Pressurized Coolant + Oil Blowby Help/Thoughts

hkpierce

'02 140 Hi BlueBlk Pass
I ran about 800 miles on a quart per 200 miles fluid loss. I managed it by a reduced cap of 15lb, with a pressure release cap. Then I rigged from the overflow pipe a line into a bottle snuggled against the radiator that caught the expelled coolant, which I put back in with barely a loss of the expensive G05 coolant. Here is the link: https://sprinter-source.com/forums/index.php?threads/46211/post-830850, but the 2nd picture was of my first iteration of the bottle under the radiator. Not as convenient as right near the top.

Here is the link to the T1N Database on cap pressures: https://sprinter-source.com/forums/index.php?threads/81896/
 

PhillipisHappy

New member
I ran about 800 miles on a quart per 200 miles fluid loss. I managed it by a reduced cap of 15lb, with a pressure release cap. Then I rigged from the overflow pipe a line into a bottle snuggled against the radiator that caught the expelled coolant, which I put back in with barely a loss of the expensive G05 coolant. Here is the link: https://sprinter-source.com/forums/index.php?threads/46211/post-830850, but the 2nd picture was of my first iteration of the bottle under the radiator. Not as convenient as right near the top.

Here is the link to the T1N Database on cap pressures: https://sprinter-source.com/forums/index.php?threads/81896/

Thanks that is helpful to see how you rigged that up.
I've got an old cap that came with the van, its pretty loose and wobbly. When my coolant overflows it actually comes out the cap instead of nicely through the overflow. When I put a more solid fitting cap on thats when I had hoses come off or have it leak and spray through the overflow tank seam.



Vanski came out today on short notice and really helped me diagnose my problem - much appreciated! The problem wouldn't show itself for quite some time and he was pretty sure it was just a cap issue (which I had my fingers crossed for) We took the van out on a few drives and really gunned it with the new cap on that I got from Europarts-SD. We tried the glove test a few times, no dice. We took it up some extended steep hills and the van was fine. Decided to try one even steeper hill to really be sure and then we heard a loud SNAP sound and my low coolant light came on.

Limped it back to a parking lot not far away and popped the hood. The hose coming from the engine to the overflow tank had come off and the clamp snapped which is what made the loud noise. I had an extra clamp and we added some more G05 mixed with distilled water and took it home. Tried the glove test one more time and sure enough the glove filled up. Head gasket with the possibility of the head being warped.

I'm going to be putting a used engine in and a new tranny in the future. My current engine is definitely louder than the T1N Vanski brought by, mine had a ticking which his did not. Chris also recommended that a better tranny be put in with the new-to-me engine since mine wasn't shifting the best. Its nice to have it all diagnosed, although the outcome is a bummer and a financial set back. I'll be stoked to have a nice strong engine put in and hopefully keep myself on the road driving instead of repairing things.

Thanks again for sharing your time and knowledge Chris.
Vanski is very knowledgeable and a great resource for sprinter guys in the SF Bay Area.
 

vanski

If it’s winter, I’m probably skiing..
No problem Phil. Sorry the prognosis wasn’t just a faulty cap. It took a while to rear it’s ugly head (lol) but it finally did.

..., thing about this leak is it would only leak @ 100% load.... and it needed to be pushed there a few times, and when it started leaking it was very evident.

Given the clacking, poor shifting, and signs pointing to a warped head and not just a gasket r/r, I agree, scrap the motor and the trans together, find a good donor, swap... swap your new injectors into your new to you motor, send the old Injectors back with the core.

if for whatever reason you can find a good head at a reasonable price... it might be worth doing the hg replacement given the injectors are fairly new and should come out no problem. Then there’s the tranny which may just need a proper fluid job?? it doesn’t necessarily need to be replaced but could be easy to do with a swap from the donor with the motor, assuming that one is in good shape.
 

PhillipisHappy

New member
No problem Phil. Sorry the prognosis wasn’t just a faulty cap. It took a while to rear it’s ugly head (lol) but it finally did.

..., thing about this leak is it would only leak @ 100% load.... and it needed to be pushed there a few times, and when it started leaking it was very evident.

Given the clacking, poor shifting, and signs pointing to a warped head and not just a gasket r/r, I agree, scrap the motor and the trans together, find a good donor, swap... swap your new injectors into your new to you motor, send the old Injectors back with the core.

if for whatever reason you can find a good head at a reasonable price... it might be worth doing the hg replacement given the injectors are fairly new and should come out no problem. Then there’s the tranny which may just need a proper fluid job?? it doesn’t necessarily need to be replaced but could be easy to do with a swap from the donor with the motor, assuming that one is in good shape.

