I have a 2001 R1500 with 5.9V8. The engine has NOT run hot on me, but lately I have been having to add a lot of fluid to the radiator to keep it full. I bought a UV dye kit and ran it thru the radiator and found the dye showing up on the dipstick. The oil level is also reading high on the dipstick, when it was right on the full mark 2 weeks ago when I changed the oil. Obviously I am getting coolant leaking into the crankcase somehow.
The engine idles and runs perfectly just like the day I drove it off the dealers lot...it currently has ~135,000 miles. There is NO cloud of smoke coming from the exhaust, so it does not appear to be leaking past the head gasket into the cylinder.
Any ideas where to start looking? Any common leak points where coolant would get into the oilpan? Front timing chain cover where the water pump mounts up??? Intake manifold?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

just caus it aint smoking doesnt mean that it isnt a head gasket. had the same problem with my old ranger. i had a slow oil leak to go along with the leaky head gasket, so the oil level didnt rise like yours, but i didnt have any smoke eaither. but if you are leakingenough coolant into the oil to raise the oil level, that is pretty severe in my opinion. like you said you could have a bad seal on the water pump but those are few and far between. i wish i was of some help, but id have to leave this one to a certified mechanic if ya ask me??????

 

you didnt notice any cloudiness in your oil before you added the dye
cracked heads is most common. i guess it could be leaking down from the intake manifold down into the lifer valley. im stumped.

 

A blown intake manifold gasket could also leak anti-freeze down into the engine. My intake manifold gasket blew but the fluid ran out the back of the intake. It could have just as easily poured into the lifter valley and down into the engine. From best to worst you've got intake manifold gasket, head gasket, cracked head, cracked block, etc. I'm sure that there are a couple other small places where this could occur. Do a compression test on the engine to see if you can determine two side by side cylinders with lower compression. That could help diagnose a head gasket issue.

Good luck.

 

a blown headgasket doesnt have to fail so that it dumps coolant into the chambers, it could blow-out betwen the coolant and oil passages

 

I agree with you on that. I had just mentioned the compression test as a method that 'could' help diagnose a head gasket problem.

East_tn_emc, you've a mystery on your hands and the sooner you figure it out the longer your engine will live.Internal engine parts do not like anti-freeze as a lubricate.

 

Among all these other things listed it could be a timing chain gasket leak. Leaking from the water pump into the timing chain cover.

It could be tons of stuff