tow mine 45 miles home with my full size blazer no less. .

 

[BushWakr - RIP]

A close call that's for sure... . I bet you can still see the cross-hatching of cylinder hone marks on the cylinder walls... . look and see if they are visible...

It's amazing what these ole girls will take and come back for more... .

You may want to manually deck the block, or dress it to make sure you have no major variations. .



Get yourself some 200-400 fine and a dead flat board, then back and forth to look for low spots.

Shop vac the cylinders when you're done, and give em a wipe of fresh oil then cover them over until the head drops on top. .



Marking the bolts is a GOOD idea, then run to normal operating temps, let cool and re-torque & re-set valves for good measure. OH, make sure you pre-lube the turbo bearing a bit before you start it up...



It may take some time to get it started at first. Use the bleed screw on the drivers side of the engine, just above the fuel filter.

Have a fully charged battery ready, and a good batt. charger handy.

Careful not to overcrank the starter, they can heat up quickly once compression is up.

White smoke from the tailpipe means your finally getting fuel to the cylinders, from there it's not long to running condition.

Good luck. .



Bob.

 

[dusthomps]

Well, the best price for the oil cooler was at the local Cummins dealer. $275, that includes shipping. There isn't one available at a distrubutor in WI, MN, IA, IN, SD, ND, and MI. All in all I didn't think it was all that bad. Buddy of mine paid $320 for his oil cooler for an old 6. 9L Ford.



Scott, good idea on the head bolts. I'll pick up a paint pen tomorrow since the head is now finished.



RHancock, I'll try the Dawn dishsoap trick. I had planned on flushing the system about 4-5 times, but this may be more effective.



Bob, You can indeed see the cross-hatching of cylinder hone marks on the cylinder walls. Plain as day at 220k.



The cooler will be in on Thursday, the gasket set will be in tomorrow so hopefully I'll have the old girl running again by Friday.



Thanks for the tips guys... .

Dustin

 

[Greenleaf]

..... and for that matter, paint-mark the rockers after adjustment.

 

[dusthomps]

Back On The Road

Well, the old girl is back on the road and knocking like never before. Overall it runs about the same as it did before the valve job, but it was money well spent. The updated oil cooler is a large improvement over the stock one. Cost on the new cooler was cheaper than I was quoted as well. $210 for the cooler and $8 for the shipping. The only question I have is when crawling underneath to check for any fuel leaks near the back of the motor, I noticed a good amount of steam coming out the breather. Never noticed it before so I wanted to ask if this is normal, or something that will disappear in time?



Thanks,

Dustin

 

[BushWakr - RIP]

You can be pretty sure it's not steam. As the miles increase they can have a noticable bit of smoke out the breather. That's common.

Just be sure to re-torque the head bolts properly after a normal run to operating temps.



Glad the ole horse is back up and running.



Bob.