View Full Version : Coolant Loss
I have been adding coolant for a while now, without knowing where it is going. I hate that. Well, when I started it yesterday, it sounded terrible. running on 7 for sure, and the coolant level was down again in the jug. It sounded strange- had me thinking liquid lock ? But that should get pushed out the exhaust after first couple turns if it doesnt bend anything, right? THats the first time I had any symptom other than coolant loss. I filled the bottle about 3 weeks ago, and when I started it yesterday the low coolant light was on. The oil looks fine. I backed it out of the garage for the day, and started it again in 15 minutes. THe low coolant light was out, and it ran fine. This motor has never been open, and has 195k on it. Im thinking if it was head gasket I should be seeing compression leak in the coolant tank, but I dont. I have been watching for that with the leak all along.
I have a lot going thru my mind- like 195k on motor- do I pull heads ? Not sure what direction to go. Any suggestions would be great.
Dvldog8793
03-08-2015, 19:10
Howdy
If it was mine....
-Get a cooling system pressure tester. This will allow you to pressurize the system and see if holds pressure. Pump it up to about 13- 14 psi
-If it seems to hold initially, pump it up to 14 - 15 psi and let it sit over night.
-Next day, Crack the oil drain just loose and SLOWLY turn it loose, Watch for the first drop to come past the threads. HOPEFULLY it will be oil!
-If it is coolant or water then evil things are most likely happening.
-Also allot can be found out from an oil analysis.
I had a cracked block between the back two cylinders. It would hold 16psi and over night would only drop to about 13.5 but I had water in the oil pan. Sometimes these cracks will only open up when at operating temps and the majority of the coolant burns off in the oil. I was using the orange long run coolant. It mixes with oil and forms a think black jelly! This was all over the inside of my engine, you might find something like that inside the CDR as well.
Hope this helps and Good luck!
I am going to get a coolant system tester. I made one years ago that used compressed air thru a regulator to pressurize the cooling system, and it worked for that purpose. The cap I made it from leaked last time I used it, and I never trusted it to not leak in an overnight test. Just used it to pressurize and look for leaks.
I am sure my engine will not hold pressure. It leaks after sitting a few days. I have been adding coolant for at least 6 months now, easily over a gallon at this point. I have removed the drain plug after it sat for a few days, and got only oil on my fingers.
After thinking about this more, I decided screw it. The truck runs fine, very fine. It does not act like a head gasket. At 195K, I dont want to put a bunch into this motor to fix a coolant leak, so im gonna grab at straws. I pulled the rad overflow hose off, blew some coolant back into the bottle, and put in a bottle of K-Seal. I used that stuff in a raggedy old radiator in the back of my mud truck and it has held for at least two years now. I drove it about two hours yesterday, and will drive it again tonight. Then it will sit till the weekend. Time will tell. Whatever is going on, it is getting worse. I estimate it lost about a quart between last Monday and Saturday when I started it. I fear I am going to turn the key, liquid lock it, bend a rod, and that is it. Then it is time to call one of our vendors on here and get me a new plant. I have put too much in this truck to put it out to pasture. Even the good wife said "I cant believe that truck is broke. It looks like new". God bless her. For what I use this truck for, I cant see buying something new(er), but I do need a truck to pull my gooseneck and mud truck to go play.
Well, I got home and went to drive the truck this evening, and it sounded terrible again. It only sat one night, and the coolant level dropped some already. I should have marked the tank but I was tired when I got home last night. I decided not to drive it, as it didnt clear up after running a few minutes. It almost sounds like the intake noise you hear when running with the intake piping removed. I gotta find a coolant system tester and pull some glowplugs I guess. Doesnt look like the K-Seal helped !!
john8662
03-10-2015, 06:29
Sounds like a head gasket to me.
I'd do a compression test rather than a coolant pressure leak down check. The coolant leak down check will probably force coolant into the cylinder.
Sounds like a head gasket to me.
I'd do a compression test rather than a coolant pressure leak down check. The coolant leak down check will probably force coolant into the cylinder.
I would think if it were head gasket I would see blowby thru the coolant, and the hoses would get hard real quick. I dont see either. Maybe it is going into the next cylinder. I believe the compression test is done thru the glowplug hole, correct? I dont have the adapter for that... yet !
Dvldog8793
03-10-2015, 06:55
ditto with John, If it seems to be a drivability issue then I would think it is more likely a head gasket than a cracked block.
