Heavy Goop under the Valve Covers

Countrycar · Feb 3, 2021

Hey Guys, I'm wondering if anyone has seen this before and can direct me which way I need to proceed here. Let me begin by saying that about 4 weeks ago I had done an Oring job on my injectors after a no start condition had presented itself and my diagnoses concluded that my injector Orings were bad. I pulled the injectors and sure enough 7 out of the 8 injectors had some pretty bad O rings on them. I did have this goop on the valve covers, but since I had applied Compressed air to the head, I figured that the goop was attributed to the compressed air and didn't think to much of it. I cleaned up the valve covers and I then replaced the injector O rings assuming that I had found my issues but still had a no start. After this, I then replaced both iprs (BTS Hpops) and at this point Hallelujah, she fired up. So I'd been driving the truck around for the past few weeks and on Monday I went out to start the truck and once again experienced a no start condition. I got the Forscan out and pulled codes 1212 and 1280 which pertain to the ICP. So once again I figured I'd go ahead and pull the valve covers and see if maybe on the reinstallation process I'd missed something and this time once more this is what I found, a slimy goop that was stuck to the valve covers, just like last time. No where else in the head was this slimy gunk present, just on the valve covers itself. It does appear to be a mixture of water and oil for sure. My degas bottle was a little low, but I also have a very slight leak from a rubber expansion plug that I used in place of a brass expansion plug after my last repair. Thats a story for another time.
So far this is what I've done. I don't have any oil in my degas bottle, or my coolant system as I pulled the radiator plug to verify this. I also pulled the Oil pan plug and removed about 1 gallon of oil from the pan to check for coolant in the pan, and nothing. So no coolant in the pan, and no Oil in the degas bottle, and no white smoke coming from the exhaust. I'm a little stumped here. The truck is a 99.5 with about 55K on a full rebuild. Has anyone seen this before?

ToMang07 · Feb 4, 2021

You're not losing coolant? What kind of oil you running?

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Countrycar · Feb 4, 2021

Tomango, I have lost very little coolant, but it's literally almost nothing. Maybe a couple of inches from the degas bottle fill line. So it appears that I caught it early. I'm running 5-40, and just added some 15-40 to top it back off after dropping the 1gl from the oil pan to check for water there. Again, I didn't see any water in the oil that I dropped from the pan, so that is one good thing. :toast: The only coolant I've seen is in the bottom of lower pockets of the head, and again it was very little.
So at this point this what I've done. I've consulted with a few Diesel Techs and engine builders, and based off of my symptoms I being told to look for cavitation in the front cover. So, It seems this is a place where this type of scenario is prevalent, something I never new about. So, the engine is coming out, I'll disassemble the engine back down to the front cover, hopefully find out the issue is cavitation, replace the cover, reinstall the accessories etc, and then do a coolant pressure check, and back in the truck it goes. Please let me know if you have any suggestions?

ToMang07 · Feb 4, 2021

I would pull and check the oil cooler first

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Countrycar · Feb 4, 2021

ToMang07 said:
I would pull and check the oil cooler first

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Its not to much work to do for sure, but correct me if I'm wrong and from my own understanding is that I should have oil in the degas bottle as well. The idea being that the oil is under higher pressure than the coolant, therefore in this scenario, one would see coolant in the oil pan, but more so, Oil in the degas bottle? Correct me If I'm wrong about this.

Arisley · Feb 5, 2021

Usually, but not always.

Countrycar · Feb 5, 2021

Ok,well based off of my research and a conversation I had with a buddy, as well as what I've heard here from y'all, I think at this point I'm going to start by doing a coolant pressure test. If the coolant leaks from the filter housing then the oil cooler would be suspect. If the coolant leaks off into the oil pan, then it would be either cavitation at the water pump, or a pinhole somewhere in the block. Tomag07 and Arisley, thank you both. I've got a trip to make out to Colorado, so It might be a few weeks before I can get to it, but I'll post up my findings.

dmd · Feb 5, 2021

You say you were driving it around, how far were the drives? If they were really local maybe
you hadn't gotten it warm enough to dry it out. Being in Tx you don't have it really cold
like some others where that problem may be more prevalent though.

Countrycar · Feb 5, 2021

I'll post up some pictures so y'all can get a better idea of what I'm seeing. The picture of the valve covers is what really set me off about a possible problem. The next picture is of the driver side head. The following day after the truck sat all night, it was at this point that I decided to take a very bright LED flash light, and began poking around in the head to see if something would jump out at me. Well it was at this point that I was able to see the small puddles of coolant in the bottom of the lower portion of the head. Again, it's not a lot, and the fact that I don't see coolant in my oil I believe is a good thing. I pray that I caught it in time and that there isn't any internal damage. Hopefully it's nothing more than the oil cooler, or cavitation at the water pump.

tomlin · Feb 22, 2021

DMD mentioned it earlier. That doesn't look like coolant to me in the pictures but it can be hard to tell. Coolant is usually whitish to chocolate milk and sometimes frothy. This looks more like condensation from short drives? How is the crankcase ventilation system? Is it factory or vented to the atmosphere? It may not be a bad idea to have an oil analysis done to see if it indeed is glycol?

Countrycar · Feb 27, 2021

Just to catch everyone up, I dropped the oil and removed the oil filter as well, pressured up the coolant system and sure enough I do have coolant in my oil pan. Albeit, it's very little, but it is there. So, my next step, will be to look into a cavitation issue from the front cover. Hopefully this is all it is and I won't have to go thru the entire engine again. I've got some other pending projects that need my attention rightnow, so it won't be for a few weeks before I can get to it. I'll start by removing the water pump and basically, go from there. I'll post up my findings once I do get to it. Thank you fellas.

79jasper · Feb 27, 2021

Countrycar said:
Its not to much work to do for sure, but correct me if I'm wrong and from my own understanding is that I should have oil in the degas bottle as well. The idea being that the oil is under higher pressure than the coolant, therefore in this scenario, one would see coolant in the oil pan, but more so, Oil in the degas bottle? Correct me If I'm wrong about this.

It is, until you shut the engine off. Then the cooling system stays pressurized until it cools off. Won't always get oil into the cooling system though.
Another common possibility is injector cups.

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psduser1 · Feb 27, 2021

Countrycar said:
Just to catch everyone up, I dropped the oil and removed the oil filter as well, pressured up the coolant system and sure enough I do have coolant in my oil pan. Albeit, it's very little, but it is there. So, my next step, will be to look into a cavitation issue from the front cover. Hopefully this is all it is and I won't have to go thru the entire engine again. I've got some other pending projects that need my attention rightnow, so it won't be for a few weeks before I can get to it. I'll start by removing the water pump and basically, go from there. I'll post up my findings once I do get to it. Thank you fellas.

If you wait long enough, the antifreeze will eat the bearings. Just sayin....