Coolant in fuel

[qcfarmer]

Just picked up an 01 f-350 that the previous owner had parked last year after he discovered coolant mixing with the fuel (what he told me) truck has 450,000 kms (270,000 miles) he was told it was the injectors. Truck has been parked for 10 months now. What do you think could be causing coolant and fuel to mix? What should I do before trying to start it? Thanks

 

[01PSD]

Injector cups

 

[7.3 Whitey]

Injector cups... Or cracked heads.
Really doubt the latter.

 

[BlackPearl32]

:whs:

 

[qcfarmer]

Is there a way to find which one is cracked or should I just change all of them?

 

[greenthunder7.3]

you could pull all the injectors and pressurize the cooling system and maybe find which one it is but i would just replace them all

 

[POWER-STRUCK]

if coolant is mixing into the fuel the fuel pressure would have to be lower than the coolant pressure.

 

[01PSD]

if coolant is mixing into the fuel the fuel pressure would have to be lower than the coolant pressure.

I just assumed he meant the opposite.

 

[qcfarmer]

I am just going on what the PO told me but I also think he meant fuel in coolant. I will know more when I go puck it up this week-end.

Next question, can I start it to drive it on the trailer? The batteries are dead because its been sitting for 10 months but other than the fuel in coolant it supposedly runs fine. Can I just charge the batteries and fire it up?

 

[POWER-STRUCK]

yes if it is fuel in coolant you can run it all you want(when the surge tank gets full it will make a mess). you might want to try high sulfur (red) fuel to help diagnose this problem, the red fuel on top of the coolant makes it obvious.

 

[qcfarmer]

Thanks, I've got plenty of red fuel on the farm. I wanted to drive it a bit before tearing it apart to see what all needs to be done so it only comes apart once.

 

[Black 02]

Go to Harbor Freight and get a coolant pressure tester. Pull the injectors and pressurize the system.

I had the same problem and it was easy to see the leakers.

 

[dthompson]

high sulfur (red) fuel

Off topic but I'm not sure about where you are from but here dyed fuel is the exact same as road fuel minus the dye.

 

[jaybuller]

its all the same... most folks just think its different. I order untaxed red dye #2 all the time for work and it is all ULSD.. I tried to get LSD and couldn't find any anywhere.

 

[Black 02]

Yep, a lot of times, our fuel distributor will haul out "off road fuel" for heavy equipment and it'll be green and he drops in a bunch of red dye before he leaves. Just shows the feds you didn't pay tax for the fuel if you get checked.

 

[POWER-STRUCK]

Off topic but I'm not sure about where you are from but here dyed fuel is the exact same as road fuel minus the dye.

the red fuel on top of green coolant makes it easy to see

 

[dustinz85]

its all the same... most folks just think its different. I order untaxed red dye #2 all the time for work and it is all ULSD.. I tried to get LSD and couldn't find any anywhere.

LSD is damn here impossible to find... maybe on the street corner LOL

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk 2

 

[TyCorr]

I dont think they even refine lsd anymore. Im assuming #2 fuel oil is just ulsd also. That stuff used to be cheaper than #2 road diesel but was the same stuff.

 

[Arisley]

the red fuel on top of green coolant makes it easy to see

That makes a lot of sense.

 

[qcfarmer]

I dont think they even refine lsd anymore. Im assuming #2 fuel oil is just ulsd also. That stuff used to be cheaper than #2 road diesel but was the same stuff.

Yeah, I meant to say I have dyed fuel here on the farm. It is all the same stuff just different taxes