The engine oil cooler is in front of the radiator, not in the radiator itself. I'd stay away from that dealership.

In fact, stay away from all the dealerships. They really don't know anything when it comes to the 6.5. They've proven that 100 times over. I'd say do the job yourself or find someone to assist you. It's not that difficult with the room you've got in the engine bay.

 

Loosing Coolant, Loosing mind

Thanks for the info. Sounds like the VW Dealerships and the Eurovan! Luckily they started a newsletter and discussed problems like is now going on here. I can rebuild a vw in my sleep, but V8's are foreign to me. I have pulled my intake manifold, and fabbed a PMD heat sink, but thats it. But I think I'll give it a try. Any cetain brand head gasket better than others? Replace head bolts? I use Bentley (official vw manuals) for vw, but really dislike haynes & clymer for lack of information. any ideas for assembly instructions? Torque specs? Thanks again

 

The headbolts are Torque to yield, so they must be replaced. I'd get a set of ARP head studs myself. I'd also go with Cometic Headgaskets. Again this is personal preference. I've heard good things about ARP headstuds and Cometic headgaskets. I've never done this job myself, yet.

 

I haven't heard a single bad thing about ARP head studs yet. Fel-pro and Victor-Reinz gaskets are also good brands. I have had good luck with both, neither on a 6.5 though.

 

One possibility may be the timing cover gasket? Never seen it on a 6.5, but a few times on other motors.. (mopar 318 and rover 4.0)

 

Before you pull the heads I be inclined to pull the timing cover. I haven't seen it leak however it is less work and even if you don't find coolant leaking at least you know. If you are going to pull the heads I'd pull all the glow plugs and put coolant pressure tester on it. then at leats you may get an idea befor putting the truck to bed for a couple of days. If your keeping the truck spend the mony on the ARP studs.

 

I just bought a victor reinz head gasket set of the bay, comes with a ton of gaskets for 80 bucks, i thought it was a good deal, packaged well. Another month and i will put the gaskets on the new engine....

 

i bought gaskets off fleaby too,. victor reinz,. i also did arp head studs and so far (1500 mi) all is good,. i run a little more boost than most folks so i wanted the extra security of the arp's,. torque to yield bolts are a joke,.the only bit of aggravation was the "s" intake gaskets,. i had to get the tin egr sheilds out of my old 'F" gaskets and use them
i personally would look at pressurising the cooling system to try and figure out where its getting into the oil,.4wd is a pita,.. 2wd, drop the pan and try to see where it,s coming from.

Nick

 

with a 99 he has the block that is prone to cracking on the bottom end at the piston squirters(which i believe mine has done) i think he needs to pull the pan

 

Arp studs definitly. The rubber band tty bolts will stretch with heat. Arp studs are chrome-moly and are reuseable. Get their thread sealer and special lube. ARP part #130-4062 head stud kit.

 

I pulled the timing chain cover/water pump to check for leakage there, but everything looks good. Today, I pulled the driver side head. I had checked the compression and could only get 265-290, and the book said I needed a minimum of 390#. The head looked very good, with no visible cracks, and looking at the head, and gasket, I couldn't see any sign of leakage. I could not find ARP studs to fit a 6.5, so I contacted them today, still waiting for answer. They list 6.2 on their website, but not 6.5. I will pull the Passenger side head tomorrow, and hope to find something. The low compression worries me, because I hate to do a valve job, just to find out something else is causing low compression. JS

 

For the ARP studs the 6.2 and 6.5 ones are the same.

 

I hate to say it but you need to pull the pan, I believe you will find a cracked block. Look real close at # 8 cyl they tend to crack near the bottom of the cyl. good luck. That much coolant is not going to get by the head gasket.

