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Author Topic: oil/coolant mixing?  (Read 2492 times)

Offline cwilson jr

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oil/coolant mixing?
« on: March 13, 2015, 06:46:16 pm »
during extremely cold about a month ago, my wife had to take my 85 k10 w/350 auto to work one day.  on the way home the truck died.  i just started looking into it and the first things i noticed were the bottom radiator hose popped off the water pump and the pcv popped out of the valve cover and sprayed oil everywhere.

i have it running, but missing horribly.  it doesnt appear to be electrical or the carb. and its definitely getting fuel.  i now have discovered the water that i filled it back up with, is the normal rust color, but now it definitely feels thicker and oily.  i then checked the oil and now its extremely light brown, pretty much white.

where can i start looking?  the motor sounds good, no knocking, ticks, etc.  is this almost certainly a headgasket?  if so, whats involved?
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Offline enaberif

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Re: oil/coolant mixing?
« Reply #1 on: March 13, 2015, 06:50:35 pm »
I would look at head gasket for sure. It isn't a small job by any means but its not necessarily difficult either. Time consuming yes.
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Offline Captkaos

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Re: oil/coolant mixing?
« Reply #2 on: March 15, 2015, 02:01:07 pm »
Do a leak down test on the motor or pressure test on the radiator.
Is there anti freeze coming out the exhaust (sweet smell)
What do the plugs look like?
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Offline NCali

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Re: oil/coolant mixing?
« Reply #3 on: March 20, 2015, 10:07:49 pm »
There is a real good possibility that the block or head is cracked between an oil galley and a water jacket. A crack like that would have to be in a spot that oil is being pumped under pressure from the oil pump  or the trans cooler in the radiator could have cracked  pumping trans oil into the cooling system
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Black Labs Matter

Offline HAULIN IT

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Re: oil/coolant mixing?
« Reply #4 on: March 21, 2015, 04:55:23 pm »
Quote from: NCali on March 20, 2015, 10:07:49 pm
The trans cooler in the radiator could have cracked  pumping trans oil into the cooling system
That doesn't explain the light Brown, almost White engine oil or the poor running.
I would caution running the engine much with the light Brown oil...other problems (bearings) are sure to follow. Do some research as far as compression, coolant pressure, ect. as mentioned.

Was the lower rad. hose soft & gooey? Oil in coolant hoses turn them soft since they were not intended to carry oil based fluid. The lower hoses tend to show this problem first which has always puzzled me since oil floats in water.

The PCV thing seems odd, but we're going to assume she ran it a bit with little coolant?
 
Lorne

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