New MEP-1040 pushing strange colored oil out of filler cap

[The Captain]

Hi folks, new member/first post.

I just bought a new (5 hours) MEP-1040 from GP and now I noticed in one of the vids that they show milky colored oil coming from the filler cap during their run test. Sadly I did not notice this when looking through the many pictures and vids before buying but now it is what it is. Is there some way that these units get water in the crank case while sitting for years? The crank case is obviously too full and it looks like water in the oil. If this had hours on it I would suspect head gasket but am unsure how the head gasket could have failed on a unit with 5 hours. Appreciate any insight that members might have on this.

 

[DieselAddict]

I don’t have a 1040 but that does look like water and oil.

Is there any coolant in the machine?

One pretty simple test is to put some pressure on the cooling system and see if it holds.

 

[Ray70]

Definitely looks like coolant in the oil, however.... there are always other possibilities with "auction" equipment.
Could have been a flood victim, you never know, assuming you never saw it in "Good" condition from what I'm hearing?
Change the oil and filter, pressure test the radiator and see what you find.
If all looks good, run it a bit, heat it up, re-verify all is good and I would put a little test time on it and change oil and filter a 2nd time to get out any residual muck.

 

[The Captain]

I bought sight unseen like most people but the pictures make it look very new inside and out. No rust even on the skids. This thing has been stored inside IMO.

I looked at the videos from the other four MEP-1040 gensets which sold today. In 3 of those cases they also showed the genny running with the oil fill open. In all cases the oil looked exactly the same: same oil color and slowly being pushed out of the oil fill hole. The odds of all these gennys being bad in the same way is nil so I began to dig deeper and it seems that pulling the oil fill cap and looking for oil to come rolling out while the genny is running is a simple way to test for "blowby". Apparently some of the exhaust gasses blow by the piston rings, thus pressurizing the crank case. This causes some of the oil to blow out the fill hole. The worse the blowby, the more the oil comes out when running. One of the genny's was really bad even though only 5 hrs on it (and it looked new as well...). I think when these things sit around for a long time the rings might get stuck a bit. They make engine conditioning additives which are supposed to free up your rings in order to reduce blowby. I will of course drain the oil when I get the unit and refill with new oil and then run it for a few hours. Then I will drain that and then refill with oil and that ring conditioner additive and re-run for a few hours. Then I will drain a 2nd time and refill with new oil. If anything is going to help make up for 8 years in storage unused, that will do it.

I also think the oil looks a bit different because it was only 41 deg F outside. So the oil was a bit thick.

 

[Ray70]

I would still highly recommend checking the coolant system before you go too far.
That oil definitely has water in it. Probably several quarts at least.
Coolant in the oil will eventually delaminate the main and rod bearings if run too long, so hopefully it's recent.
You are correct about stuck rings causing blow-by, but that machine has some how gotten water or coolant into the oil and it's way more than just condensation. Then it was run with the water in there, that is why it is emulsified into the oil and not just sitting on the bottom of the pan.
When you pull the drain plug you nay get some water first, then milkshake.
For cheap money you can get a coolant system tester to pump up the radiator and check that it holds pressure.... well worth the $60

https://www.amazon.com/Radiator-Pressure-Cooling-Testing-Universal/dp/B087JHV2S3/ref=asc_df_B087JHV2S3/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=475789621573&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=6947487881364099189&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9002228&hvtargid=pla-1053576751339&psc=1

 

[The Captain]

I would still highly recommend checking the coolant system before you go too far.
That oil definitely has water in it. Probably several quarts at least.
Coolant in the oil will eventually delaminate the main and rod bearings if run too long, so hopefully it's recent.
You are correct about stuck rings causing blow-by, but that machine has some how gotten water or coolant into the oil and it's way more than just condensation. Then it was run with the water in there, that is why it is emulsified into the oil and not just sitting on the bottom of the pan.
When you pull the drain plug you nay get some water first, then milkshake.
For cheap money you can get a coolant system tester to pump up the radiator and check that it holds pressure.... well worth the $60

https://www.amazon.com/Radiator-Pressure-Cooling-Testing-Universal/dp/B087JHV2S3/ref=asc_df_B087JHV2S3/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=475789621573&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=6947487881364099189&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9002228&hvtargid=pla-1053576751339&psc=1

Yes, will certainly check the level of all fluids and drain/replace them all when I receive the unit by end of next week. Since all the units sold that day have the exact same oil, but no white froth (which is commonly seen with water in the oil) I am still skeptical about there being any water in the oil. But maybe there is a design flaw where these things just sit around unused since DOM (2014) and then something rusts through and allows the radiator fluid to dump into the oil. As other have said, you don't know what you don't know until you get the unit in hand.

