Camburke89

I pulled my driver side valve cover too look for an oil leak, and saw coolant mixed with the oil right where the oil travels down into the block. Pulled the other side an everything looked fine...not sure where to go from here?

RS Chris

Sounds like a blown head gasket.

Camburke89

Worth fixing or should I save money for a new engine?

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

Probably not a blown head gasket.

Not sure why that always gets trotted out as the "explanation" for EVERY internal engine leak, much like "timing" and "EGR" do for driveability problems. But that's the subject of some other future rant.

LOOK at a head gasket: OUT OF ALL the interfaces between various fluids (cyl to other cyl, cyl to water, water to oil, cyl to oil) WHICH ONES ARE SHORTEST? If those aren't failed, then the REALLY LONG ones aren't either.

More likely, intake gasket. Very very common. About 1/8" of material is all there is between coolant and crankcase. VERY easy for it to fail, especially since the originals are nothing but some kind of crappy paper. Definitely "worth" fixing as well, given that it only takes about $25 of parts.

Camburke89

Thank you. So as far as coolant getting into the block...change oil and clean it all out from the valves? And should i worry about coolant in the oil pump or anything?

Camburke89

Took a picture of where it is an what it looks like. Its 80% coolant color. Im not sure of fhi.changes the opinion. But i would just like to try an rule out everything.

Edwardgp

What does the oil on the dip stick look like?

Camburke89

The person before me took it out an never put the tube back so i cant check,im going to.drain the oil soon an see if its made its way to the oil pan.

Edwardgp

Well let us know if it looks like a milkshake or not. This will determine your next step.

FRMULA88

with the valve cover removed you can pressurize the cooling system and see / hear where the leak is coming from. if anti-freeze is in the valve train is has mixed with engine oil.

after you test for the leak, just let it sit overnight, the water will separate from the oil and will you should see that when remove the drain plug

Not a big deal fix the source of the leak, change the oil and filter.

Camburke89

I pressurized the system and nothing happend...well i heard one noise,did it several times an heard nothing after that...no spills under car...no coolant back under valve cover...still going to drain oil in about a half hour an see what that looks like...

Camburke89

Just probably a quart and half of oil. No milk shake color. But i ran it like 45 min before i did that. Total brain fart. But ill let the oil sit over night. I did notice little drops of coolant on the underside.of the starter,and some coming off what i think are tranny cooler lines..? Not sure

FRMULA88

if you can hear and not see, pull the spark plugs on that side..

what you want to do is find the source of the leak.. either the intake or head..

when you pressurize the system how fast does pressure drop? pump it up to 25-30 psi and try to look at the head you think is leaking.. or have helper assist you..

Camburke89

The pressure didnt drop fast at all..it was fairly slow. Ill have to do the test again tomorrow,needa sleep before work. I did look at where i beleive the leak it coming from but.didnt see anything. And barely heard a noise. But thanks for the advice. I will try pulling the spark.plugs someday soon.

Camburke89

Checked the oil i drained, barely and i mean barely any water/coolant seperated. Also i overlooked the fact theres a brand new radiator. So mabey valve covers were off when he was installing upper hose to intske and some spilt?

FRMULA88

what kind of "mechanic" installs a new radiator and upper hose with the valve cover off then spills anti-freeze on the valve train and does not clean up the mess?!

reading your first post... you said you were looking for an oil leak?

Clean up the mess, re-install the valve cover.. drive it... then remove the valve cover and see if there is more coolant.

Camburke89

That is was im planning on today. Im giving it a full oil change an drive it.

bwiencek

it possibly can be a leaky head bolt - remember those are screwed into the cooling passages - if a mechanic changed the head gasket but then installed the bolts 'dry' without sealant then they can weep coolant into the engine slowly. If you think that's where it's coming from then on a low compression stock engine you can usually get away with pulling the bolts one at a time and adding a thread sealer to them and re-torquing them down. If you're looking for the quick fix any one of the cooling system leak fixers will plug it up and stop that small of a leak...

RS Chris

Just a suggestion. Didn't say it was the definitive and only answer.

RSValor91

Hey Guys!!! I have the same problem but, now I allready change all gaskets, oil and filters, the problem is that now everytime that change Neutral to Drive it feels like the tranny was kicking, and itīs so hard to get from 1st gear to 2nd gear a lot of revolutions of my engine, what could this be? is this a TPS sensor problem, IAC problem, is this relationated with the coolant in my engine, could be posible that the coolant pass to the tranny? Sorry for my english!!!!

bwiencek

Stuck TV in the tranny would cause exactly what you're experiencing - make sure that when you put it all back together you didn't pinch or install the TV cable way too tight. If that's not it then the throttle valve in the trans might be stuck open - there are ways to try and un-stick it but you're probably better off to drop the pan and pull it and clean it right.