ecodiesel oil in coolant

[ecodiesel1]

Anyone else had this problem? I saw this picture on facebook today.

 

[moparecodiesel]

yes sir, this is from a failing oil cooler, there are some issues with some trucks, it is common.
I am actually going to make a video about how to clean out the cooling system after the new oil cooler is installed.
There are 4 owners ive been following for 1 year and not one of them have been successful at the dealers to get all the oil removed. One owner actually had an engine replaced to see if that would get all the oil out of the cooling system.

 

[BoostN]

yes sir, this is from a failing oil cooler, there are some issues with some trucks, it is common.
I am actually going to make a video about how to clean out the cooling system after the new oil cooler is installed.
There are 4 owners ive been following for 1 year and not one of them have been successful at the dealers to get all the oil removed. One owner actually had an engine replaced to see if that would get all the oil out of the cooling system.

How common? Low mileage truck or just random?

 

[moparecodiesel]

Very random and very uncommon, my radiator failed for the same reason as the oil coolers, just poor solder job and coolant attacking joints. Just watch your resivoir, and don't exceed 75,000 miles on your coolant and 95% of us will be fine. Every manufacturer has these failures, ford is the biggest failure for these oil coolers

 

[BoostN]

Very random and very uncommon, my radiator failed for the same reason as the oil coolers, just poor solder job and coolant attacking joints. Just watch your resivoir, and don't exceed 75,000 miles on your coolant and 95% of us will be fine. Every manufacturer has these failures, ford is the biggest failure for these oil coolers

Good info!! Can't wait to see your video!

 

[Mobile4]

Very random and very uncommon, my radiator failed for the same reason as the oil coolers, just poor solder job and coolant attacking joints. Just watch your resivoir, and don't exceed 75,000 miles on your coolant and 95% of us will be fine. Every manufacturer has these failures, ford is the biggest failure for these oil coolers

What kind of damage will this do to your engine?

 

[moparecodiesel]

It will not do any damage to the engine at first as long as your oil cooler, trans heater unit, heater core and turbo do not clog up from the oil, but it will slow the heat transfer between the cylinders and the coolant jacket and the oil will actually ruin the water pump seal and the thermostat o-ring and all the other seals over time. it can cause hot and cold spots in the cylinder liners that will make uneven cylinder wear which will wear the engine sooner as well as cause instant cavitation wear within the water system potmarking all the aluminum that the coolant touches. just keep popping your hood and doing your normal checks and if you do run into problems, just get your dealer to warranty the affected components, and if they cannot get your cooling system cleaned out time and time again, ill show you how you can do it yourself, its easy.

 

[Ramconvert]

Wow. What a scary picture but, These things are not common. Do they happen? Sure. But it's not common. Even for Ford. The only common part about this is that everyone in the U.S. Has a camera phone. If this happened to me I'm sure I'd be upset and share it with the world as well.

Any product that is mass produced is going to see failures. Especially something as complicated as a pick up truck. It's a good thing that we there are nice people willing to share and help with fixing issues that do arise!

 

[ecodiesel1]

thank you for the information @moparecodiesel

@Ramconvert you make a good point also

 

[SnowDrift]

Wow. What a scary picture but, These things are not common. Do they happen? Sure. But it's not common. Even for Ford. The only common part about this is that everyone in the U.S. Has a camera phone. If this happened to me I'm sure I'd be upset and share it with the world as well.

Any product that is mass produced is going to see failures. Especially something as complicated as a pick up truck. It's a good thing that we there are nice people willing to share and help with fixing issues that do arise!

Exactly.. we mostly only hear of the "bad things" on forums, and not "good things.

Good post.

 

[Randell Heath]

Happened to my 2015 at about 12,000 miles. The dealer replaced the cooler, radiator, and reservoir and flushed the system multiple times.
Advised to drive it a few hundred miles then return for anti-freeze change. The check engine light came on as my wife left the dealership and was told to ignore it (they expected it to light up). About time to return it for the anti-freeze change and would like to hear from others that have been down this road.

 

[BoostN]

Happened to my 2015 at about 12,000 miles. The dealer replaced the cooler, radiator, and reservoir and flushed the system multiple times.
Advised to drive it a few hundred miles then return for anti-freeze change. The check engine light came on as my wife left the dealership and was told to ignore it (they expected it to light up). About time to return it for the anti-freeze change and would like to hear from others that have been down this road.

It seems very few ecodiesel owners are affected, sorry to hear you are one. Hopefully more that has had this problem will chime in.

