ISX crankcase filled with water

[hct5]

alright so we have a engine rebuilt out east, the driver then took it 500 miles and a crankcase code went active and he stated it looked like there was water in the oil. so we have it brought back to the shop that did the work. they pulled the pan and pressure tested the coolant system and said that they did not see anything leaking. they said that the one way check valve in the crankcase housing was stuck closed so they pulled the valve out and send the driver on his way. we get it back our shop and i pull the crankcase filter cover off and half a gallon of water falls out. it dose not look like coolant it looks like moisture. i pulled some oil out of the drain on the pan and it dose not look like there is any coolant in it. also pressure tester has held over night. could the engine have a large amount of moisture in it due to the one way check valve being stuck closed and when they took that valve out and he brought the truck say 900 miles back to us all, the moisture in the engine clogged the filter causing it not escape?

[Mattman]

Not sure, but you would think they would have cleaned all that out when they said the one way valve was stuck.

[Volvo8873]

Looks to be the older style paper filter yet?

[snailexpress]

Did shop replaced liner/pistons with rebuild? Looks like you have significant blow by and water from combustion. Could be piston rings.

[Rawze]

* first and foremost, get rid of that paper garbage over-priced filter. Put the maintnence free element in there from cummins. ref: http://rawze.com/forums/showthread.php?t...50#pid8950

* Next, that is a lot of moisture.... Did the truck sit a while after the inframe? -- or did the shop leave the valve cover off it and it outside in the rain? -- that is a lot of slop... far more than normal.

* Is the coolant level dropping? ... keep a close eye on that.

* Did anyone bother to ensure the CAC was not full of water on first crank? -- How about sabotage, where someone is dumping water in the oil?-- You never know.

* Last.... Why was it inframed? -- what exactly failed, what mileage, some history etc. ? -- and what was done exactly? -- Were counter-bores cut? what is the new liner height? -- etc.etc. etc.. -- because many shops any more can't build an ISX engine worth a damn any more and they blow head gaskets and have repeating failures due to poor workmanship by most places and the stealers$its and OEM certified shops are the absolute worst of them all for this.

* Lastly, Why would it leave a shop with a fresh inframe and have that much moisture in it? -- Something does not add up.

* Pull the valve cover ... the rest of the top-end may be just as bad... maybe it needs a flush if it has gotten too much water in it ...and with the look of that CC filter ... it certainly needs an oil change at the very least A.S.A.P..

[Rawze]

(12-02-2020 )hct5 Wrote:  ...
also pressure tester has held over night.
...

This ideah of watching for pressure dropping is mostly useless information. Can;t tell you how many trucks with blown head gackets I have seen where the pressure did not drop off one damn bit over night, yet the bottom end has coolant all in it... That is a 15+ gallon system and it would take quite a bit of coolant to seep out (far more than the few drops you see after it sits for a day+night and bad head gasket, etc.. for you to see it on a pressure gauge.


Most of the time pressure does not drop enough in a day or so to be a good measure of coolant in oil issues unless it is severe... Only way to accurately check if there is a coolant issue into the oil is to pull the pan and stiffening plate off it and pressure the coolant system to a full 20-psi (5 psi above normal) and let it sit over night .. Then the next day, turn enigne over by hand and have someone under the engine listening for gurgling from one of the cylinders during compression stroke or tiny droplets of coolant on the bottom of the engine or running down the inside of a liner, drain line for oil cooler, turbo, air compressor, etc.. somewhere.

[Rawze]

his profile says he is a foreman at a shop...


if it is not a bad head gasket or somethng already mentioned ...

perhaps sabotage by the driver?.

just some thoughts...

- Maybe someone buying oil on your dime and selling it on the side... and putting water in the oil to make up for low oil levels?. I have seen broke company truck drivers do trash things like this at truck-stops before. Selling oil, selling fuel, selling good tires off trailers in exchange for bad one's, etc.

- Maybe they got a coolant low alarm and put water in the engine by mistake instead of the coolant tank?

just some thoughts... I have seen stuff like that before.