Oil In My Coolant...... :-(

[kidafa]

Hi guys,

Thread tittle kind of explains it.....

If some of the tech heads in here could jump over here have a read and post that would be awesome.

http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/topic/372125-oil-in-my-coolant/

Cheers,

Chris

[Damo_R34]

cracked head?

[ISC-Performance]

Just get a leak down test and compression test and you'll get an answer straight away.

[kidafa]

Thanks for the response Ryan :-)

Recommendations on where I should go? JMS is close and handy as is GT Autosound but not sure if George and Theo have the testing stuff....

[Jap_star]

Head gasket. Not fun

[ISC-Performance]

Yeah just head to your nearest workshop as the tests are fairly simple and shouldn't take to long, they may even suss the issue before testing etc.

[RubyRS4]

The radiator may have been flushed, but what about the block. There's always the scenario that that crap is coming from the block, even if the block was flushed also. There will always be little traces of gunk that will filter thru the motor at a later time.

Seeing as there is no chocolate milkshake in your sump, and only small traces of oily residue on your cap, I'd do a pressure test at a starting point. Then monitor the radiator and oil in sump at weekly intervals if the leak down test is okay. Just keep an eye on it for now.

[kidafa]

Update:

Today I got the car compression tested and TK tested (checksfor combustion gasses in the coolant).

Compression results were as follows: 1. 155 2. 160 3. 135 4. 145. 5. 160 6. 160.

TK test showed NO sign of combustion gasses in the coolant.

When I first dropped the car off and left they called within15 minutes asking for me to come back as they wanted me to show them what I wasworried about because at the time when they first pulled the cap of their wasno oil or anything around but by the time i walked back a little bit hadbubbled up. Mechanic assumes that the headgasket might be on the way out but it’sin its VERY early stages.

He suggested that I lower the boost (currently at 12psi) becausesometimes It hits fuel cut when you boot it (saying that this is very rare as Ibaby it mostly...) and that I just monitor the temperature and oil and coolantlevels.

Just after a couple more opinions on it, perhaps I shouldjust monitor it and keep my eye out for a wrecked stag and buy the donk....

Rough prices was $1500 for head gasket (metal) replacement aslong as my head is fine or worst case scenario $2500.

Thanks once again guys J

Edited July 27, 2011 by kidafa

[SLED]

oil in your radiator is not good but can still be driven for a short distance (depending on the amount)

however, water in your sump means "turn engine off immediately"!

Just because a TK test showed NO sign of combustion gasses in the coolant, doesn't mean that there isn't a track between an oil gallery and a water jacket, either via a crack or a damaged head gasket. Head gasket may be sealing the cylinders well hence no drastic drop in compressions.....damage obviously elswhere.

My suggestion is to flush both oil & cooling system out then start again and monitor very closely...........do not boost its head off in the meantime!

[kidafa]

Oil was dumped last week and was fine.

will flush radiator and cooling sometime this week :-)

[mid life crisis]

throw in a bottle of iron tight with clean water then dump it after a week and fill with normal coolant could go for yrs once its had this treatment . ive seen sprintcar engines leak like a sieve and one treatment of this they see a season out ..

[Dohmar]

Same thing happened to me last year

Comp test was fine, as was leakdown, however pushing the 20 year old oem gasket to 19psi blew the seal between the cylinder (which the surrounding gasket was already deteriorated for 1cm in diameter around the whole thing) until it met the water lines. The amount of oil in the rad wasn't huge, but I wasn't going to risk it.

Thankfully Ruby was a champ and was able to strip it down and fit a new cometic mls gasket for me, and its been running beautifully ever since it was tuned up to the new gasket/bolts/all other stuff ruby got me to replace.

Chances are if you've got a 20 yr old car that hasn't had the gasket replaced, its kaputski...

-D

[kawasakirider]

Could it not be a manifold gasket?

[kidafa]

Thanks for the input guys.

Not really that keen on a band-aid fix tbk mid-life; love the car and don't plan on getting rid of it....

That's It D im the same, don't really want to risk it hay.

No idea if it could be an intakemanifold gasket kawa.

[D_Stirls]

Don't use a metal head gasket unless your are going to prep both surfaces to the correct finish. MLS gaskets require a RA (roughness average) of 50 or better so unless you are machining both the surfaces use an organic gasket.

[kidafa]

What parts will I need to stockpile to do this guys?

Obversely a head gasket, what other bits and pieces will I need?

[Krishy]

are you thinking of getting some head work done while the head is off mate? If so then start stocking up on the head upgrades lol

[mid life crisis]

Thanks for the input guys.

Not really that keen on a band-aid fix tbk mid-life; love the car and don't plan on getting rid of it....

That's It D im the same, don't really want to risk it hay.

No idea if it could be an intakemanifold gasket kawa.

iron tight is used in new diesel engines to seal of the sleeves that the pistons sit in so its more than a bandaid fix . i had a nissan patrol that overheated ten minutes after driving it due the a cracked head one bottle of irion tight and i drove that patrol around for another 6 yrs without pulling the head off and it was still going strong when i sold it .

ive used it on the night to fix head gaskets that blew when i raced turbo holden 6 at speedway and finished the season without pulling the head but anyway i was just offering something that may help till you could afford to pull the head or replace the motor .

cheers dean

[nicr4wks]

I've got a new 25det S2 head gasket left over from a VRS kit I didn't use. It's only an aftermarket oem replacement so nothing fancy.

Look around and decide what path you want to take, 60 bucks if you want it.

[kidafa]

Mid life..... Hope you didnt take my response as a personal stab or anything. Thanks for the idea but not real keen on doing that as ive got plenty of funds to fix this just working out the best economical way to do it properly....

So what parts will I need? Just a full VRS gasket kit?

Who has used a metal gasket with only machining the head and not the block?