 

I was going to pull the pan, but I thought someone said it wasn't possible on the 4x4 (k2500). If it's possible, I'll do that next for sure. Thanks a lot. JS

 

Uh, just a moment here, but both my 86 M-1009 and my 02 Savana one-ton have engine lube oil coolers in the radiator. The Savana also has an additional oil cooler in front of the radiator. It takes three hose assemblies to connect everything. If the inside the radiator tank leaks, oil, or antifreeze, will mix. I would think that at idle, or after a shut down, pressure from the radiator would push antifreeze into the pan. Same way at part throttle, with the oil pressure above the 15 or 16 psi operating pressure of the cooling system, the lube oil would end up in the radiator. Personally never experienced such a failure, but that doesn't mean it can't happen. Mr. Murphy was quite an optimist, actually. My M has had the radiator oil cooler bypassed because the threaded ports in the radiator were a goofy size, and proved impossible to find an adapter. The M radiator has the transmission cooler on the driver's side and the engine oil cooler on the passenger side. The Savana is opposite. You might want to check for the existance of these coolers and pressure test them if possible, just to eliminate the easier/cheaper-to-fix causes first.

 

jjp, One dealer told me that was possible, the other said they were seperate. I pulled the radiator, and it didn't have any oil lines going into it. Thanks, JS

 

The engine oil cooler on the 6.5 is external. it's not in the radiator like the 6.2 radiators. my 6.5 has dual trans coolers however. one that goes into the radiator and one in front of the radiator.

 

Well, i would think it would be pretty extreme leak for only going 10 minutes. Im re-doing an engine for my truck right now. I sent the heads out yesturday for a valve job. I bought the victor reinz like i said but i think im going to get a set of felpros, and use them. I have just been in a felpro mood lately, i think from now on i am buying felpro. But the rest of the head set i will use. I have looked over my block close and there is now signs of any cracks or wear, it only has 90k on it tho.. Im also going to use arp headstuds. I am ordering them fron a guy in florida, 170 shipped to me... I want to get a gl4 and run 15 psi wot...

 

iamdave, you say the 6.5 radiators don't have internal engine oil coolers? OK. I've never seen a 6.5 installation in a pick-up or suburban. I know, i know, i live a sheltered life. When the dually gasser finally returns to it's base elements, which could happen anyday now, i'll probably replace it with another dually chassis cab, probably with a 6.5. But for the record, the 2002 G-type van has both a small external cooler, AND the inside the radiator "cooler". Research on the RPO codes shows seperate codes for "H-D Engine Oil Cooler" (KC4) and "Auxillary Engine Oil Cooler" (V16). They are both there. It took three hose assemblies to replace the OEM hoses. For information, all of the adapters that accepted the OEM hoses with the snap-ring retainers, were removable. The holes left behind in the block and radiator and external cooler were all 1/2" NPT pipe thread. This made it very simple to use dash 10 hose and ends to replace the OEM stuff. My personal opinion on the external cooler is that it is to small and to well hidden behind the bumper to be of much use. A bigger cooler, higher up behind the grill, would certainly be more effective, possibly enough to eliminate the radiator cooler. But i would be concerned about over cooling in winter temperatures.

 

Except after shutdown, wouldn't the oil system always have more pressure than the coolant system? My 6.5 idles at 30psi...

Bill

 

I contacted ARP directly and was told the 6.2 studs are also used in the 6.5. I looked to see if I could pull the oil pan, and I didn't have room to do so. I am going to pull the engine, so I can pull the pan & look at the block. I have an idea, and would like some more input. With wrecking yard engines going for about $3000, and Jasper engines (I live 30 miles from Jasper,IN, home of their engines) going for $5000-7000, I checked the classifieds and found a guy that bought some fleet trucks. He has a 1997 &1998 chevrolet c2500, with the 6.5 and 70k miles on each. He said I could have my choice for the advertised price of $2995. I could probably get it for less. I thought I could buy the truck, drive it until I knew it was a good engine, then put the engine in my Suburban, sell the truck for parts, and still have my original engine for the parts (turbo,etc.) how does that sound? I can use the truck to pull my travel trailer in the meantime. What I am wondering is, is it the same engine? Do I need to verify a letter in the vin number? would the 97 be better than the 98? They had an auto tranny, but the guy says the 98 slips a tad until warm up, then it's fine. Thanks everyone for your help!!!

 

Get the cleanest less mileage engine, of course, if your not in it for the truck than who care about the rest of it...