Anyone had a problem with oil in the coolant (7.3L 4x4 Excursion)? I have 50k miles and finally decided to flush and fill and I noticed a 1/2" layer of oil in the overflow. (That explains where the oil was going between changes). I thought that was all there was until I pulled the bottom hose to drain and there was a huge amount of oil. Must have been like a gallon. Even so, my temps were fine..even towing 9k in 100+ in the mountains...I was impressed. I flushed with Simple Green (as recommended on another thread) and then did a coolant chemical flush to clean it up. But I know I have not solved the problem and that it will return.

I assume it is a leak in the oil cooler and since the pressure in the oil system is much greater then the coolant it ender up there. I understand it could be the o-rings or a pit in the cooler somewhere. Here is my question:

1. I called the dealer and one said they thought it might be covered as part of the diesel warranty (think 100,000 miles). They would check and get back to me. Anyone know for sure or have links to warranty coverage?
2. I replaced my green coolant with the extended orange (Havoline). It meets GM Dex specs and i assume the orange that ford sells as high performance. I know i don't need any additives for this. Any experience with this orange stuff?
3. Anyone replace an oil cooler themselves? How hard was it. Sounds messy with the coolant going everywhere, but that is what storm drains are for (just kidding- I have some buckets).

Thanks for any help in advance.

 

The PSD has a 5yr/100000 mile factory warranty.

Most likely you have either a head gasket leak and engine oil making its way into the coolant, and coolant into the crankcase (very, very bad...) or you have a similiar problem with the transmission cooler lines.

If its comming from the tranny, you are sol, if it's the motor, then you should only have to fork out the $100 deductable.

Personally I'd let the Ford dealership run the source of the problem down and let them repair it.

These types of problems can be tricky to diagnose properly with out the proper tools. It's very likely that you could replace several parts before actually fixing this one.

 

I think you're probably about it being the oil cooler. If that is indeed the case, it should be covered under the warranty.

I don't have any experience with the coolant you're using. I would make darn sure it is diesel rated before I took the pickup to Ford for waranty work, though.

 

Thanks. No coolant in the crank case...and the compression is good, so I am leaning on the oil cooler (or maybe hopeful). It is definately oil and not tranny fluid.

I'll let them do their deal and let eveyone know. Now I'm worried on the coolant...I'm off to grab the bottle get the specs. The only reason I got it was that I read in the owners manual about the orange sold by ford as extreme high performance ...but don't know if that was in the PSD secton of the gasser section.

 

Get that Dex-cool out of there ASAP. It reacts with oxygen and makes brown crusty deposits on the inside of your radiator. NOT GOOD. Use the Ford approved gold coolant if you want long life coolant.

 

Better yet, flush that stuff out and replace it with Rotella Diesel Ready ELC. No sca's required.

With a 600,000 mi service interval (with a 300,000 mi) booster, you can say goodbye to AF changes for good.

All for the same price of the gold coolant.

 

Well, after three days at the dealer (they sent the oil cooler to a radiador shop for testing), they concluded that the engine oil cooler was in fact bad and replaced it under warranty. This included all new coolant (got rid of the orange stuff) and an oil change. This would have easily offset my $100 deductable but I had just changed my oil and coolant, so I wasted that money.

Thanks for the help. I was able to be more firm. They started to say" We could put some dye in your oil, let you drive for 500 miles and then check it." I asked him where else it could be comming from with good compression and he went back to the mechanic to fix it.

I had 51,000 miles, use a Diablo Predator and tow about 9k in the summer up and down between Salt Lake and Lake Powell and other lakes. I posted this incase anyone else has this problem. The simple green worked great to get the oil out.