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MEP-805B Oil in coolant

baxter462

Member
79
2
8
Location
Salt Lake City Utah
Hello,

Has anyone else had oil in their coolant, and coolant in their oil on an 805B generator. It is a JD 4045 engine. The coolant and oil both looked good a couple weeks ago when I last checked, but I ran it for a few hours this weekend and it shut down due to high coolant temp. The coolant was low, and had a lot of oil in it, and the oil had coolant in it. I didn't have a cooling system pressure test adapter that would work (I have since ordered one), but I figured the oil cooler was the most likely culprit since the fluid transfer went both ways, so I pulled the oil cooler and pressurized it with 80psi air while submerged in a bucket of water. I didn't see any evidence of leakage, so now I'm worried that something more serious is wrong. I may put it all back together with new gaskets for the oil cooler housing (which potentially could have been the entire problem) and do a little more testing once my pressure tester adapter arrives, but I'm wondering what other people have seen? It doesn't seem likely to me that a cylinder liner o ring is leaking, since oil is getting into the coolant also, and not just the other way around. I suppose it could be a leaking head gasket since there is a pressurized oil passage to the head, and it of course could be a cracked block or head, but I really hope not. Oh, and I did perform a "block test" to check for the presence of combustion gases in the cooling system, and it was negative.

Thanks
 

Guyfang

Moderator
Staff member
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I have only heard of this 2-3 times on the 805B. It was always the gaskets between the cooler and the oil system, Figure 11, Items 2, of TM 9-2815-259-24P. Naturally you should change change the other two gaskets, Items 3 & 6. Cheap insurance. Since you checked the cooling system for combustion gases, it is the only place I can thing of where this can happen.
 

baxter462

Member
79
2
8
Location
Salt Lake City Utah
Thanks Guy!

I was really hoping it was just those gaskets, but it was impossible to get the cooler off without destroying them, so it is impossible to determine if they were leaking. I'm going to stop by the JD dealership on my way home and order all the gaskets. There are also a few o-rings I'm going to replace at the same time. I'll keep you posted on the progress.

Thanks!
 

strycnine

Member
223
8
18
Location
Claxton, GA
I'll get it to you after I figure out what let the magic smoke out this 3phase contactor.

Do you have the engine model and serial number? Can pm it to me if you like.
 

baxter462

Member
79
2
8
Location
Salt Lake City Utah
Gaskets and o-rings are on order.

Has anyone found an alternative coolant fill cap for a MEP-805B? I've googled all four part numbers for the cap that I can find in the TMs, but I'm hoping to find a more readily available alternative at a local parts store like NAPA. I need to search the TMs again, but I couldn't even find the cap's pressure rating during my quick initial search. Just wondering if anyone has been down this road before?

Thanks.
 

155mm

Chief and Indian
Steel Soldiers Supporter
1,176
388
83
Location
Guymon, OK
Dishwasher powdered soap to clean the radiator, its less foaming, some say 20 mule team, but my choice is el cheapo dishwasher soap. 1 box should be more than enough.
 

strycnine

Member
223
8
18
Location
Claxton, GA
Dishwasher powdered soap to clean the radiator, its less foaming, some say 20 mule team, but my choice is el cheapo dishwasher soap. 1 box should be more than enough.
I need to try that. I have a 5030HF270B that busted the cooler and I'm still getting oil out the radiator.
 

baxter462

Member
79
2
8
Location
Salt Lake City Utah
I've heard of people using powdered dishwasher detergent or powdered laundry detergent, but I've never tried it before. I've only used the commercially available radiator flush products, and they haven't worked well at all for oil. I'm going to give the dish detergent a try. It seems like it should work well, I just need to make sure I get all the soap residue out afterwards. Maybe an actual radiator flush product after the soap treatment?

The dishwasher detergent doesn't negatively react with any of the aluminum parts in the cooling system, does it? I guess it won't really be in there long enough for it to cause an issue even if it does have a tendency to etch the aluminum.
 

strycnine

Member
223
8
18
Location
Claxton, GA
I've heard of people using powdered dishwasher detergent or powdered laundry detergent, but I've never tried it before. I've only used the commercially available radiator flush products, and they haven't worked well at all for oil. I'm going to give the dish detergent a try. It seems like it should work well, I just need to make sure I get all the soap residue out afterwards. Maybe an actual radiator flush product after the soap treatment?

The dishwasher detergent doesn't negatively react with any of the aluminum parts in the cooling system, does it? I guess it won't really be in there long enough for it to cause an issue even if it does have a tendency to etch the aluminum.
That's a good question about it having a reaction. I've just been poking the end of a shop rag in the opening soaking up the oil. It's a minimal amount in there.
 

baxter462

Member
79
2
8
Location
Salt Lake City Utah
Mine has a lot of oil in it, but it hasn't been in there for very long, I think I caught the problem shortly after it happened. I want to get all the oil out so it doesn't start to deteriorate the cooling system hoses.

155mm, you didn't happen to replace the cooling system cap on either of the 805Bs you were working on last year, did you? I'm not having much luck so far trying to find a generic alternative that will work.
 
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