White goop!!!!!!!!

[Jus Monkeyin Around]

Went for a ride this evening seeing how it was/is going to be the few left this year before I depart somewhere southward. I noticed my leg getting warm and smelled something funny. low and behold anti freeze! temp gauge went sky high so I pulled over under some lights waited for it to cool down I pulled the radiator cap off and found white goop inside in the 25 years + or driving I never saw one like this. Is there special anti-freeze in this or what?????

So I put in some 50/50 about half a gallon and rode home now to tear apart and flush. Can I run prestone super flush thru this bike???

[SilvrT]

white goop ... could be oil getting into your water jacket

[Dano]

Better change your oil and see what it looks like. If it's all creamy, then there is oil in there from somewhere. Could be an intercooler (twinkie) leak also, just a thin rubber seal between the two chambers.

[wes0778]

white goop ... could be oil getting into your water jacket

:sign yeah that:

If this is in fact the case you a gonna need to to do some serious flushing of the complete cooling system, after the leak is repaired. Don't know about these engines, but oil will cause diesel engine water pump seals to leak coolant, so changing that seal will probably be necessary. Liquid Cascade dish washer soap works well on emulsifying the oil to get it out of the cooling system. you will probably have to flush it several times to get the oil out.

[saddlebum]

:sign yeah that:

 

 

 

If this is in fact the case you a gonna need to to do some serious flushing of the complete cooling system, after the leak is repaired. Don't know about these engines, but oil will cause diesel engine water pump seals to leak coolant, so changing that seal will probably be necessary. Liquid Cascade dish washer soap works well on emulsifying the oil to get it out of the cooling system. you will probably have to flush it several times to get the oil out.

 

:sign yeah that:

 

 

yeah and several rinse cycles to get the cascade out. ( In case your wondering why cascade and not regular dishwashing detergent its because cascade does not foam up )

Edited November 10, 2009 by saddlebum

[Flyinfool]

SilvrT and Dano touched on it.

A leak can go both ways, If there is oil in you antifreeze then there is a good chance that there is also antifreeze in your oil.

 

If you have antifreeze in the oil you will need to get it out quick and flush out the oil system also.

[Eck]

Check to see if you have a white powder looking substance on the aft end / inside of your mufflers on one side or both sides..

 

If you do then your probability of problems can be anywhere from water in your oil, oil in your water, a possible blown head gasket or a cracked head.

 

You should NOT have a white goop looking substance in your cooling system period..

[Rocket]

Better change your oil and see what it looks like. If it's all creamy, then there is oil in there from somewhere. Could be an intercooler (twinkie) leak also, just a thin rubber seal between the two chambers.

 

2 gaskets to do the entire thing, top & bottom of the intercooler on the Mk1, not sure of any changes on the later years. These have been known to leak before..... It is located directly below the carbs, between the cylinders & the crankcase breather vent, is also part of it.

 

Another possibility is the waterpump seals, as there is an oil seal as well as a coolant seal, along the impeller shaft & sometimes the telltale weep hole, in the space between the seals gets plugged.

 

I have not heard, of any more serious causes, with these engines. But the intercooler one is usually the cause.

 

[Jus Monkeyin Around]

Here is what it looks like. I did not see any white dust so I ran super flush through it twice and clean as a whistle now.

:fingers crossed:

[SilvrT]

Here is what it looks like. I did not see any white dust so I ran super flush through it twice and clean as a whistle now.

:fingers crossed:

 

 

 

Drive it for a while... keep an eye on your oil level and color as well as your coolant level and color.

 

That sure looks like oil in the coolant to me tho...

[Jus Monkeyin Around]

I will thank you I also changed the oil and it did not look milky it came out clean as it only had 1800 miles on it and i had been checking oil level as well that seemed to stay the same. So maybe it was just old antifreeze and needed to be changed.

:think:

[Kirby]

I'm not an expert, but it sure looks like oil to me!!

[Snaggletooth]

No doubt about it........you got oil getting into the cooling system. Ain't nuttin else that foams up in the radiator like that.

 

Once the coolant finds it's way into an oil passage you're going to have bigger problems.

[craigatcsi]

As most are telling you, you definately have oil in there.

You can flush it out and it may stay that way for a short while, but I would bet a doughnut that it will come back.

