Oil & Fuel 4024-5030 Oil contaminated coolant

Double Zero · Mar 20, 2009

I have a problem with a 4024t engine that has coolant contaminated with engine oil. The engine is on a fixed speed generator. The engine oil cooler has been checked, the engine has never overheated so i dont think thet the head gasket is any problem. The engine has a gear case cover that houses the oil pump and pressure discharge valve. The cover has no gasket and uses only a silicone gasket maker type seal. I can see there is point where the oil crosses between the discharge valve and the water pump housing area.
I would like to know if anyone else has this problem, as I also have a 5030t engine on another genset that has the same problem.
Do I use the silicone gasket maker again or make a gasket the old fashion way?

Thanks for your help.

AKfish · Mar 20, 2009

How about both - an "old fashioned" gasket gooped with the silicone stuff?

AKfish

Double Zero · Mar 20, 2009

Yes that is my thinking.
What I dont know is if the added distance will affect the engine governor and pump rack that is also housed on the front cover.

Brimstone10x · Mar 20, 2009

Deere has changed to high Flex sealant for the front cover, its made by loctite , dont know the p/n. you will also have to remove the oil pan as the oil pickup tube is bolted to the block and you wont be able to remove the cover with the pickup installed. (hylomar sealant for the pan ,aka silicone)Also it is very common for these timing covers to leak coolant externaly . I havent seen cross contamination but I guess its possible. Good luck

Double Zero · Mar 20, 2009

Thanks for the advice:

So far I have three engines of this family with the same problem on the same brand of generators.
You are right on the money on the oil pick up for the oil pump. I did remove the oil pan.

brucedawson · Feb 28, 2010

Earlier this month, our genset with a deere 5030TF engine died with "chocolate milk shake" in the radiator. (This is the result of oil and coolant mixing).

The problem was diagnosed to be a bad oil cooler. This unit had only 217 hours on it! They replaced the original aluminum cooler with a new stainless steel one (or so I was told). However, because the engine was 2.5 years old Deere refused warranty service on this. So we ended up paying lots of money to get the engine operational again.

So yes, other people have had similar problems (especially me).

jd110 · Feb 28, 2010

I second the oil cooler problem. You say it was checked, but it can be difficult to make it leak in a test. Hard to dulicate pressures, and temperatures that occur while running. And there have been issues with the original aluminum coolers. Bruce, I would be putting a call into deere to complain. Low hours and a known issue with cooler should translate into some kind of help on your failure.

gregcasedc · Dec 1, 2012

I have 2 gen sets with the 5030. One of them with 2900 hours gave me a chocolate milkshake in the radiator also. I pressure checked the oil cooler with air to 90 psi with no leaks. Is the front timing cover the most likely culprit, or should I be looking at head gaskets? Is there a way to check either one for cross contamination leaks before dis-assembly?

tlm720 · Sep 9, 2013

Did this ever get resolved. My 4024T in a 4120 tractor just did this with 1500 hours on it. I have gotten the radiator and engine cleaned out and refilled with water and bypassed the oil cooler for now. I have ran it for a couple hours with no sign of oil in the coolant. Not sure yet if the oil cooler is the problem because no oil is leaking from the open coolant lines on the cooler. I've not seen any sign of coolant in the oil at all. I can't fix it if I don't know where the leak is. Looking for any else's experience with this. I'm tempted to go buy a new oil cooler and start there.

gregcasedc · Sep 9, 2013

Mine was the oil cooler. Apparently as a different user stated, it takes some heat also to make the leak show up. At 90 psi of air I couldn't detect a leak, but my stealership said it was definitely the problem. They also said the noticed a hint of the head gasket leaking. So, while I had the enclosure all off the genset, they replaced it too. In the process they managed to snap off all 5 injector nozzles! There was no charge on my bill to fix this, as far as I could tell? I've only put about 100 hours on this genset since the repairs, but so far the coolant is clean. If I were you, I'd start with the oil cooler too. I think it was around $90??? I think I used a 3/8 bolt (9/16 hex head) and a vise grips to remove it off the block. Hope this helps.