I Bought a 580ck with a G188D diesel motor. It Starts right up every time, but it has shifting probs. The radiator was spraying coolant about 6 feet in the air from a small crack in the top. I noticed bubbles and smoke (probably exhaust) coming out of the top of the radiator when the cap was off. This happened when the coolant was still cold. I flushed the cooling system and noticed black soot in the radiator and the overflow tube completely clogged. I soldered the crack in the radiator and ran the engine for 20 minutes. I checked the oil, and DAMN!!! Now there is water in the oil, and quit a bit, at that. There also seems to be oil in the water, but it could be the soot.No excessive smoke from the exhaust pipe, but the valve cover vent hose is smoking. Also, in the middle of all this, I pulled the drain plug on the rear left side of the block thinking it would drain coolant from the block, but it only dribbled out. I also removed the small plug on the left side of the block that has a black wire attached to it and started the motor. Oil shot out for about 10 seconds before I got it shut off. I'm pretty sure the thermostat is working, because the upper radiator hose heats up after a few minutes indicating circulation. When draining the coolant, the water is not hot until the last bit of water drains. The way I see it...
The radiator is clogged, exhaust is leaking into the cooling system, and when I plugged the hole in the radiator, the head gasket blew (more than it already was). Could this be a head gasket only problem, or a cracked head/
block? Is there anything here to indicate which scenario is most likely or definite? I looked around in the forum and found some info, including the possibilty of a frost plug causing the coolant leak. But the exhaust in the coolant seems to have been going on for a while. Thanks to all in advance.
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