Brain Trust , coolant in motor oil

CCer · Feb 18, 2018

I remember old time advise, in a tractor, when coolant got in the motor oil, to drain the coolant, and replace it with kerosine. Change the motor oil and filter too. Go ahead and use it.
My understanding is that, coolant will eat away the babbit, looks like a worm went thru the bearing.
A guy has a 2002 gas pickup, with that problem. Uses that truck occasionally, I told him to make those changes, to buy him some time 'till he gets it repaired. Getting the coolant out of there should slow or stop any further bearing damage. Keep the radiator cap loose for no pressure, Watch fluid levels, that engine doesn"t get too full or radiator get too low. What Say Ye?

centash · Feb 18, 2018

Maybe it works, but it's a fire waiting to happen....
Ben

JDEM · Feb 18, 2018

I know a logger who had that problem with a John Deere 540A log-skidder. He drained all the coolant and filled the radiator with motor-oil. He ran it for a long time that way. I am not "advising." Just telling you about someone who did it and it worked out.

coonie minnie · Feb 18, 2018

MY grandfather did it in a JD B when he had a leak of some sort. Supposedly worked OK.

We did it in a 1944 A that had a cracked head. We only used that A to lay out irrigation winches, and then serve as the "deadman" for them, so it didn't run a lot. It didn't work all that well, though... seemed it would get hot and vapor lock, and then it would have to cool down before it would start again. We fixed the tractor after one season of that!!

Fufu602 · Feb 18, 2018

Can be done . We did that to a 2030 JD we used all the time. It eventually will deteriorate your radiator hoses.Run it several years till we got around to tearing down to rebuild.

Sprint 6 · Feb 18, 2018

Do not add kerosene to a late model vehicle. It will likely ruin a radiator with plastic tanks. Not to mention the heater core and every rubber hose. Why double or triple the eventual repair that will have to be done when the patch doesn't work?

rustred · Feb 18, 2018

i believe that as many years ago there was a guy here that used diesel in his cat. rad. he would say i cant go near any fires as my rad is full of diesel.

coonie minnie · Feb 18, 2018

Also, just so you know, there ARE oil cooled diesel engines... Gehl used an oil cooled deutz in a skid loader.

Sprint 6 · Feb 18, 2018

Bobcat 873 uses the oil cooled Deutz also.

markct · Feb 18, 2018

Years ago guys ran diesel in old cats as coolant, these were engines that were overcooled to begin with and had no radiator hoses usually. I wouldn't think of it in a modern automotive engine. If you must run it use non toxic antifreeze, that's commonly done on equipment to limp it along to finish a job, like a crane etc that's hard to move and downtime can't happen. It's expensive but a smaller amount with the oil doesn't wipe out the bearings like regular antifreeze does.

David G · Feb 18, 2018

I would not do that, dump some stop leak in it and try that.

buickanddeere · Feb 18, 2018

The oils and up into kerosene will reduce the cooling system’s heat transfer capacity to 40-48% of that of water. Pure propylene Glychol is 90%. Reduce the cooling capacity from these numbers as the higher the viscosity , the lower the flow.

buickanddeere · Feb 18, 2018

The oils and up into kerosene will reduce the cooling system’s heat transfer capacity to 40-48% of that of water. Pure propylene Glychol is 90%. Reduce the cooling capacity from these numbers as the higher the viscosity , the lower the flow.

ss55 · Feb 18, 2018

Kerosene, diesel fuel or a very thin oil could work as a coolant in an off road vehicle, early Hart-Parr tractors were oil cooled, but I would never use them in a vehicle used on a public road. Think about what happens if there is an auto accident where several gallons of hot kerosene spray out onto a hot engine and exhaust? The chance of a fire would be very high if not almost a sure thing. Most people and juries should consider that a hazard to public safety, think Ford Pinto and Chevy pickup fires and those lawsuits. I would not be surprised if an insurance carrier refused to pay any liability claims because the vehicle owner knowingly created the hazard. Is the pickup used for business purposes (farm vehicle)?

What is the cost to repair the cooling system or to trade/replace the vehicles?

MarkB_MI · Feb 18, 2018

Kerosene is a pretty poor coolant, and modern cooling systems aren't designed with a lot of excess capacity. I think I'd try the K-W Block Sealer.

Steve@Advance · Feb 18, 2018

I say it will be a death sentence for the truck!

It will ruin every hose, contaminate the cooling system and be near impossible to get it all out.

If it has a molded specialty heater hose/bypass assembly, that one part is around $100 on a Chevy!

jimg.allentown · Feb 18, 2018

Stop leak and "block sealers" will inevitably plug up heater cores as well as radiators. Might work for a while as a short term "fix," but in the long run will probably do more harm than good.

then there are those that will say that they have "never had a problem." Each to his or her own. I've seen the damage caused by "mechanic in a can" fixes. Better to just fix it right from the start than to try to put Band-Aids on it to get just a little more. That "little more" usually ends up being much more than a little.

Brain Trust , coolant in motor oil

CCer

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centash

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JDEM

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coonie minnie

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Fufu602

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Sprint 6

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rustred

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coonie minnie

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Sprint 6

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markct

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David G

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buickanddeere

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buickanddeere

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ss55

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MarkB_MI

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Steve@Advance

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jimg.allentown

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