DennisG01
03-10-2015, 07:16
Get the oil checked. If for nothing else, than to eliminate possibilities. As I mentioned to you in my thread, read through it - there's a lot of good suggestions in there. My oil "looked" totally normal - but a test returned positive for coolant in the oil.
There's a possibility that you could have a head gasket rupture between a coolant passage and an oil return line. In that case, oil could be pushed into the coolant, but not vice-versa.
Have you looked at the coolant recovery tank to see if there's any oil floating in there?
EDIT: Wanted to add that your symptoms sound a little different than mine since I had no drivability issues. Whether that means something, or not, I don't know.
Get the oil checked. If for nothing else, than to eliminate possibilities. As I mentioned to you in my thread, read through it - there's a lot of good suggestions in there. My oil "looked" totally normal - but a test returned positive for coolant in the oil.
There's a possibility that you could have a head gasket rupture between a coolant passage and an oil return line. In that case, oil could be pushed into the coolant, but not vice-versa.
Have you looked at the coolant recovery tank to see if there's any oil floating in there?
EDIT: Wanted to add that your symptoms sound a little different than mine since I had no drivability issues. Whether that means something, or not, I don't know.
I didnt have drivability issues till yesterday ! And I could still drive it, but it didnt sound right, so I didnt. The coolant recovery tank is not oily or dirty. Im gonna order a couple test kits from Amsoil now. Till I get time to mess with this thing I'm gonna think it to death. I wonder if the sound I am hearing is compression leaking from one cyl to the next, and I hear it thru the intake on one of them. It has not given any codes, but the lsat time I drove it was Sunday and the noise had cleared up before I left the house, which doesnt make sense if it is compression leak. I've got to find an adapter to check compression. I have a nice gauge but no way to thread it into the glowplug hole. Any suggestions?
DmaxMaverick
03-10-2015, 10:51
If you don't have a compression test adapter, and can't (or don't care to) source one, make one. Gut an old glow plug and weld/braze an air fitting on the hex end. Also, your test gage needs to have a 450+ PSI range. Typical test values should be around 380, they can spike well above 400, especially if the cylinder is "wet". ALWAYS do the test on a hot engine, at or near operating temp, all the GP's removed, and ESS disconnected. Keep the batteries fully charged. Record the value at 6 puffs.
DmaxMaverick
03-10-2015, 10:56
......Then, if your compression test isn't immediately revealing (they rarely are, even with a blown gasket), leave the GP's out and perform the cooling system pressure test. If you get coolant into the cylinders, they can be easily cleared by cranking the engine. Any liquid in the cylinders will blow out the GP holes.
I ordered a cooling system tester, and this adapter for the compression test- http://www.autotoolworld.com/Mityvac-MVA5604-Diesel-Glow-Plug-Adapter--GM-62L-65L-V8_p_151120.html .
I dont think my compression tester goes high enough, so I will probably make one once I see what the quick connect on that adapter will fit. I took an oil sample yesterday, cold. No sign of water / coolant when I removed the drain plug. I dont want to run it long enough to warm up, so I'm not sure how the compression test will go. The sound it makes when running now is just plain eerie.
DennisG01
03-11-2015, 05:48
That's the same adapter I was looking into getting.
I don't know if you read through my whole post on this, but one of the suggestions (along the lines of what is suggested above) was (start with #8, as apparently that is the most 'likely' culprit) to pump up the coolant system, let it sit over night, then have someone crank the engine while you hold a white paper towel over the glow plug hole. The towel will make it easy to spot what is coming out (hopefully not orange).
That's the same adapter I was looking into getting.
I don't know if you read through my whole post on this, but one of the suggestions (along the lines of what is suggested above) was (start with #8, as apparently that is the most 'likely' culprit) to pump up the coolant system, let it sit over night, then have someone crank the engine while you hold a white paper towel over the glow plug hole. The towel will make it easy to spot what is coming out (hopefully not orange).
Im not sure what I will hook the adapter to at this point. MityVac #MV5534 is an analog tester in the $80 range that I am considering. It doesnt come with any adapters. Im going to look at my tester tonight and see how high the gauge does go. It also uses the quick connect, but Im not sure if they are the same.
Also, I know I wont get any orange stuff out of mine as I switched to green many years ago. IMHO that orange stuff gunks up over time. The green stuff now is also long life, so I dont know the benefits of using Dexcool any more. I do still have it in the motorhome I just bought. It is a 2002 with the 8.1 and 49K on it. It should probably be changed due to age. I would be very surprised if I dont get green out of a glowplug hole. Its going somewhere, and as much as I have lost the oil should look like a milkshake by now. Probably lost a quart from Sunday to Monday. Like I said earlier, I removed the plug last night and got only oil out the drain. Time will tell.
