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View Full Version : Coolant dissapears...Sleeves/HG... WHY ???


Master Chief
08-22-2007, 03:06 PM
Hi guys !
Well, i finnished my SR20DET Rebuild, and run into some trubble.

The engine is build with Dartons, CP's, Tomei Metal HG....etc....and an OEM BRAND New head !!!
You can see here what i did : http://www.sxoc.co.uk/vbb/showthread.php?t=278153

The engine has only 600Km on it, and although it runs great, it drinks water (coolant) like crazy. There is no smoking, no compresion problems and no leaks visible.
Compression test, leak down test and radiator pressure test, all done and all well.
The radiator test, shows a bit of pressure drop, but no visible leaks.
What i keep getting is what looks like Coolant, on the Oil Filler Cap and in the Sump.
I dont get any MAYO in the sump or radiator or anywhere exept ocationaly on the oil filler cap.
The rest of te time i see what looks like coolant (green colored) on the oil filler cap.
The oil on the Dip Stick looks clean, but when i emptied the sump, the oil was GREEN colored - contaminated with Coolant.

I loose about half of the expantion tank per day.

What can it be ?
I gues if it was the HG or the OEM water cooled oil cooler, i would see some oil in the water as well.
The thing is that i only get WATER IN the OIL - no oil in the water.
I suspect a problem with the SLEEVES instalation.
Could it be leaking between the sleves and the block, into the crank case ?
Could coolant actualy be able to leak thru such a small under much heat, space ?

Did something like this ever happend to somone ???

On the other hand, meaby its from the HG - A breach between a collant passage way and an oil return passage way - would explain the one sided movment of coolant into oil, but could such a case exist ?

I Removed the head, and allthough all the black coating on the Tomei HG was removed on many paces, the HG looked intact.
There was a bit of fresh coolant in one of the Oil return passages, but it could have just spilled during the remove of the head.

What do you guys think ? HG/SLEEVES/OILCOOLER ????

Thanks for the help...

daryl337
08-22-2007, 05:27 PM
Well, I happen to know for a fact that the darton sleeves are crap. Once LA sleeves patented their design, darton was forced to re-do it and they ended up with a ball of poo. If the machine shop drilled too much material and took out an oil galley, then I can see it easily transferring your coolant straight into your oil tank. It could also be that they didnt drill enough when they pressed the sleeves in, and it cracked the block. However usually this stuff comes up on a leakdown test of the coolant system. Now that you have antifreeze in your pan, I suggest taking out your engine and opening it up, your bearings will probably hydro lock if you keep trying to run it. ya gotta start with square one now.