This is topic What the hell is this?!?!? in forum Tech Talk at Northern California Ford Owners  .


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Posted by darien87 (Member # 2022) on :
 
Well, I just happened to pop open my radiator last night, and I saw a few drops of a milky looking substance floating on top of the coolant. *Braces for bad news* What does this mean, leaking head gasket?
 
Posted by 1sic91blackgt (Member # 868) on :
 
that is normally the sign of a leaky head gasket, kinda looks like a mocha color??
 
Posted by 93PONY (Member # 60) on :
 
Most likely HG's.
Aren't you getting an HCI combo from Ed C.?

Drain the motor oil ASAP. Water in the oil will quickly toast main bearings. Even without running the motor.
If you have chocolate milk oil, pour in 4qts fresh oil & run the motor to flush as much of the water out as possible. Do this 2-3 times, then drain & change HG's. If no water is present in the oil, the shortblock should be okay, but you should still fix the problem as soon as possible.

[ October 29, 2002, 01:09 PM: Message edited by: 93PONY ]
 
Posted by 88bird (Member # 1424) on :
 
might be auto trans cooler if equipped w/auto
 
Posted by darien87 (Member # 2022) on :
 
Still waiting to hear back from Ed. He had a cam designed for me for the 1.7's but then said that 1.6's would probably be better, so I had him go back to the drawing board.

1sic91blackgt, I don't drink coffee so I don't know what color mocha is. It looked like a light brown beige color.

93PONY, What does "chocolate milk" oil look like? Will it actually be an opaque light brown? If I drain the oil and it looks this way, how long do I run the engine with the fresh oil to get the water out?
 
Posted by 93PONY (Member # 60) on :
 
Chocolate milk oil is basically foamy oil. When water & oil mix in an engine it results in a glue like mixture that sticks to everything!
If there's any amount of water in the oil, it'll drain first, followed by oil, then the foam. If indeed you do have water in the oil, warming up the motor with fresh oil should clean a lot of the gunk out of the motor. Doing this a few times w/fresh oil each time will remove most of the water/oil glue.

Have patients with Ed. He'll do you right. Just bug him every once in a while so he doesn't forget about you.

BTW, I go by Dark93 on the Corral. [Big Grin]
 
Posted by 67stang (Member # 549) on :
 
jeez, do people read anymore?
he said his radiator fluid looks milky, not his oil. right?

So lets think about this... IF its oil in the radiator, its probably NOT a head gasket. Pressurized oil doesnt travel through the head gasket. Only return oil from the head comes through the corner of the head gasket, and IF there was was a tear in the head gasket that oil would not make its way into the coolant passage...why? cus the coolant is under higher pressure.

If it was just a few little blobs, then its probably just typical sludge in the radiator coming to the surface. A little bit of oil can and does inevitable get into the cooling system, from around the timing cover to block seal, the intake manifold, etc.

If all the coolant in the system looks consistantly milky then you probably have oil getting into the water through a torn intake manifold (lower)gasket, or timing cover gasket.

If your OIL looks milky, i.e. water/coolant got in the oil, you have other problems... again, possiblly intake manifold gasket, perhaps timing cover gasket, loose or leaking head bolts or rocker studs.

good luck...
 
Posted by 93PONY (Member # 60) on :
 
Oil in the radiator CAN be a head gasket.

I had this problem twice.

Lifting of the head (weak bolts) can cause a leak & pressurize the coolant passages & force standing oil into the coolant. Normally it is not foamy, however, the waterpump can mix it up & cause the foam.

This is not the standard type of HG failure, but it does happen.
 
Posted by darien87 (Member # 2022) on :
 
Thanks for the responses guys. Well I drained the oil today and it looked fine, just yucky dirty oil. I called Ed today to remind him about my combo and talked to him about it. He said that if the oil looked okay, then it's probably no big deal. He told me to run the car with the rad cap off and check to see if I have bubbles in the coolant when the thermostat opens. I'll try that tomorrow. He also suggested having my compression tested. I'll probably have that done some time soon.

I'm glad that it doesn't seem to be a big deal, I have a job interview tomorrow. I tend to jump to the worst-case scenario too quickly, but my car tends to fuck up on me a lot.

Well, at least I got an oil change out of the deal. Can't change the oil too much I guess.
 
Posted by richard90stang (Member # 91) on :
 
My old mustang had that milky water with a tad bit of oil residue. Nothing happened but two months after buying car one of my heads cracked. I checked my oil and it was dryyyy! Warranty bitch and wined but at the end took care of it. Supposively I got new stock heads. So they say.
 




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