DennisG01
03-11-2015, 06:37
Its going somewhere, and as much as I have lost the oil should look like a milkshake by now. Probably lost a quart from Sunday to Monday. Like I said earlier, I removed the plug last night and got only oil out the drain. Time will tell.
Over a few weeks, I lost over 2 quarts of AF. The oil still looked normal.
Don't know if this will be any help, but when the head gasket started to go on my '93 6.5 I always heard bubbling into the coolant reservoir as soon as I shut it down. No antifreeze in the oil, no oil in the coolant reservoir. After about 3 months of this, the driver's side head started weeping coolant above #7 cylinder on the outside of the block. Put 2 new heads/gaskets on and all was well. On another issue, the heads were from O'Reilley auto parts and O'Reilley swore they were manufactured in Texas. Got my doubts. Does anyone know?
Well, I finally took some time to look at the engine. The oil analysis came back terrible. I tried to attach, but I dont think it worked. Coolant indicators extremely high, bearing metal high, beginning oxidation... ugh. I did compression test #1- 420 ; #3-390 ; #5- 350 ; #7- 390; #2- 420 ; #4- 380 ; #6- 360 ; #8- 420. Pulled right exhaust / turbo off to see better and pumped up cooling system. Had coolant dripping off between flywheel and back of block. I cant tell if it is coming out the back of the head and running down or if it's coming from a freeze plug on the back of the block. I have left it pressurized a couple hours and turned it over. Did not see anything coming out glow plug holes. It is very oily at #8 around head. Something going on there. I really want to see where the coolant leak on the outside is coming from before I pull the head off and cant pressurize anymore. I know its getting into the oil on the inside too, so when I pull the head I hope to see a bad gasket. I drained the oil and saw clumps coming out with it. Im still up in the air about what to do . Truck is in excellent shape, (FLorida vehicle), and it would cost me a bunch to buy one and get it setup to pull my gooseneck. Couldnt get anything for it with a bad engine either. SO I thinks, new headgaskets with these heads? (195K miles) - I dont think so. New heads for a motor showing all that bearing metal in the oil? What about block leak? Or the big one- a NEW longblock from a vendor on here ? It is tough for me as I dont have much time to spend on this thing right now. I think I need to leave it pressurized a long time and watch for coolant out the oil drain. Any insight would be appreciated.
guyina4x4
04-05-2015, 19:28
head gaskets are cheap, those and new bolts can be had under $100
it takes a good deal of time to do but if you have the time?
I'd tear them off and see what you can see
and go from there.
"Oil in clumps" is (nearly certain) an indication of ethylene glycol contamination.
Yes clumps in the oil. I noticed I was able to attach the oil analysis in the earlier post, and it shows the glycol indicators in the SEVERE range, and bearing metals was SIGNIFICANT. My question is have I damaged the bottom end, (bearings) by running it so long with the coolant leak. I pressurized the cooling system to 20 yesterday and after tightening a drip at the upper rad hose gooseneck called it a night. I will look tonight to see if anything is coming out the oil plug. Previously the pressure would not hold, but I couldnt see where the coolant was going. Found the hose dripping yesterday so time will tell now. It is awful oily around the head at #8 and I am watching there closely. I really want to see water come out the oil drain before I pull the heads and cant pressurize anymore. I am puzzled by the noise I was hearing when it was running, and the miss it had. I felt sure I would see coolant in one of the cylinders after pulling the plugs, but so far all is dry. I wonder if the contaminated oil took out a lifter and that was the miss I was hearing. I hate to change the heads only to find damage elsewhere. This is a 96 block and I know they were not one of the better ones to have. I keep leaning toward a long block to avoid the risk of what might be wrong inside. 6.5liter.com has a new longblock (improved) for 4590. Thats the lowest Ive found for new.
Well the cooling system pressure went from 20 to 14 in 24 hours. The reservoir went down about 1 inch. So far nothing coming out of the oil drain or glowplug holes. I pumped it back up to 20 last night and will continue to watch.
john8662
04-10-2015, 14:01
According to your oil analysis, it shows 9000 miles on the oil. The oil or filter system may not be doing a very good job with the high contaminate floating in the system. Oil change interval may be too long.
That might explain some of the readings on your analysis.
I'd pull the heads and inspect the gaskets, starting at the ends where the coolant ports are.
