Anyone know what this could be? I am thinking head gaskets,but is there anything else I am forgetting? I have seen some postings of coolant in oil,but I do not have this situation,been changing the oil,just did that.

Second question,the 350 that I have in my car is an older engine with a drivers side dipstick,is there any way besides headers to make a dipstick work?

 

the reason why coolant ends up in the oil is because there are pressurized coolant passages all around the block and in most places the coolant is under more pressure than the oil in addition the coolant also passes through gaskets where oil does not

there is also no pressurized oil in the head only a gravity drain oil in coolant is unlikely do to a head gasket failure how ever coolant in the oil is a possibility

 

Could that "oil" be trans fluid? ATF cooler in radiator could be blown out.

 

Transmission is the most likely source for the oil. Check your trans. Id be willing to bet that its contaminated with coolant, which does a number on the frictions.

 

ok,but isnt the fluid in the transmission supposed to be a brownish-red? The stuff I am looking at is cocoa brown,and definitely looks like motor oil...

 

I wanted to ask a double question on this. Would it hurt anything if I unhooked the lines to the transmission,leaving the car in park,and flushed the radiator to get the old fluid out,to see if it will appear?

 

If you wanted to do that, you would have to run a loop of hose from the supply to the return to recirculate the trans fluid back. Otherwise you will have a torrent of transmission fluid spraying everywhere.

Compare the color of the oil to that of the trans fluid. If the trans fluid is still red or a darker color, then its engine oil. The smell can tell you as well. Trans fluid has a distinct odor.

Its possible to get engine oil in the coolant. The only way it could happen is for a crack to form between one of the oil galleys and the water jacket. If its small ammounts of coolant/oil exchanging, the coolant will boil off in the crank case before it becomes noticable.

Edit: does this car have a factory oil cooler? That could explain the oil there if its rotted out.

 

Where would the oil cooler be located on these cars? It was a base v8 car originally,and now has a 79 350 in it.

 

Right above the oil filter. The filter screws onto the cooler itself. To my knowledge, there are two hoses that supply coolant to and return it from the oil cooler. Its pretty easy to spot. Most third gens didn't get it. Mostly just the performance oriented TPI cars with L98s had it AFAIK.

 

Well,I dont think I have it,cause there is no lines on the radiator,cept for the tranny lines. I have removed the radiator,flushed it out,and have hooked a line to it,and need to get some hose clamps,trying to determine problem by removing tranny lines for testing,before I pull heads.

 

Does anyone else have any possiblilties that they know of?


Also,if there is a crack in the oil gallies,will I be able to see the crack if I take the heads off?

Thanks

Patrick

 

Generally no. If there's no coolant in the oil then any crack you may have there is gonig to be WAY too small to see with the naked eye. The best you can do is magnaflux it and that means taking the motor apart.

Im pretty sure it's transmission fluid and coolant that's mixing. Trans fluid IS supposed to be reddish brown, definitely not cocoa colored. I think your trans cooler is leaking inside your radiator unless that's been ruled out somehow.

 

Going to rule that out today,getting a new radiator. I post my results.

Also,if the engine that was in the car was leaking oil in the radiator,would it take a long time to get out?

 

Okay,put a new radiator in the car today,going to run the car for a week,flushing the radiator at least once a day,to get all the brown fluid out,if it is still there,it wasn't the radiator, SO,there is no possibility of a cracked head or bad head gasket,huh?

 

Why dont you put some new transmission fluid in there while you're at it? If the trans fluid is milky then it's got water in it and it will destroy your trans.

I had a hard time getting all the oil out of my cooling system after my first motor developed a crack in the cylinder bore. I've filled and drained it at least 3 times and it gets better each time, but you can tell the rad is just greasy from it on the inside. Getting all of it out of the inside of the rad takes a LOT of cleaning.

But you're replacing the rad... so it probably wouldn't be too bad.

 

Just to clear up anything,I never said the transmission fluid was milky,or non-red on the stick,or at the cooler lines.

 

You said

Cocoa brown makes me think it looks milky. If you misspoke then carry on, but that's what Im basing my statements on.

 

I see what your saying...what I was saying then was in regards to the foreign fluid in the coolant.

 

Hi
I have a 1984 Isuzu pickup that has engine oil in the radiator. Is this signs of a head gasket problem? It does not overheat.

 

does sound like head gasket leak on that isuzu-i don;t know much about those-this is a 1982-92 camaro/firebird forum you have posted on-,but i'm thinking these may be an oil feed passage for the overhead cam through the head gasket that may be bleeding oil to a coolant passage.The earliest chevy S-10 pickups had an isuzu 4 cyl as the base engine-check S-10 or isuzu forums.

 

I have the same problem, oil in my radiator and no water in my oil.
1989 Iroc 350 TPI.

Any ideas?

 

Cheves:

Same as above.

It is NOT oil.

THIMK: Leaks occur FROM a place that is at HIGHER pressure, TO a place that is at LOWER pressure. NEVER the opposite way. But since there's no place in a small block Chevy V8 where coolant and pressurized oil are adjacent to each other (except for a very few spots in the block casting), there's essentially NO WAY for motor oil to cross that boundary, except for a broken casting. The only possible exception to this would be, the oil cooler. BUTT... once the engine is shut off, with the coolant left hot, the pressure in the cooling system STAYS at 15 psi or whatever for some significant length of time, LONG AFTER the oil pressure has fallen to 0. Meaning, if there was a connection between the 2, there would be oil in the water in proportion to how long the motor had been running, and water in the oil in proportion to how many times the motor had been warmed up and then shut down and left to cool. IFF you had such a leak, your oil would be severely corrupted. If not, you don't have this kind of leak.

Ergo, you don't have oil in your water; you have a broken trans fluid cooler, and ATF in the water.

Don't know anything about Isuzu pickups. But that doesn't much matter: this is a forum for 82-92 Camaro/Firebird, not a general tech & troubleshooting Q&A.