- Thread starter
- #21
Not really, haha. Just curious mostly. Seems stone was OEM for some makers.
Coolant in Oil (6 Viewers)
- Thread starter dcarcagno
- Start date
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Nardulli
GOLD Star
First thing I would do is an oil sample. Results will tell you a lot.
You have a milkshake going there.. That's not a great lubricant any longer.
You have it down this far... You've got coolant in your oil but no oil in your coolant. This mean you should have seen an increase in "oil" on the dipstick and a decrease in coolant.
Did you test for blow by?
It's going to be a bear to get all of that out of the oil galleys, oiling holes, etc.
If you have a garage to work in, I'd pull the engine, disassemble, clean, inspect bearing surfaces and tolerances. If the cylinder walls look ok - still some crosshatch and no vertical scoring, etc., leave them be if you are not comfortable with gapping rings, and so on.
(I know some might think that last statement a bit crazy, but I've seen more damage done by guys re-ringing an engine than you can imagine...)
The FSM has clear step by step on just about everything. Put it all back together with all new gaskets (OEM!!!) and FIPG as indicated in the FSM. And your steed will be good as new.
You have a milkshake going there.. That's not a great lubricant any longer.
You have it down this far... You've got coolant in your oil but no oil in your coolant. This mean you should have seen an increase in "oil" on the dipstick and a decrease in coolant.
Did you test for blow by?
It's going to be a bear to get all of that out of the oil galleys, oiling holes, etc.
If you have a garage to work in, I'd pull the engine, disassemble, clean, inspect bearing surfaces and tolerances. If the cylinder walls look ok - still some crosshatch and no vertical scoring, etc., leave them be if you are not comfortable with gapping rings, and so on.
(I know some might think that last statement a bit crazy, but I've seen more damage done by guys re-ringing an engine than you can imagine...)
The FSM has clear step by step on just about everything. Put it all back together with all new gaskets (OEM!!!) and FIPG as indicated in the FSM. And your steed will be good as new.
- Thread starter
- #23
Thanks! That was my plan exactly! I took an oil sample when I drained it. I’m tearing it down as far as I can. I don’t have a hoist or room to pull the whole thing unfortunately but I should get down to the block today and I have a bore scope to check things as well. I’m going to replace as much as I can with OEM. I’m also thinking about a used wire harness as mine has numerous broken/soaked connectors.
Where are you in the Seattle area? I have a set of OEM head gaskets that I bought for my '99 that I am not going to use. New set of head bolts, maybe some other things you might need and I don't anymore. I'm in the Tacoma area. DM me.
- Thread starter
- #25
Thanks so much!
- Thread starter
- #27
I’ll get the other side off next week but I’m not sure whether I should just check the heads for warpage and clean it and call it good or if I should pull the block and make sure there’s no cracks or get it re done. Any suggestions?
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I'm not extremely educated in these things but my brain is telling me that if there's no obvious failure point on the head gaskets that it might be a good idea to check the mating surface of the heads for warp/flatness at a machine shop. They can tell pretty easily, I think. You don't want to do a whole head gasket service just to put a warped head back on. Ancillary benefit, if they have to deck them to clean them up, that equals a little more compression 
- Thread starter
- #29
Appreciate the reply. I have a machined straight edge I’ll use to check the head. I wasn’t planning on sending them out unless absolutely necessary.I'm not extremely educated in these things but my brain is telling me that if there's no obvious failure point on the head gaskets that it might be a good idea to check the mating surface of the heads for warp/flatness at a machine shop. They can tell pretty easily, I think. You don't want to do a whole head gasket service just to put a warped head back on. Ancillary benefit, if they have to deck them to clean them up, that equals a little more compression
The Car Care Nut on YouTube talks about this exact thing.
- Thread starter
- #31
That’s wild I literally just watched that video. Makes me feel a lot better. Haha.
Nardulli
GOLD Star
So. That coolant could have gotten in there when you pulled the head off. In fact im pretty sure about that. When a cylinder has been burning air/furl/coolant the top of the piston will be cleaner than the others. Basically it’s been steam cleaned. The machined straight edge is a good plan. If you can get more than a 2 thou feeler gauge under it, the head needs to be decked. Same with the block. The fact that two valves are different is the clue to chase. How does the cam look for those two valves? I’m thinking about this…
- Thread starter
- #35
The cams look perfect. No wear at all on the lobes.