 

[Daybreak]

Howdy,
Don't think to hard about the blow-by. The 5 hour unit is not broken in. The best thing you can do. Drain all fluids. Leave the unit to drain overnight. Get all your filters, and get some John Deere Break-in Oil. Understand how to fill the coolant. How to burp the coolant. There is a special 1/4 turn pull tag on the hose for burping, filling coolant.

(1) AMMPS MEP-1040 10KW Generator List of Part Numbers | SteelSoldiers

(2) Break-In oil for the low hour MEPS | SteelSoldiers

When you have everything ready to go.
Read the manual. Understand the operation.
Have a multi-meter ready. Have sufficient wires on your lugs. Have a way to load your unit. Try to run your unit at least 1-2 hours with a good even 60% load range.

 

[The Captain]

Howdy,
Don't think to hard about the blow-by. The 5 hour unit is not broken in. The best thing you can do. Drain all fluids. Leave the unit to drain overnight. Get all your filters, and get some John Deere Break-in Oil. Understand how to fill the coolant. How to burp the coolant. There is a special 1/4 turn pull tag on the hose for burping, filling coolant.

(1) AMMPS MEP-1040 10KW Generator List of Part Numbers | SteelSoldiers

(2) Break-In oil for the low hour MEPS | SteelSoldiers

When you have everything ready to go.
Read the manual. Understand the operation.
Have a multi-meter ready. Have sufficient wires on your lugs. Have a way to load your unit. Try to run your unit at least 1-2 hours with a good even 60% load range.

OK very useful info. Will get that break in oil. I have all the manuals.

 

[Abrant23]

Understand how to fill the coolant. How to burp the coolant. There is a special 1/4 turn pull tag on the hose for burping, filling coolant.

And don't forget to flip that little pull tag back down after you burp the system......if you don't and then run it for an hour or so it'll push coolant out the reservoir cap and drain hose......ask me how I know!

Alvin.

 

[Guyfang]

Howdy,
Don't think to hard about the blow-by. The 5 hour unit is not broken in. The best thing you can do. Drain all fluids. Leave the unit to drain overnight. Get all your filters, and get some John Deere Break-in Oil. Understand how to fill the coolant. How to burp the coolant. There is a special 1/4 turn pull tag on the hose for burping, filling coolant.

(1) AMMPS MEP-1040 10KW Generator List of Part Numbers | SteelSoldiers

(2) Break-In oil for the low hour MEPS | SteelSoldiers

When you have everything ready to go.
Read the manual. Understand the operation.
Have a multi-meter ready. Have sufficient wires on your lugs. Have a way to load your unit. Try to run your unit at least 1-2 hours with a good even 60% load range.

YES,YES, YES!!

Start one thing at a time. Both Ray and Daybreak are leading you right. I have never seen this type gen set, but have had this kind of problem before. I put a heater in the gen set to warm up the oil pan, and then drained the oil. Change the filter, (Cheap filter!). Look at the radiator cap to see if there is any white oil on it.

If the set were mine, I would put dextron in it and run it until the temp came up and then drain it out. Change filter and put (cheap) oil in it. Run it till its hot, with a load, and then shut it down and look at your oil filler tube. And then if things look good, Put GOOD oil and a GOOD filter in it. Run it under at least 75-80% load for at least 4-6 hours.

 

[Abrant23]

If you look at the picture of that unit that shows the analog hour meter, it seems to have water inside of it as well. I wonder if these units were in a flood?

Hopefully you can dry her out, change some fluids and she'll make electricity.

 

[Ray70]

Yup, exactly what I said in post #3. Wouldn't be the first time flood victims have rolled across the auction block!

 

[The Captain]

Nice catch on the hour meter. I will go check that out. However, this unit arrived today and I was able to give it a quick check. The oil looks good. It's a perfect honey color with zero white froth or anything bad looking. And it's not over filled / reading high on the dipstick as it certainly would be if the oil were floating on a lake of water. Might they have flooded the units and then changed the oil? Anything is possible, but I did see the unit running on the auction before purchasing. The batteries are dead, only 8 volts. I wonder if I can recover them with a desulfinator. If not, new batteries. Also, in reading the paperwork there is no mention of flooding, etc. I was in the USAF for 6 years and I know that the government has no need to lie about such things. If shit happens a tech just writes it up on the machine forms that stay with the equipment. They know they don't have to earn the money they use to buy new replacement gear with and so it is far more important to just follow the rules. Now, could govplanet have seen such paperwork and then stashed it? Sure, anything is possible and they would have a profit motive for having done so. But the risk of getting caught would be high and simply not worth losing their position as auctioneer of this gear.