Coolant in the oil Q

#1

So I busted 2 rocker arms at the very beginning of Comp school a few weeks ago. Figured, what the hell, kept on running it because it didn’t seem too bad yet (didn’t know exactly what was wrong). Finally pulled the valve cover and noticed busted rocker arms and a green puddle hanging out in the top of the head. Weekend was over with.

Fast forward to tonight. Drain the massive amount of coolant and oil out of the crank case. Had to be an extra 2-3 quarts in there with all the coolant. Now I’m pulling the head/intake/exhaust manifolds together because it’s such a pain to reach the intake and exhaust manifold nuts in the car. I’ve got half the exhaust studs/nuts left to pull (3) and I’m ready to hoist this thing out.

Any guesses as to what I’ll find? Any suggestions as to what I should do after putting it back together? I’ve heard ATF may help clean out the milkshake the oil and coolant made. I will also be using the proper updated head studs this time, the old hex heads gotta go. I predicted 2 hours to pull and replace the head. But I’m just over an hour into it now and it’s not out yet.

#2

That much coolant means that the water jacket has to be cracked somewhere. Probably the head. Not sure how busted rockers did it, but something is cracked. I supposed that it’s possible that something cracked and that allowed something to move enough that the rockers got snapped. So maybe the busted rockers cracked the head, or maybe the head’s crack busted the rockers.

I don’t know a helova lot about testing heads for cracks. I’d get it both dye tested and pressure tested before I put it back on tho.

Pulling head and manifolds off as a unit can be a time saver, but you have to be careful. The head needs to come off perfectly vertical so the valves don’t hit anything and the block’s locating pins don’t gouge the surface of the head. I wouldn’t do it alone with a lift. I’d do it with two guys that have eaten their wheaties. 2 guys and a lift would be even better.

To flush the coolant out of the oiling system, I’d go buy several gallons jugs of cheap oil…10w30 or 40 is fine. Put the oil in and run it until the oil thermostat opens (indicated by hot oil pipes). Then drain the oil out of pan and filter. Do this several more times keeping an oil sample of each. Use 1 gallon jug of oil for each change.

For cleaning out the coolant system you could use some coolant flush stuff.

#3

Not even sure the rocker arms have anything to do with the coolant mixing with the oil. Do you think the block and everything in it will be ok?

There doesn’t appear to be any oil in the coolant, only coolant in the oil.

#4

definitely look for signs of cracked head, but could be just the head gasket let go, so look for signs of broken gasket also. as ranger said, get that head checked before reinstalling. As for pulling head/manifolds/intake, I’ve done it a few times, but with minimum two guys.

#5

Re. block. Our blocks are pretty durable. The head less so. Unless I’ve worked on your oiling system your block is likely ok.

Re. headgasket. Although the coolant in the oil could simply be a blown HG, that doesn’t explain the broken rockers. If you HG failed then breaking 2 rockers at the same time was coincidence. Possible, but not the most likely scenario. I’m thinking that somehow there is a connection between the broken rockers and the coolant in the oil. It’s just a connection that won’t be clear until the head is examined closely.

Sometimes things are just never figured out. I’ve got 2 dead engines in 6 months that fit that description. It could be that your head tests just fine and all you have to do is replace the rockers and the HG.

#6

No matter what, this head is coming off and a different head is going back in the car. Either on this block (ideal), or my other block (more work).

#7

Original,

Sorry to hear about the issues.

I concur with everything that has been posted so far with one exception. That is, on Ranger’s oil flush procedure, I’d only let it run for a few minutes on the first jug of cheap oil. Just enough, to get the oil circulated once through the system. You don’t know how much water is in critical places. On the first jug you want to replace any water with oil. Water and coolant can render the effectiveness of oil to zero very quickly.

On the second and third jugs, I agree with Ranger to let it get to full operating temperature for two reasons. a) the first time it gets hot and opens the oil cooler thermostat, and water that is in the oil cooler will be introduced to the system and you don’t want to let it run too long. b) on the third run allwoing the oil to run at 212+ with boils off any remaining traces of water.

Good luck,

Don

#8

Head gasket looks just fine. So do the pistons and cylinder walls/cylinders. Valves are ok too. There is quite a shiny spot on the head underneath the intake cam lobe on #5. My hypothesis is that the broken eccentric got wedged between the cam and the head and it cracked it.

Either way, the new head is going on. I should have it done in another hour of working on it or so. Then I’m back on track!

#9

Had a friend over today to help me put the head with both manifolds back onto the block. It all went really well. Torqued the new head bolts down in the proper sequence. Started to reconnect all the other hoses and wires and noticed the “bitch tube” wasn’t installed. Is there any way to put this in without removing the intake manifold?