Inspect the water pump area as well, if this isn't sealed properly you'll get oil in the coolant either. I think there is a right technique and art to sealing things right, which isn't often duplicated. I've worked on enough used trucks to confirm that. I've yet to have a leak on a water pump job I've done. Sometimes the timing cover to block can be a source as well, so if pulling the water pump, might as well do the front cover as well to just be sure.
With all that said. I think you'll be best to visit the water pump and timing cover and heads on this engine and seal these areas up.
Then plan on a new engine since you have nearly 200k on yours.
Peninsular would be a good source, that's where I get mine.
Sounds like good advice John. Thanks .. Now all I need is WORK to slow down so I have some time to do what I need to do !!
According to your oil analysis, it shows 9000 miles on the oil. The oil or filter system may not be doing a very good job with the high contaminate floating in the system. Oil change interval may be too long.
That might explain some of the readings on your analysis.
I'd pull the heads and inspect the gaskets, starting at the ends where the coolant ports are.
Inspect the water pump area as well, if this isn't sealed properly you'll get oil in the coolant either. I think there is a right technique and art to sealing things right, which isn't often duplicated. I've worked on enough used trucks to confirm that. I've yet to have a leak on a water pump job I've done. Sometimes the timing cover to block can be a source as well, so if pulling the water pump, might as well do the front cover as well to just be sure.
With all that said. I think you'll be best to visit the water pump and timing cover and heads on this engine and seal these areas up.
Then plan on a new engine since you have nearly 200k on yours.
Peninsular would be a good source, that's where I get mine.
If you want to try to milk some more run time out of it you can switch it to straight water in the cooling system, drain the crankcase and do a diesel fuel flush on the crankcase. Any number of ways to do it. Add about 2 qts to the oil, or so is how I did it. Idle until plenty warm and dump it. Depending how bad it is you may want to repeat.
A new long block will set you back around $6k and that is all new parts genuine AMG/GEP.
I finally gave up on finding a coolant leak by pressurizing the system. All I am loosing at this point is some air pressure from around the cap flange on the recovery bottle. I sealed the neck up with JB Weld and it is better, but still leaking a little air out. I am not loosing coolant any more. I made a mark on the tank maybe 10 days ago after finding the drip at the upper hose / gooseneck clamp. Tightened that up, and havent lost liquid again. The "lifter valley" had a lot of coolant in it from the hose drippng. I found a little hole at the back of the valley that apparently drains into the bell housing area. That explains the coolant coming from inside there and making me pull the starter and TC cover to see what was going on. Is there any way the coolant could get into the crankcase from the lifter valley? That little drain hole was about plugged up.
I pulled the right head off today, and the gasket looks OK. I dont see any blown areas around coolant passages, and the pistons are all dry and black. No sign of a leak or what caused the miss and strange noise I heard when I thought coolant was in a cylinder. The CDR valve poured water out when I shook it around. Maybe something happening on the left side. I dont know when I'll get to pull the left side.
Well, both heads are off, and I dont see anything wrong with the gaskets. I do see some white crusties on the piston tops on the right side. I have attached pics. Im taking the heads to be pressure tested today. If they dont find something I am really not sure what to do.
Again best advice if you have seen coolant in oil analysis is to switch to straight water and do a couple of successive oil changes.
What I used to do is add 1/2-1 gallon of diesel fuel to crankcase and idle till hot then drain and watch out. This really gets the junk out but be sure that you have a drain valve to stop the flow or a pan large enough to catch it all.
More Power
04-21-2015, 10:28
I've seen pistons and cylinder heads that had been exposed to some amount of coolant over a long period of time. Water molecules will migrate into the micro pores of the metal and turn to steam during combustion. This process etches the metal over time, and can result in pretty severely cratered surfaces.
john8662
04-27-2015, 13:37
Let's see all 4 corners where the coolant ports are and the gaskets both sides of both gaskets.
J
I took the heads to a local auto machine shop 4-21-15 . They said they are very familiar with the 6.5 as the phosphate mines here have had a lot of them. I took the gaskets as well and they agreed that the gaskets did not look bad. I told them trash the gaskets. I am still waiting for the results of the pressure test. They are very busy, and I didnt ask how long as I really didnt care. I havent had a chance to touch the truck since I snatched the heads off. I am planning on pulling the lifters out and cleaning them out. The oil that was dripping out of the pushrods when I removed them was all stringy looking. Like black snot. I am trying to figure a way to push some oil through to get more of the goop out. I may use a pressure pot to push oil through the filter thread fitting. I can put 120 psi on that, so it should push it through.
