Pretty terrible way to end the day

[01DenaliHiker]

So, I finished lowering my 2001 Denali tonight.

On the way back to the house my low coolant light comes on. I think, no big deal, I have some coolant at the house.

Two jugs later.....

I start getting annoyed, then it hits me, if it's not pouring out..... It's got to be pouring IN.

Yup..... Crankcase full of cappuccino. I'm super OCD about my oil changes and have never had an issue and actually drive like a grandmother that left her "driving" glasses at home. But it looks like the ol grocery getter let herself go tonight.

I'm pretty upset about the whole thing and just using this to vent a little before I literally get my face caved in when I tell the old lady I threw money at this thing and the head gasket put it's two weeks in two weeks ago.

 

[Doubeleive]

 

[SnowDrifter]

Say didn't some of those come with an oil cooler?

 

[01DenaliHiker]

Say didn't some of those come with an oil cooler?

Yes, pretty sure it was RPO KC4 which I have. Why?

 

[drakon543]

means if its the oil cooler that runs through the radiator you might just have a bad radiator and everything else is ok.

 

[01DenaliHiker]

means if its the oil cooler that runs through the radiator you might just have a bad radiator and everything else is ok.

I'm beginning to think that's what it is. Not having any compression issues, no coolant coming from exhaust, no exhaust coming through coolant system; the driver's side of the tank looks coated in gunk compared to the passenger side. Guess I'll do that first, radiator with only the transmission cooler lines and get a block off plate for the engine oil cooler. Unless it's absolutely necessary, I've had buddies delete them swapping LQ4s into Camaros without issue.

 

[iamdub]

Yeah, you'd have to have one hell of a leak in the cylinder head or block to move that much coolant into the crankcase. You'd have obvious engine operation issues. Hoping for the best!

 

[01DenaliHiker]

So. Y'all aren't going to believe this. I wouldn't either, I should've taken pictures.

Everyone knows the coolant bypass for the throttle body?

Well the previous owner apparently did not, not correctly anyway. Instead of pulling both lower hoses and connecting them, he used the vacuum hose on top and connected it to the coolant hose..... Yup, true freaking story.

Now you're probably asking yourself;

"How did this idiot (me) not know of this earlier?"

After realizing the mistake, instead of putting things where they belonged they put a cheap hose clamp with what looked to be a larger hose inside to cavitate the line. The screw portion rusted off, and then BAM! Free flowing coolant directly into my passenger side valve cover, and me checking compression and standing there clueless as everything is perfect.

Crisis avoided, flushed the engine and coolant system today, bypassed properly, put my vacuum line back on where it should've always been and we're back in business!!!

 

[Rocket Man]

That was a stupid useless mod even when done properly. Some mods should have never been invented and that’s one, it does nothing except make it (slightly) easier to remove your TB, and how many times have you had to do that? Glad you figured out your problem.

 

[01DenaliHiker]

That was a stupid useless mod even when done properly. Some mods should have never been invented and that’s one, it does nothing except make it (slightly) easier to remove your TB, and how many times have you had to do that? Glad you figured out your problem.

Especially when you cut the lines so short I can't even slide it on enough to tighten it back down. So it's bypassed until I buy some new line when my catch can comes in. Luckily we have a plethora of brass fittings at my work, because it took four different things screwed together to get them mated.

You should've seen the tack welded sleeve "cup" deal I found when replacing the sway bar links, it was truly something. Slowly, but surely I'm finding all the wild issues made by "machinist" folks who obviously were just methin round.

I've removed my throttle body once, to install a heat shield under my intake, which was worth every penny.

 

[SnowDrifter]

So. Y'all aren't going to believe this. I wouldn't either, I should've taken pictures.

Everyone knows the coolant bypass for the throttle body?

Well the previous owner apparently did not, not correctly anyway. Instead of pulling both lower hoses and connecting them, he used the vacuum hose on top and connected it to the coolant hose..... Yup, true freaking story.

Now you're probably asking yourself;

"How did this idiot (me) not know of this earlier?"

After realizing the mistake, instead of putting things where they belonged they put a cheap hose clamp with what looked to be a larger hose inside to cavitate the line. The screw portion rusted off, and then BAM! Free flowing coolant directly into my passenger side valve cover, and me checking compression and standing there clueless as everything is perfect.

Crisis avoided, flushed the engine and coolant system today, bypassed properly, put my vacuum line back on where it should've always been and we're back in business!!!

Oh my God that's unreal.....


Once fixed, I'd do numerous oil changes on it. Hardly worth fussing with the filter. Just crack it loose to drain the passages and snug her back up. Get the cheapest stuff the parts store has to offer. Doesn't matter viscosity. Just make sure it's a detergent oil of some sort.