I hope it is a fairly easy / cheap fix - though it wouldn't be if it were MY bike.

craigr

[Dano]

One thing you might try is to pressurize your cooling system with a kit you could rent for free from Autozone, etc. Might want to drain your oil first to avoid a lot of contamination. Build up 20-25 lbs of pressure (with the drain knob in the on position to bypass the thermostat, allowing the pressure thru the whole coolant system) and let it sit overnight. If the pressure is down in the morning, you have an internal leak. If you have some anti-freeze come out the oil drain plug, the first suspect would be the intercooler, as it will drain straight down into the crankcase from the intercooler area.

 

If the pressure and volume in the radiator stay up however, there could have been some contamination in there before (OK, I'm guessing at this one!)

[wes0778]

As most are telling you, you definately have oil in there.

 

You can flush it out and it may stay that way for a short while, but I would bet a doughnut that it will come back.

 

 

Oil in the coolant is bad but if even if a little coolant gets in the oil it will turn to very non-lubricating, unforgiving GOO. I don't know much about these engines, but I do know that any engine that has lube oil and coolant in close proximity, oil pressure is normally higher than the coolant system pressure. This means that oil will go into the cooling system through a miniscule leak, before coolant will find its way into the crankcase, but it eventualy WILL. Leaks normally don't heal!

Better be safe than sorry, find the leak...

If there is any doubt, after you put a couple of hundred miles on the bike, go by a Caterpillar dealer and buy an oil sample bottle(price varies but ours are $12.00). Put about 2ozs of your oil in it. When they analyze it, coolant presence will be one of the tests.

[saddlebum]

Oil in the coolant is bad but if even if a little coolant gets in the oil it will turn to very non-lubricating, unforgiving GOO. I don't know much about these engines, but I do know that any engine that has lube oil and coolant in close proximity, oil pressure is normally higher than the coolant system pressure. This means that oil will go into the cooling system through a miniscule leak, before coolant will find its way into the crankcase, but it eventualy WILL. Leaks normally don't heal!

Better be safe than sorry, find the leak...

If there is any doubt, after you put a couple of hundred miles on the bike, go by a Caterpillar dealer and buy an oil sample bottle(price varies but ours are $12.00). Put about 2ozs of your oil in it. When they analyze it, coolant presence will be one of the tests.

 

Its worse than unforgiving . Antifreeze in the oil will literaly cut up your bearings, it is worse than if you had plain water in there.

Getting an oil sample tested is also a good idea, and pretty much any heavy truck dealer will carry them and get it tested for you.

last of all there is one other way for oil to get in the cooling system, I have seen this happen many times in my line of work, and that is by using an oil contaminated container when topping up the cooling system.

[craigatcsi]

I should know better than to say this but....

No one in their right mind would use a 'dirty' container for putting ANYTHING in their engine.

That being said, I'm sure their are some that are never in their 'right mind'.

craigr

[Leadwolf56]

I will thank you I also changed the oil and it did not look milky it came out clean as it only had 1800 miles on it and i had been checking oil level as well that seemed to stay the same. So maybe it was just old antifreeze and needed to be changed.

:think:

 

 

 

Dave,

The bike had fresh oil and fresh antifreeze in it when I sold it to you. As others have said it looks like there is oil in the antifreeze. Make sure that the antifreeze you put in is compatible with aluminum engines. I agree with the others, it's probably blown a gasket somewhere.

[Yammer Dan]

Something is wrong somewhere. Has it been run hot? In a Parade or something like that? Just sitting and running a lot?

[Sylvester]

Sounds like this is a female bike and is pregnant. Getting her milk ready for a healthy young Venture. Ahh, life continues!

 

[Brianyamaharider]

Hey Monkey , im having the same problem , i was told the seal on the water pump there are 2 , mechanical seal and an o ring seal where the live shaft goes through the housing , i changed mine but still am overheating and getting oil in the water system. Running a compression test today to see if i have a bad head gasket . Luck to us both . Brian

[Brianyamaharider]

For all who may need to know this , there are three o rings on eack inner cooler of different sizes . six total . was an easy reapir and seems to have elievieated the oil in the water problem . It took me many hours and 200 dollars later to figure it out . Hope you dont need this information but you are welcome lol .Brian

[Condor]

For those of you that may not know, that 'twinky' looking thing that sits in the valley under the carbs is the only other place besides the water pump seals, where oil and water are seperated by o-rings and seals. Not a real expensive fix. Cracked heads and blown head gaskets are areas you don't want to think about.