Welcome to the site @Randell Heath Stick around and ask some questions and enjoy yourself!

 

[SnowDrift]

Happened to my 2015 at about 12,000 miles. The dealer replaced the cooler, radiator, and reservoir and flushed the system multiple times.
Advised to drive it a few hundred miles then return for anti-freeze change. The check engine light came on as my wife left the dealership and was told to ignore it (they expected it to light up). About time to return it for the anti-freeze change and would like to hear from others that have been down this road.

I would be worried about internal damage, but that's just me!

 

[Moparsp69]

Anyone else had this problem? I saw this picture on facebook today.

View attachment 53

I just finished a tow from Washington to Fairbanks AK and upon arrival in AK I noticed my coolant changed color. I took it to the local dealer and was told it wasn't oil in the coolant and my oil cooler had not failed. Has anyone's coolant changed color on them?

 

[BoostN]

I just finished a tow from Washington to Fairbanks AK and upon arrival in AK I noticed my coolant changed color. I took it to the local dealer and was told it wasn't oil in the coolant and my oil cooler had not failed. Has anyone's coolant changed color on them?

What color did it change to ?

 

[Mharrison]

A friend of mine had this happen to him at only 5k miles...

 

[Mharrison]

Now a customer of mine had it happen to his. Odds of it happening are increasing.

 

[Mharrison]

Any more have this issue? Do we know what they are doing to correct have they put out an updated cooler yet or are they just slapping the same ones in and hoping for the best. We have run into several cooler issues/failures on our case equipment in recent years also fiat owned I wonder if there is any correlation

 

[Weiser]

Anyone else had this problem? I saw this picture on facebook today.

View attachment 53

Yes I am currently dealing with problem. See Timeline

I did not want to resort to this but I feel I am not receiving the proper care in regards to my Ram Truck problem. I have created a time line below and I am open to any suggestions to help resolve. You can email me with any ideas what to do next at [email protected]. Anything positive will be greatly appreciated. To date I have been told an O ring in the engine failed and the Oil Cooler/Sending unit failed. I don't think they know.

Truck: 2015 Ram 1500 ECO Diesel purchased on 1/29/2015. Current mileage 22,289.00

I purchased at Champion Dodge, due to larger selection but its 1-1/4 hours drive from my house. Chose to take to Wetzel Dodge for service due to being in same town as I live.

1/29 thru 7/3: No Problems

7/4: Started truck and when it was shifting from 1st to 2nd gear the engine missed. Did not happen again so I thought no problem.

7/13 thru 7/15: Check engine light on and off several times, finally stayed on. Called Jim in service and he said most likely it's the aftermarket DEF fluid and to run it out and to replace with OEM DEF. I said ok but still want to have the code read by a tech.

7/20: First available time to get in. After an hour wait Jim says it's not the DEF and the truck has major problems with engine oil in the coolant reservoir. He notes they have called Chrysler to help as they have never seen this. They give me a loaner car, Dodge Dart, car smells really bad inside? Later that evening I found smell related to some ones household trash left in trunk of loaner car.

7/20 PM: Mid afternoon I have not received call from servicing dealer. So I call and Jim says truck is a real mess and they are working with Chrysler and have ordered all parts that came in contact with coolant but not an engine.

7/21 thru 7/22: No call from servicing dealer.

7/22: I catch up with the Service Manager, Mark, and tell him I appreciate the loaner but my job requires me to have a truck to get to jobsites and being able to use the bed for hauling hay on my farm. He notes to me that he will get a truck ready for me to pick up the next day. We discuss the parts list that has been ordered and the process of flushing that Star has told them to perform.

7/23: I pick up a loaner Hemi Ram.

7/23: Once again no calls from servicing dealer, only info I get is when I call in. Noting that when I call it is very difficult to reach anyone on the phone. Leaving messages on the Voice Message does not mean a return call by any means.

7/24: First and Only phone call from servicing to date,(not initiated by me calling in to dealer first) which has been a month now from a Mike Brim stating they still are waiting on some parts to come. He thinks they may have them early next week and have it back together.

7/25-7/29: No call from servicing dealer. Only info I get is when I call in.

7/30: After leaving Voice Messages, with no reply, I make a site visit to talk with Service Manager Mark. He notes some parts are still not in but they expect them on Friday and should have back together early next week and they have started the flushing process. I inquire to the R-40 recall and ask him to complete that while it's in the shop.

7/31 thru 8/4: No call from servicing dealer.