Let's see all 4 corners where the coolant ports are and the gaskets both sides of both gaskets.
J
I'll take some pics as soon as I can. I'm assuming you want a looksy before I clean the block up, right?
With the right head off you are in a perfect position to get a good look at #8 cylinder.
With the piston down at the bottom of the bore, have a careful look at the area about 7-8 oclock (looking straight down at the piston from the RH side)
Look at the cyl wall about 3/4" down from the deck near the back wall.
If you see any weird scuffing or etching anywhere in that area, you may have a cracked cyl wall.
This was a failure point in the late engines.
There should be no discolorations in that area.
I have seen a few.
If you find a suspicious area, lightly sand the area with 400 wet/dry dipped in diesel.
Clean the cyl wall with brakekleen and a rag, then check with crack check dye kit.
This stuff can tell a story.
I bought a "Good" engine, that just needed a head gasket.
Noooooooooooooooooo, had a cracked #8
These cracks are right at the bottom of the deck, where the back bolt boss stops.
They can be short or up to an inch long around the cyl bore.
Also look for erosion of the deck where the fire ring of the gasket sits.
This is especially so on cyl 2 and 8 on that side.
Where the coolant lays against the block in the front 2 dead end passages are notorious for erosion.
The only fix is to deck the block (.012 max or maybe .015 if the pistons do not protrude above the deck) Then use the .010 thicker gasket from felpro.
There is one other place.
These engines have been known to crack the main saddles starting in the oil squirt hole.
These cracks will spiral through the main web, then progress up the cyl wall until they hit water.
I know all this sounds horrible, but as far as you are into this thing, STOP and yank the beast out and get it apart.
You are at a great jumping off spot to get good answers as to WHY
Its easy once the beast is on the stand to yank the slugs out and the crank and bearings.
At this point you can really get the full picture.
Be sure to # your rods at the split line, as they are not.
Do this on the outer facing side of the part line.
The swirl chamber is right above on the piston.
You can dust off the decks with the 9 inch grinder and a wire cup wheel to clear the gasket debris as well.
Getting a good evil eye on the decks, the main saddles and the area around the outer bolt holes on 2-3-4 mains will be easy.
If it checks out and the bores are not worn badly, you can lightly hone with a bottle brush hone to break the glaze, then stuff in new rings, bearings and your set.
The big issue is getting good solid answers as to what is happening.
At 200k, your right on the cusp, and with a head off and far too many unanswered ???? hanging about, get it out now and see WTF gives.
Good luck
Missy
Missy, I agree with all that you say, but if I pull the motor out, it will be to replace it with a new one. I just dont trust these old blocks.
That being said..... I just talked to the machine shop. The heads pressure tested fine. He said there are cracks, but they ran the pressure up real high and no leaks. He said one of the precups fell out in the wash tank, but again no waterleak. Now what. It will be 400 total for the heads to be done. I can get new from Clearwater for 610 if I pick them up. Id still have to pay 80 for the pressure test on the old heads, so 690 to get new heads. Of course, the question still remains.... how did the water get in the oil?
I keep going back to the fact that I was not able to get the water to go down on pressure test after I tighted the upper hose at the gooseneck. I never got water to come out the oil drain as if the block was cracked.
If I put it all back together and still loose coolant, id run water in it till it blows up then replace.
Here are some pics of what I see with no heads. Since the heads showed no leaks, I would appreciate any input if anyone sees something abnormal in these pics. The white I see on the bottoms of the pistons on the right side make be wonder if coolant was getting into the cyls, at least a little, and burning off. Possibly the gasket was leaking a little even though it wasnt blown. I dont know. ALso, there is a spot on #8 kind of in the area Missy was talking about, that Im not sure about. I'll put more pics in next post.
Picture #1692
This is a great shot of #8 and the dark shadow in and around the area adjacent to the lower corner bolt and the rear coolant passage is very suspicious looking.
My recommendation is to wet sand the area with #400 wet dry paper dipped in diesel to shine it up and remove all carbon and other crud.
Once this is done clean with brakekleen and a clean cloth.
Get a Dye Check kit and check the area.
These kits have 3 spray cans.
One is a cleaner, one is the penetrant (a red chemical) and the last one is a white developer.
The cleaner is sprayed on the area first, then after it dries, the penetrant is applied and left to soak in.
Once the penetrant has soaked in, the excess is wiped off the area and the developer is applied.
