# Wet Sleeves. How to determine if they are leaking.



## Hoodoo Valley (Nov 14, 2006)

No suspicion that mine are leaking, but I was curious, since it appears that all that separates the coolant from the oil pan and the contents of said oil pan, is a few rubber O rings? Obviously coolant in the engine oil is going to be bad. So what can a person do to identify coolant leaks beyond the wet sleeve seals early enough to prevent damage? Is there a method?


----------



## RC Wells (Dec 26, 2008)

The usual leakers in the tractor world are the wet sleeved IH diesels. There are cylinder pressure tests that essentially look for bubbles in the radiator for the top seals. The bottom end seals are best evaluated with routine oil analysis by a lab.

In the 90's IH pretty much retrofitted all their wet lined engines with external coolant filters, and vastly improved the seal material which eliminated the problem as long as coolant and coolant filter are maintained. 

The proper coolant filter contains the necessary anti-cavitation additive. The coolant test strips and the additive are available in any diesel repair or parts store.


----------



## Hoodoo Valley (Nov 14, 2006)

So the DCA helps with the seals too, in addition to cavitation. Mine is a truck and is a 1993, so at 25 years old 224,000 miles, I was starting to wonder. I actually contemplated drilling and tapping a hole in the drain plug for a ball valve, so I could periodically check for antifreeze.


----------



## Hoodoo Valley (Nov 14, 2006)

I would have capped the ball valve.


----------



## RC Wells (Dec 26, 2008)

Keep the additive within range, and around 750,000 miles it should have a compression test to determine general health.

Keep in mind that when Cat introduced their heavy trucks they used International Navistar DTA engines. There is a reason for this.


----------



## Hoodoo Valley (Nov 14, 2006)

I sure know mine runs exceptionally smooth and well. Almost like an industrial engine I swear. In the Spring, I want to add new batteries and change all the fluids and filters.


----------



## willys55 (Oct 13, 2016)

RC is spot on with this, the 466 will drop a valve in the piston long before it leaks a sleeve. So change the coolant filter every year, change the coolant when the PH goes out of range, and put PFP or Power Service Cetane Boost every tank full, moisture is your engines biggest enemy


----------

