Propane fork lift coolant in the oil

[625fireman]

Not mine but working on a yale fork lift. It has a Chrysler slant 6 engine. It is propane fueled. There is a lot of coolant in the oil to the point it is white milk!!! I pulled the head and nothing blatantly obvious on where it is leaking form. This is my first time working on a propane engine, can the propane regulator dump coolant into the engine?? It looks like all cylinders have been burning it, white flaky residue in the combustion chambers.

 

[Will L.]

Think of propane as gasoline.
Milky oil has NOTHING to do with fuel. It is water mixing with oil.

Drain the oil and flush best you can. Somewhere coolant is getting into the oil. Head gasket, cracked head, cracked block, some engines have intake manifold gaskets that can go bad and allow coolant in the oil just like a head gasket does. Using a coolant pressure tester to try finding where it is getting in. Might need to use a coolant/ combustion tester to see if combustion gasses are getting in the coolant.

Idk the slant 6 good, so no clue what is most common. But with coolant in oil you are 90% way there needing to rebuild engine.

 

[smokymtn65]

One other thing to keep in mind. If it does not run long enough to warm up they will condensate in the block too. We have a procedure at work to run for 1 hour twice a week for that reason, total waste of fuel.. these should be electric at our place.

 

[625fireman]

Thanks guys. The propane regulator has coolant through it to keep it from freezing up. That is why I am questioning that scenario. Head is off and cannot see anything blown out or cracked, but I will clean it up good and go over it tomorrow. No owner doesn't run it very long at a time. But the coolant level has been down for some time according to him.......

 

[NVW]

Can you pressurize the coolant passage of the regulator?

 

[precision37]

Short runs on propane engines will turn oil milky because the oil doesn't get hot enough to boil off the water . Propane engines produce much more water vapor during combustion than gasoline engines. Change the oil and work it for a couple of hours and watch the coolant level. Check the oil for water after it cools.