8/5: I call and talk with Jim. He notes that they have the truck running but have found an additional hose that felt soft and the hose has been ordered and should be in the next day.

8/6: No call from servicing dealer so I make a site visit to see Jim. He says they have had it running and have been testing throughout the day. He asked if it's ok for him to drive home to put some miles on it. He says that if after driving it checks out I can pick up the next day. I say no problem.


8/7: No call from Servicing dealer in the AM. I call and he notes everything checked out and I can pick up around 1:00- 2:00 PM and I say it will be after that before I can get in. I show up at 4:00PM and truck was not ready. So I wait for them to wash it and replace some fuel. When the guy comes back he leaves it running for at least 10-20 minutes prior to me getting paperwork. At that time Mark the Service Manager tells me they want me to bring it back in a month to have the system flushed again. I inquire to Jim about the R-40 recall being complete and it was not ever done so I waited for them to complete. After picking truck up, I drive approximately 7 miles to my house and leave it alone for the night.

8/8: I check under hood and found oil in the reservoir tank. See Pictures of outside of tank and one looking into tank with cap off. These were taken while cold not running. I immediately take the truck back to Jim in Service. We open the hood and he noted that it's not that bad. He even takes the cap off and sticks his finger in the tank and says, see not much oil. By now the oil is mixed with the coolant and its even changed a darker color. See Pics. I also show Jim the pics of the tank cold. I tell him at that time that I want a new vehicle truck and they can have this one for research and development. He does give me the loaner Ram back.( He does finally tell me that after he drove home there was some oil in tank and the tech took the tank off, cleaned it and noted the hoses did not have any buildup)

8/8: I then call the Chrysler hotline and get a case number and request that they exchange the truck.

8/9 thru 8/11: No call from Servicing dealer.

8/12: Brittany from the Resolution team calls me and verifies truck is at dealer and what's wrong. She says she will follow up with Star and the Servicing dealer and will call back on Friday. I inquire as to when a resolution can be obtained and she says maybe on Friday.

8/13: No call from Servicing dealer. But a Lacey calls from the Resolution team and says the part on my truck has been ordered and Brittany will call me on Monday. I ask her what part and she says a coolant reservoir. I ask her why as that won't fix it and ask her that she note the file I am not happy and to have Brittany call Friday as originally discussed. By now I am pretty pissed off to say the least. I then call the servicing dealer and Jim says he has no clue what's been ordered or that anything has been done. He does promise to get with Mike and call back. He does in fact call back and says Star has told them to replace the coolant tank and flush again and report back. He is even saying that there was not much oil in tank and that it's not what I said about an inch thick. He also notes that it has not separated in tank like I noted. I was pretty upset and reminded him I have proof in the pictures. I then threaten its time to get an attorney and he says my best bet is to work with the resolution team as all they can do is what Star tells them.

8/14: No call from Servicing dealer. Brittany from Resolution does return my call from yesterday. I tell her I am trying to handle civil but I am running out of patience. In short she says we have to let them do this repair with the new tank and flush and I can look at when they get done. I let her know I still want to exchange and she says we can discuss methods of extending warranty, trade in assistance, or possible buyback after they complete the repairs and she will be in touch Tuesday next week. I offer to send picture documentation to back up what I am saying but I could not get her to give me a working email to send them to.

8/15: Go to dealership to pick up some personal paperwork out of truck. Jim in service offers that they should have truck done Tuesday and that he has to work at another dealership next week and Mike will be calling.

8/18: Brittany from Resolution team calls at 12:30 PM. She says she talked with Mike at dealership and truck is ready. This is the first I have heard. She notes they flushed it and changed tank and I am to pick up and drive for a couple of days. I inquire in depth to a resolution in which she will not commit anything but says she will be back in touch on Friday. I try to call dealership 5 times, See call log from phone, never reached a person so I drive to servicing dealer. When I get there Mike offers to show me under the hood. Oil still in coolant, see pictures of his finger from dipping in tank. I take several more pictures and document driving truck to house. I take a picture of oil in coolant in the morning.

 

[Nanooser]

Anyone else had this problem? I saw this picture on facebook today.

View attachment 53

Sad to say, but looks like I've joined the club. 2014 Bighorn ecodiesel with 45000kms when engine light came on. After saying it was likely a DEF issue they noticed oil in coolant. In a rental and not thrilled at what I'm reading. Planning a 2300km trip to Winnipeg to haul a boat to the coast. Better now than in Moose Jaw I suppose.