The developer goes on like as frost white paint, and any cracks will show up like the interstate highway on a map.
The product instructions are very easy to follow
Check out this link to a great pic of a crack on a hummer 6.5
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.************.com/Diesel/No8Cyl/image/Crack.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.************.com/Diesel/No8Cyl/CrackedBlock.htm&h=640&w=426&tbnid=vhyiocgYnX1I2M:&zoom=1&docid=2DJdXDPQFd-iYM&ei=cERCVfvIHpLFogT1_IGIAw&tbm=isch&ved=0CB0QMygAMAA
Before you go further, check that area, it sure looks odd.
All the other pics look pretty normal.
If that shadow was not in #8 and at the precise location that are noted to crack it might go by, but that sucker is a flashing neon sign
LOOK AT ME :eek:
Let us know what shakes out.
Missy
john8662
04-30-2015, 20:33
Thanks for the pics, let's see the gaskets both sides of each gasket.
Honestly, things look pretty good, I'd start cleaning up the deck now.
You planning on checking out the water pump and timing cover sealing areas?
John-
I took the gaskets to the machine shop as they wanted to see them. They did not see anything wrong with the gaskets, and I tossed them. I am going to hopefully work on the block this weekend. I ordered a dye penetrant kit to check the area in #8 Missy was talking about. I am going to push diesel and oil thru the filter threaded fitting to clean out some of the gunk on the inside, while turning the motor by hand. I have a pressure pot and a fitting that I think will thread on the 13/16-16 fitting. I want to look at the water pump & timing cover, but not sure the best way to go about it. Do I need to remove the pump? If so, I may need to just replace it as I am pretty sure it is original. I havent pulled anything off the front yet, so I dont know what is involved to get the pump off. I hate the thought of putting this back together not knowing how the water got in the oil. Also, I dont think I will use the old heads, as for 290. more I can get the new ones from Clearwater. I am proceeding cautiously!
Just a suggestion.
Save your time and effort until you get the dye check done.
If that area turns out to be cracked you are gonna be searching for a block, and there is little benefit to cleaning and fussing with it.
Just some thoughts.
Missy
IF
you have to get a block.
BE VERY CAREFUL TO CHECK any prospective prizes to be sure the mainline is not cracked, and that the decks have not been cut previously.
Many of these engines will have had machine tools laid on them and especially decks cut and not marked.
Check out these pics of #8 with Dye Penetrant and #3 wall marks. I saw no cracks in the area of #8 where the discolored spot was (7 - 8 o'clock_ on the wall.
The clean bore is #3. I noticed the marks while cleaning the block. At first I thought it was from when I pulled the heads and coolant from inside the head had ran down between piston and wall. BUt why just this cylinder? Also, the head is pitted over this cylinder as well. The red at the piston edge is from my dye penetrant check. Heads leak tested good, but wont be reused.
Thoughts?
Hmmmm
#8 looks good
Clean the decks up SQUEAKY clean and make sure there are no erosion grooves in the deck area where the fire rings sit.
The other worry that continues to creep into my crystal ball, is the possibility of a crack from the main line that has crept up into a cylinder.
This is an early Squirt block most likely, and these had larger diameter holes in the main webs.
I have personally had a main web crack through an oil squirt hole and end up in the lower end of a cylinder, just into the water jacket.
There is only one way to be sure, and that is to yank the pistons out.
The cylinder with the weird pitting may be an indicator of such.
Given the miles and no other definitive answer as to where the coolant is going leaves but one avenue in my opinion.
Yank the engine out and get the slugs out.
A cracked cylinder will when it comes from the bottom will be easy to see.
Mine was very easy to spot once the bores were wiped clean.
IMHO it would be foolish to button on a new set of heads, gaskets, bolts and TIME without inspecting the bottom end.
If the basement is cracked, then you are going on to plan B
There is a reason the coolant is in the oil.
Missy
I got the truck back together in July with new heads from Clearwater. Never found any indication of how the coolant was getting into the oil. I also ended up doing the cooling upgrade with a hi volume pump and dual stats. The truck is running great, but I am still loosing water into the oil, verified by oil analysis. GO figure. I am running water with water-wetter for corrosion prevention. I would estimate water loss at 1 quart every 2000 miles. I am considering trying one of Blue Devil's cooling system sealers to try to stop this leak. The truck runs SOOOOO good, I hate to keep putting water downstairs through the bearings. Bearing metal keeps showing up on the oil analysis as well.
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