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Contaminated oil (2002 V6)

Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2021 4:49 pm
by Piers
Hello,
I believe a more unscrupulous garage has poured Mono Ethylene Glycol into both my engine and transmission. I use it as a cheap antifreeze along with de-ionized water. I left it in the back and noticed it missing after a supposed timing belt change but thought I'd misplaced it. It may or may not be that garage. I'm not entirely sure but something he said afterwards points me there. One thing I do know. It went in there with clear oil after a change (elsewhere) and came out with black oil! It's now too long ago to do anything about it. I've only recently noticed as I am just learning about the Bongo now.
It's gravity means it floats on top of oil. I think a guy I took it to tried to get rid of it from the engine by loosening the rocker cover thereby leaching out the MEG. I first noticed it and thought it was coming out the head (clear liquid) but it was in fact the rocker cover. I've re-tightened and now fine. It had also flooded the rear most 2 spark chambers in the rocker on either side and was causing a miss-fire. That along with loosened ground wires on the rocker caused massive fuel consumption. Hence I noticed. All tight now. I am taking it in for an oil change locally then running for a bit and doing another.
My question is this: Since the MEG floats on the transmission oil how can I remove it? I thought of putting one end of the coolant line in an empty container and the other in 20L of ATF.
Does anyone think this will pump out the MEG?
I will not name names...
Note: MEG is very viscous and boils at a very high temp/freezes at a very low temp. It has lubricating properties.
Sorry for the drama!

Re: Contaminated oil (2002 V6)

Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2021 5:06 pm
by g8dhe
Ugh! That sounds nasty :-( I would have thought the only way of getting rid of it would be to drain out the mixture totally, flush the system to remove all liquids and then refill, doing that for the transmission will be a significant job as you need to drain it out from not only the gearbox itself, but the torque convertor and the cooling system.

Re: Contaminated oil (2002 V6)

Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2021 5:09 pm
by Piers
The cooling system I can do. How would I get it all out from the torque converter?

Re: Contaminated oil (2002 V6)

Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2021 7:21 pm
by teenmal
To do a full flush you need to disconnect the return line on the cooler, attach a hose start engine and pump the old fluid out at the same time filling with new fluid until the fluid runs clear . I would suggest that you get a professional to do it (not the people that could have caused the contamination) . Owing to the fact that the fluid has been contaminated its advisable to change the filter. If this is not done properly it could be very very expensive for you. take care.

Re: Contaminated oil (2002 V6)

Posted: Sun Aug 22, 2021 2:17 am
by Piers
Okay, thanks. Topic closed.