Drain and fill, run for 60 seconds. Do it again. Do it again, but run for 5 minutes. Do another, 5 minutes at 2k to 2.5k rpm. Do another, but now drive it on the freeway. Put a little load on it. Nothing major, just someghing to get your internal Temps up. Come back, then change your oil and filter. Run that for 500 miles, change again at 1500, then you can resume your normal oil change routines

I know that many drain and fills sounds melodramatic, but coolant contamination absolutely ruins the lubricity of the oil. Based on my own info from a Subaru I used to own, there's a measurable uptick in wear with coolant contamination in the 60ppm range. Yes, 60 parts per million. That's 0.006%. Not sure why it's so damaging, if it's the glycol or silicate or something else in the coolant, but it takes an astronomically small amount. So you want to make sure you get all the stuff out. Unfortunately, the milkshake goodies have a tendency to stick to the internal surfaces pretty well and it's a bit reluctant to come out, hence the drain and fill cycles.


P. S. At risk of sounding complacent: I don't feel like discussing anyone's opinions on this method with anyone other than OP. I've gotten into enough pissing matches on various forums as of late and just don't care for another multi page debate. Take the info or leave it. I can run through the math and quantify it with lab tests, so no, my mind will not be changed. My only goal is to help OP get an appropriate service life out of his vehicle, not bicker with sideliners

 

[01DenaliHiker]

Oh my God that's unreal.....


Once fixed, I'd do numerous oil changes on it. Hardly worth fussing with the filter. Just crack it loose to drain the passages and snug her back up. Get the cheapest stuff the parts store has to offer. Doesn't matter viscosity. Just make sure it's a detergent oil of some sort.

Drain and fill, run for 60 seconds. Do it again. Do it again, but run for 5 minutes. Do another, 5 minutes at 2k to 2.5k rpm. Do another, but now drive it on the freeway. Put a little load on it. Nothing major, just someghing to get your internal Temps up. Come back, then change your oil and filter. Run that for 500 miles, change again at 1500, then you can resume your normal oil change routines

I know that many drain and fills sounds melodramatic, but coolant contamination absolutely ruins the lubricity of the oil. Based on my own info from a Subaru I used to own, there's a measurable uptick in wear with coolant contamination in the 60ppm range. Yes, 60 parts per million. That's 0.006%. Not sure why it's so damaging, if it's the glycol or silicate or something else in the coolant, but it takes an astronomically small amount. So you want to make sure you get all the stuff out. Unfortunately, the milkshake goodies have a tendency to stick to the internal surfaces pretty well and it's a bit reluctant to come out, hence the drain and fill cycles.


P. S. At risk of sounding complacent: I don't feel like discussing anyone's opinions on this method with anyone other than OP. I've gotten into enough pissing matches on various forums as of late and just don't care for another multi page debate. Take the info or leave it. I can run through the math and quantify it with lab tests, so no, my mind will not be changed. My only goal is to help OP get an appropriate service life out of his vehicle, not bicker with sideliners

Didn't go quite as in depth as you say, but I did run thirty quarts of the cheapest walmart stuff through it. Ten through inital drain, ten after it idled for about fifteen minutes, and ten driving it around for a little bit (needed dip and more oil). Lol. I changed the filters each time because I had a few wix filters laying around the house and I don't use wix so it was a good way of getting rid of them.

I still plan to drop the pan on it, gasket is leaky anyway so just another excuse for me to replace a few gaskets.

 

[Rocket Man]

You could also use an internal cleaner like Kreen from Kano Labs and then send an oil sample to Blackstone Labs after you’re all done to see if anything is still contaminating the oil.

 

[HiHoeSilver]

You could also use an internal cleaner like Kreen from Kano Labs and then send an oil sample to Blackstone Labs after you’re all done to see if anything is still contaminating the oil.

Should do both these things anyways, imo. Put the Kreen in with 500-1000 miles left on your OCI. Don't take your Blackstone sample from that change. Use the next one.

 

[Doubeleive]

from what I have been told is in the process of doing one those oil changes you add 1qt of transmission fluid also I guess it acts like a cleaner of some sort (this is from some old school people) so I guess take that for whatever it's worth.

 

[drakon543]

the old bypass the tb coolant hose. gain 50 hp because the tb is now magically not getting as hot because it doesn't have coolant flowing through it. and 1 in worth of metal somehow has enough air surface contact to effect the iat enough to cause anything......
ya i bypassed mine once on the side of the road when a line blew.

 

[Rocket Man]

the old bypass the tb coolant hose. gain 50 hp because the tb is now magically not getting as hot because it doesn't have coolant flowing through it. and 1 in worth of metal somehow has enough air surface contact to effect the iat enough to cause anything......
ya i bypassed mine once on the side of the road when a line blew.

Yes tremendous hp gains lol.

 

[89Suburban]

Glad it wasn't as catastrophic as feared. thanks for the updates and details.