Heater hose plastic T's broke, any danger of coolant mixing with oil? (1 Viewer)

[xzzz]

Last week when I got home I noticed billowing smoke from my engine, so I checked my engine bay and lo' and behold the plastic T's were broken on the heater hose pipes and dumping coolant all over the engine bay. Is there any danger of coolant leaking into the engine from this and mixing with the oil? Should I do an oil change after replacing the plastic T's? Picture below of the damage.

 

[bryson]

There is no chance of coolant getting into your oil from the tee breaking. Replace the tees, fill your cooling system with appropriate coolant (match whatever is in there currently unless you plan on a full flush), and you should be good to go. Did the engine overheat when the tee broke?

 

[Timaverage]

Not to discount the theory behind your concerns, but the oil in the engine should not have a way to get mixed with the coolant that might be leaking out of the wasted Ts. They are two separate systems that do not have access to each other save for when you have a blown head gasket.

 

[xzzz]

Did the engine overheat when the tee broke?

The temperature gauge stayed in the normal range when I got home and the engine didn't feel particularly hot when I opened the hood.

 

[bryson]

The temperature gauge stayed in the normal range when I got home and the engine didn't feel particularly hot when I opened the hood.

As long as nothing overheated, you should be good to go after replacing the tee and filling/bleeding the cooling system.

 

[corboto]

As long as nothing overheated, you should be good to go after replacing the tee and filling/bleeding the cooling system.

What's the threat if the engine did overheat?

 

[corboto]

Last week when I got home I noticed billowing smoke from my engine, so I checked my engine bay and lo' and behold the plastic T's were broken on the heater hose pipes and dumping coolant all over the engine bay. Is there any danger of coolant leaking into the engine from this and mixing with the oil? Should I do an oil change after replacing the plastic T's? Picture below of the damage.

View attachment 1959068

Looks like they had could have been leaking at one point and should have been replaced...someone has replaced the factory clamps with hose clamps probably to tighten the hoses up.

 

[2001LC]

They concern is overheating blowing head gasket and coolant damaging cylinder walls and getting in oil after head gasket blown.

Water or coolant in oil, and oil will look like a milkshake. Can't miss it.

 

[bryson]

What's the threat if the engine did overheat?

They concern is overheating blowing head gasket and coolant damaging cylinder walls and getting in oil after head gasket blown.

Water or coolant in oil, and oil will look like a milkshake. Can't miss it.

@2001LC mentioned a few issues, but overheating can cause all sorts of problems.

I know the OEM coolant temp gauge leaves a lot to be desired, but if it never got into the red, and the engine runs fine, I don't think I'd worry too much about it.

 

[Njck22]

@2001LC mentioned a few issues, but overheating can cause all sorts of problems.

I know the OEM coolant temp gauge leaves a lot to be desired, but if it never got into the red, and the engine runs fine, I don't think I'd worry too much about it.

Of course, the coolant temp gauge never gets into the red if there is no coolant to heat up...

 

[2001LC]

@2001LC mentioned a few issues, but overheating can cause all sorts of problems.

I know the OEM coolant temp gauge leaves a lot to be desired, but if it never got into the red, and the engine runs fine, I don't think I'd worry too much about it.

Of course, the coolant temp gauge never gets into the red if there is no coolant to heat up...

The Achilles Heal of the 2UZ, Coolant temp gauge reading!

If coolant just a say 10% low, temp sending unit is out of water. In this case gauge reads low, indicating engine running cool. This is when engines overheat with no gauge warning.

I'm just reading a service history now, where an 06LC temp gauge was getting unusually high with both A/C 's on. Tech found radiator fins blockage.

So where gauge does not move much from say; 180 to 210 F, it does tell us a lot. Any time it's more than a few degrees off center after engine warm up, be alter to something needs addressing.