I purchased my first caterpillar, a big twenty, over ten years ago. This past spring I ended up with water- a lot of water in the oil! I was devastated! Somehow, it must of frooze and cracked something. I drained the oil/water mess and opened up the side panels. I added more water to the coolant systen to try to pinpoint the leak. It was hard to see, but water was pouring into the engine block! I had a major leak, not a little one. Finally, today i was starting to dismantle the motor to see what parts i needed and to see what the damage would be to fix it. I Couldn't believe my eyes when i removed the valve cover. The frost plugs (which i didn't know existed) on top of the head, had popped out. Water would come out the plugs and go down the push rod tubes! I reinstalled the plugs, and added some water and the leak is gone! I should have it running this weekend to make sure there are no little leaks! What a relief!

Congratulations! It is pretty upsetting to find water in the oil, and especially after you see a big leak. One could image a cracked block or some such horrible thing. Whew! At least it wasn't that. GWH