I will consider that option thoroughly and look into a proper flush on the tranny. This is an expensive job no matter what so I want to make the best decision.
 

vanski

If it’s winter, I’m probably skiing..
You may want to do an oil analysis on your motor up front to determine if there are any red flags... this will help out in the decision process. Blackstone Labs... there are others
 
B

billintomahawk

Guest
If you’ve got the clack that means the engine at one time was cooked, I’ve seen many an owner ask me what’s the best remedy to fix the clack. There really is none other than replace or complete rebuild.
jrod, I've got the clack up to 1200-1500 rpm more or less, then my engine goes silent and runs great without the clack, it runs great when it clacks, but it clacks starting out. I am the third owner, radiator was replaced at 50k for a coolant leak...smoking gun??

It's driving me a little crazy because I don't want to blow up. No smoke, great fuel mpg, great acceleration with GDE tune. No oil leaks or fuel leaks, no water leaks, runs cool, no black death, no codes. Injector leak off test great. Has been clacking for 10k miles at least.

Damn the clack continues. Maybe it always did but I just got sensitive to hearing it as my experience with the diesel engine became more refined?
Advice, anyone?
Live with it?

Pull the injectors and send them?

bill in tomahawk
 
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autostaretx

Erratic Member
Thermostat opens at 192F correct? I will check for bubbles.
My memory says 80 or 85 C .... 192 F is 88.8 C

My only comment on the cracked gasket is that escaping gasses can etch a slot on both sides of the gasket: head and engine block. Additional machining required ... and there is probably a limit as to how deep they can go.

--dick
 

vanski

If it’s winter, I’m probably skiing..
A little clacking can come from many different sources. Even fouled injectors can cause clacking. In Phil’s case It does sound like the clack is bottom end in nature, but given the head was machined down, perhaps it’s the pistons hitting the head just a tiny bit. Probably not worth the test of pulling the head, but given the head wasn’t done too long ago and it’s been making that clack since he owned it and the other owner wanted to get out from under the vehicle, there’s a chance..
 

jrod5150

Well-known member
jrod, I've got the clack up to 1200-1500 rpm more or less, then my engine goes silent and runs great without the clack, it runs great when it clacks, but it clacks starting out. I am the third owner, radiator was replaced at 50k for a coolant leak...smoking gun??

It's driving me a little crazy because I don't want to blow up. No smoke, great fuel mpg, great acceleration with GDE tune. No oil leaks or fuel leaks, no water leaks, runs cool, no black death, no codes. Injector leak off test great. Has been clacking for 10k miles at least.

Damn the clack continues. Maybe it always did but I just got sensitive to hearing it as my experience with the diesel engine became more refined?
Advice, anyone?
Live with it?

Pull the injectors and send them?

bill in tomahawk
The clacking I am referring to From overheating and should be constant. If your head gasket isn’t blown and the van has some noise at a specific rpm I wouldn’t worry too much. Just keep on top of the cooling system and services. You can dig into the injectors but I’d personally do the leak down test. If it checks good why disturb it.
As Vanski says there’s all kinds of things that can cause clacking and if the pistons are hitting the head would it be worth replacing the head only to find out that it wasn’t the head and is something else? Too much potential for big money spent and still having a clack,
 

PhillipisHappy

New member
The clacking I am referring to From overheating and should be constant. If your head gasket isn’t blown and the van has some noise at a specific rpm I wouldn’t worry too much. Just keep on top of the cooling system and services. You can dig into the injectors but I’d personally do the leak down test. If it checks good why disturb it.
As Vanski says there’s all kinds of things that can cause clacking and if the pistons are hitting the head would it be worth replacing the head only to find out that it wasn’t the head and is something else? Too much potential for big money spent and still having a clack,

So are you suggesting that a motor replacement makes the most sense?
 

jrod5150

Well-known member
So are you suggesting that a motor replacement makes the most sense?
If you want to fix the clacking Yes, if you just want to fix the combustion leak then probably not. Just be prepared to buy a head if you go for just the combustion leak repair and the possibility that the clacking could still be there even with the head replaced
 

PhillipisHappy

New member
If you want to fix the clacking Yes, if you just want to fix the combustion leak then probably not. Just be prepared to buy a head if you go for just the combustion leak repair and the possibility that the clacking could still be there even with the head replaced
Ah I see, I feel like I will have to get a new head and not just a gasket. The clacking sort of disappears once I go above 55mph, its at lower speeds when its most notable.
 

owner

Oz '03 316CDI LWB ex-Ambo Patient Transport
A clack at idle is most probably an overfuelling injector. You need to do the injector smooth runnning test using star diag.
 

jrod5150

Well-known member
A clack at idle is most probably an overfuelling injector. You need to do the injector smooth runnning test using star diag.
According to the inspection done by vanski of the noise being at the bottom end, I highly doubt an injector is going to be the cause.
 

jrod5150

Well-known member
Ah I see, I feel like I will have to get a new head and not just a gasket. The clacking sort of disappears once I go above 55mph, its at lower speeds when its most notable.
You probably just can’t hear it :LOL:. Your fighting two issues here. Don’t throw good money after bad.
 

vanski

If it’s winter, I’m probably skiing..
To better inspect the clacking you could inspect the oil filter for metallic pieces. Little trick I picked up from Midwestdrifter is to cut away tge outside media of the filter and then rinse the filter into a coffee filter.

