Coolant in the oil

[sxp]

I have some coolant in my oil on my stock 230. It's been like this since I bought it last year. A radiator's worth of coolant lasts about 3000 miles (some assumption here,) and I bought the truck with extra coolant stored behind the seat, meaning that I believe this has been an on going problem. I get a little white smoke at start up. The engine runs smooth and strong, and I drive it often. I plan on swapping out the head gasket this summer, but am I running on borrowed time? Is there a chance of something majorly wrong happening in the near future? Or should I just keep driving it?

Hoping some Tornado veterans can shed some light on this subject.

[MrNeutron]

Water mixed in oil is never good. It will lead to premature wear. I dont know which parts of this engine wear out first, but I would suspect the timing chain would be the first part to wear out if you had water in the oil.

[fng]

True about the timing chain but my thoughts run toward the main bearings, rods, pistons etc, don't wait to change the head gasket. If you want to keep the engine that is....

[Don Cavey]

I would first suspect the head gasket too. But it also "Might" be a crack in the head. If the head gasket is the cause, you may want to check the block deck for straightness and also the head, it may need to be surfaced. But that could be a can of worms since it is an overhead cam engine.

When you start up, is the smoke white or blue? White would mean coolant to me and blue would indicate valve guide seals. I guess what matters is the long range plans for the engine. If you can find another engine for cheap, it might be a good thing to have on hand.

Just a thought and I hope you can sort it all out.

[Blitz]

Do the compression test, record the numbers.
Then do a wet test with oil in the cylinders.
Pull all the plugs to do the tests.

That should tell you a bunch, but THEN I would TRY to retorque the head.
Sometimes, just retorquing will solve it, but if it does not...

Pull the head. Have it checked for cracks. If none found, Do the valves. Resurface it and put it all back together and let it be good to go for another 10 + years.

While You are in there... find out "why" it gets hot.
Check the waterpump, timing and flush or VAT the radiator.

Actually, maybe you should do a pressure test FIRST on the cooling system, and see if the pressure leaks down, and where.
If its in the head....

go back to step one... compression tests x 2 ( dry and wet ) try to do this with a warm engine as well.

[sxp]

Thanks for all the info. I'll see what I can get done when I get some free time.

As for future plans, I plan on doing a swap once my gf and I get our house built (hopefully finished next year.) But I need to have a solid running truck so I can use it to help clear the land and whatnot first.

The truck currently runs well. A little smoke on start up that I though was blue this winter, but now has me thinking it is white. I'll have to pay more attention. The truck doesn't over heat, and the heater works well. I'll report back with what I find.

[sxp]

My buddy has been working on this for me. The coolant system checked out ok, but the 2, 3, and 4 cylinders were a different story. 2 was way low and 3 and 4 were in the 80's. Did a dry and wet test, and it was determined that the rings were in good shape. The head gasket looked slightly compromised. The head is on its way to the machine shop for decking, valves, and freeze plugs (if they find no cracks.)

[sxp]

The head took two exhaust seats, guides, all new seals, complete valve job, and a fresh resurface. It was hot tanked, and fully leak tested. Hopefully it'll be back on by the end of the weekend. I'll be in California for work for the next week so I should have an update/test drive available when I come back.

It'll be exciting to drive it with a full 6 cylinders providing power.

[sxp]

The head is on. New plugs, hoses, oil line, and some other small stuff. It's drives completely different now. Where did this power come from?

Still need to install my new dizzy once I get all the minor issues worked out with installing it.

[srpowdercoating]

Congrats !!!