Oil or fuel in radiator on a komatsu pc220lc-6

[tightgtp]

i've got a PC220LC-6 that looks to have oil in the radiator. its smells a bit like fuel, but i may be mistaking it for oil. has anyone else seen this? does this machine have a engine oil cooler on the oil filter?

 

[John C.]

I believe that has a Cummins 6BT5.9 engine and they do have an oil cooler on the side of the engine. These are a parent metal block so there are no liners in the engine. The oil cooler should just unbolt from the side of the engine after you drain the coolant and you can take it to a radiator shop for testing. If it's bad just buy a new cooler from Komatsu or try to get a match from Cummins.

Good Luck!

 

[Willis Bushogin]

oil cooler

i've got a PC220LC-6 that looks to have oil in the radiator. its smells a bit like fuel, but i may be mistaking it for oil. has anyone else seen this? does this machine have a engine oil cooler on the oil filter?

I agree with John C, be sure to flush the system out, radiator & block, that oil scum could make the machine run hot. I have used Dawn dishwashing detergent, purple stuff, dishwasher soap. Whatever you use, just make sure you flush all the cleaner out of the system. You might have to take the thermostat out, so you can get good flow
Keep us posted

 

[tightgtp]

the engine is a turbocharged komatsu

 

[John C.]

Does the engine have six individual valve covers or one long single valve cover?

Komatsu did not put their own engines in that model of machine that I know of. I could confirm manufacture by seeing a photo.

 

[tightgtp]

one long valve cover. i know what a cummins 6bt looks like and this definitely wasn't one. the valve cover had komatsu all over it. also had tag that said manufactured by komatsu

 

[special tool]

Uuuuuh, I guess I am a little confused by this thread....
Is it common for either Cummins or Komatsu to use an oil to water cooler??

If not, how would oil contaminate the coolant in an oil to air oil cooler

The headgasket is unlikely because you only have oil drain through and the coolant is under pressure, whatever 16-22 psi, so the oil won't enter the system here.
Also - is this a water-cooled turbo, or oil cooled only.
I can't remember if my Komatsu has coolant lines on it or not, but this is a possible mixing place as you are dealing with pressure-side oil here (maybe up to 5 bar) which would easily overpower the coolant system.

 

[02Dmax]

not sure about Komatsu but every every cummins engine I've ever seen and the vast majority of diesel engines in general use a coolant cooled oil cooler also called heat exchangers.

 

[Willis Bushogin]

oil cooler

Uuuuuh, I guess I am a little confused by this thread....
Is it common for either Cummins or Komatsu to use an oil to water cooler??

If not, how would oil contaminate the coolant in an oil to air oil cooler

The headgasket is unlikely because you only have oil drain through and the coolant is under pressure, whatever 16-22 psi, so the oil won't enter the system here.
Also - is this a water-cooled turbo, or oil cooled only.
I can't remember if my Komatsu has coolant lines on it or not, but this is a possible mixing place as you are dealing with pressure-side oil here (maybe up to 5 bar) which would easily overpower the coolant system.

Not trying to start a argument, but Im trying to think of any (popular,commercial) engines that dont have a oil cooler of some kind. Im almost postive, the Komastu PC200 I used to have, had a oil cooler on the side of the engine, the Cummins I have in my trucks have oil coolers, the Cat in my equipment has oil coolers, guess I cant think of any, but Im sure there are some
Let us know about the one you have, if you dont know what to look for, they are usually a 3-4" round thingee, that is mounted on the side of the engine. Some have water hoses going to it and some are mounted (bolted) to the block. There should be a way to drain the water out of it, somewhere on the bottom of the thingee
Good Luck

 

[special tool]

Not trying to start a argument, but Im trying to think of any (popular,commercial) engines that dont have a oil cooler of some kind. Im almost postive, the Komastu PC200 I used to have, had a oil cooler on the side of the engine, the Cummins I have in my trucks have oil coolers, the Cat in my equipment has oil coolers, guess I cant think of any, but Im sure there are some
Let us know about the one you have, if you dont know what to look for, they are usually a 3-4" round thingee, that is mounted on the side of the engine. Some have water hoses going to it and some are mounted (bolted) to the block. There should be a way to drain the water out of it, somewhere on the bottom of the thingee
Good Luck

Right, that was what I was asking. I have never had to do any service on my Komatsu, because it has been perfect, so I am not familiar with the exchangers on it.
If they do indeed use oil-coolant coolers, then obviously that can cause the problem.
But if they are air/oil coolers, then they cannot.

So far in this thread, we have yet to uncover what make of engine he has - I believe the 220's have a real Komatsu engine in them.

Does anyone know for SURE if the little turbo 6 Komatsu uses an air/oil or water/oil cooler??

 

[special tool]

One more thing - we know that the more modern the engine, the more likely that it has an oil/water cooler, for emmisions compliance.
The trick here is that the coolant will help bring the oil temperature up more quickly upon startup to reduce cold start emmisions from poor atomization and all that jazz.

 

[tightgtp]

just so everyone is clear i know for a fact the engine is not a cummins. its clearly a komatsu.

 

[John C.]

Okay then now I know that you have an early grey market machine. Komatsu did not bring any Dash 6 Cummins into the USA that didn't have the Cummins engine after 1996.

It should be an SA6-95. It also has an oil cooler on the side of the engine block and also does not have any liners. It is below the turbo charger and easy to see. It might not be easy to remove with the counterweight on though.

The engine is turbo charged and aftercooled and there were many problems keeping these cool. The aftercooler is in front of the hydraulic oil cooler and radiator. The get plugged with dirt and debris pretty easily. There is no water cooling on the turbo.

For one of those coolers to develop a leak tells me the coolant chemistry was not maintained for quite some time. It is possible to have a blown head gasket on that engine or a cracked head. There would be pressure in the radiator from it though.

Good Luck!

 

[tightgtp]

i didn't notice any pressure in the radiator. with that info i'm leaning more towards the oil cooler. i'll report back once i figured out the problem. thanks for the help

 

[ok dirt witcher]

If it has an oil cooler like a JD tractor it could very well be the problem. I replaced one on my 4650, at first I didn't think that cured it. I drained the radiator a second time and put dishwashing liquid in it and worked the dog out of it far a whole day then flushed and rinsed, now everything functions and no scum. It is difficult to see the bad spot on the coils of the oil cooler without applying some kind of air or liquid pressure to it. I think John C is correct about the maintenance because the lack of it got mine due to electrolysis.

 

[tightgtp]

finally got time to fix the unit. the oil cooler is located in the block below the turbo, very easy to get to. i replaced the cooler and flushed the cooling system, the unit works great.

 

[Hario Ardimas]

dear sir..
i need error code diagnostic for pc200-6

thanks and regards

 

[tightgtp]

sorry i don't have any of that information

 

[John C.]

Send me a PM and I'll send what I have in an email attachment.

 

[ontarioparts]

Depending on the serial number of the machine, there are three (3) different engines for this excavator. There are the SAA6D102E-1C, the SAA6D95LE-1B, and the SAA6D95L-1J. The first engine has six different valve covers, and the other two has the one long cover.

regards
Marlon
Caterpillar Alternator