The oil analysis is a pretty sure bet to determine if the mechanics within the motor are messed up...
 

PhillipisHappy

New member
For anyone that finds this thread in the future.

The problem was that my pistons were worn- all of them 1-5.
Obviously I had to spend the money to open them up to find that out, hoping it was only going to be a head gasket replacement.

At that point I made the decision to stop all work on the current engine.
And made a call to https://www.sprinterpitstop.com/ in San Diego - I am in the bay area.

I asked the owner Tim if he would take on the task of replacing the engine on my T1N he said "sure no problem we do these all day."
I informed him that the engine was already half open and disassembled - to me picking up someone else's work halfway seems like an absolute nightmare - Tim said " Yes as long as all the parts are there this is no problem"

I wrapped the parts up especially the injectors, tied everything down, placed them in foam and then had to wait for some quotes on shipping. I had never shipped a vehicle before and I learned that having a car over 9ft makes it 'heavy machinery' and will cost A LOT more. A regular car from the SF Bay Area to San Diego about $600-$800. I was quoted at $2k+ for my sprinter, of course the shady shipping brokers would list my van as a regular car, a towing company would call with a quote at $800 and I'd tell them its a high roof sprinter and they would say never mind. A special low boy trailer with a strong winch on it is needed. I was already way in the red, another $2k to ship this was crazy.

I got a call in the morning about 8am the day I was going to commit to just spending the $2k to get it done because I needed my van and most places said it would be 2-3 days before they would pick up my van so I figured lets get the ball rolling. The call was a broker he said he found someone who could ship my van for $1,200 and that they could pick it up today - a miracle. The company was David K Towing - Mike handled my van. I told him it was my baby and my home he understood completely and gave me updates on his drive. We talked for about 30 minutes even after he had my van loaded; very personable and professional. Highly recommended. My van arrived in LA that night and stayed in their locked yard. Mike asked me when I needed the dropped off, I called Tim and scheduled for 10am. Tim and Mike met at 10am at Sprinter Pit Stop.

Tim who runs the Sprinter Pit Stop is very helpful. He answered the phone every time I called and believe me I called a lot, I'm sure I annoyed him, but I am also sure he is use to dealing with annoying customers who dote over their home on wheels so he was very at ease the whole time. This was very reassuring after dealing with other mechanics who were hard to get a hold of and dis-organized.

He inspected the van for any damage when it arrived like I asked and let me know it was all good.
They rebuild engines and everything would be done in shop. I needed the van done quick the summer was passing me by and they said they could do it in a week from the time it arrives. I think it took 10 days. They had the injectors sent out to a Bosch center and tested - they came back good. Thank God because they are about $400 each if I remember correctly. The job was professional and Tim treated me fairly the whole time understanding my situation, I had just replaced all the coolant lines after things started blowing up and I was trying to save money where I could. Tim said he would throw in all new MB coolant lines for free because he wanted it done right, really awesome.

I got a call about 10 days after the van got dropped off letting me know it was ready.
I grabbed a flight to San Diego and arrived the following morning. I ubered in about 30 minutes from the Airport.
Met Tim, he started the van and it purred like I had never heard before.

Tim answered my questions on the work and let me be for a bit as I looked over the van. Everything looked good. I paid for his services, thank him for everything and hoped in for my 8 hour 500 mile drive back - a nice shake down trip.

I had some PTSD for the first 2-3 hours expecting a hose to explode, coolant to leak, dash lights to come on.
Nothing.
I finally settled in, no music just listening to my new engine.

I changed the oil as soon as I got home as instructed.
Then again on a little longer interval I think he said 1,000.

After that just regular oil changes.
I have driven probably 5,000 miles no problems. No leaking oil - before I was replacing 1qrt every 1-2k miles. Now nothing.

All in all from the time my van went into the first shop till it came out the second, with shipping, labor, parts etc I was all in for right around $11,000. That hurt. The van is fully converted so I couldn't just sell it and move on. But the peace of mind that came with having it done and getting out onto the road was amazing. I squeezed in a 2 week trip at the beginning of October. I was supposed to leave in June. I spent about 2 weeks trying to diagnose and treat this myself. First mechanic kept pushing me a long. Tim handled it in the time promised. I wish I just shipped it to him from the beginning, I would have saved time and money.


So thats my long update. I hope it helps anyone in the future who comes across this thread. All the different threads here definitely helped me out so I just wanted to give back to the community.

Thanks everyone.
 

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