Good Compression. oil in coolant

[arash15]

so i have a problem and it doesnt make sense. I have a hunch that my headgasket is leaking. i did a compression test and got 160 accross the board (150 in the #1 cylinder). the car runs somewhat normally although it feels a bit sluggish. although in my coolant resovior there is oil, no coolant in the oil, just oil in the coolant. HELP ME!

 

[majik2k5]

Welcome to my situation I had. I tried everything. I ended up taking the filter off, and the bolt that holds the housing in place that the filter screws onto came off with the filter. Replaced the housing with a friends just to be safe and tightened everything back down. Problem solved.

 

[arash15]

Welcome to my situation I had. I tried everything. I ended up taking the filter off, and the bolt that holds the housing in place that the filter screws onto came off with the filter. Replaced the housing with a friends just to be safe and tightened everything back down. Problem solved.

i think you are talking about the oil cooler housing. the stud has came loose before and i drained the oil and locktited the stud to the block. but i have a hunch that is the problem

 

[phillabaum03]

Check your turbo. Thats how i was gettin oil in my coolant

 

[arash15]

Check your turbo. Thats how i was gettin oil in my coolant

turbo is oil cooled. No way that can happen. Thanks though.

 

[ddavisaf]

Check your turbo. Thats how i was gettin oil in my coolant

There's no way for that to happen unless the center section housing was cracked completely through.

 

[arash15]

i am undecided on weither or not to go with a water cooled oil cooler again. what are some suggestions.??? i was having problems with the oil filter backing out even after i had locktited the stud to the block.

 

[majik2k5]

There are a few parts stores online that will sell a kit to set up an air to air oil cooler like the style on the 1990's. I'll see if I can find you a link.

 

[Turbocharged]

A common problem with the 2g oil filter housing is that the internal cooler gets crushed allowing oil into the coolant. Its a cheap fix and you can usually find one for real cheap (either in the classified section or ebay). Its worth a try for less than $50.

 

[arash15]

heres an update. i installed an oil cooler and a remote oil filter (oil relocation) and it ran fine. although there is a significant loss of power, and i still have oil in my coolant. compression numbers are still high and the chemical test (color changing one) showed that the headgasket was still good. I doubt i have a cracc in my head so im not sure what to do. Ill ###### do another compression test tommorw morning to see if the numbers changed.

I have one question. My stocc oil cooler was crushed and mixing coolant with oil. i left the stock oil cooler on but bypassed it. there are no coolant lines attached to the oil cooler. i noticed i lost about a quart of oil dramatically. can i be loosing oil through my oil cooler since its crushed and there are no lines to it?

 

[jott5555]

it is possiable that could be filling up with oil and will start to leak soon.. really its worth it not to do the job half assed, find a 90 and buy the air oil cooler houseing and setup it really is sooo much worth it.. you will notice a decrease in both oil and coolant temps,

the only really good way to tell if your hg is blown is with a leak down test, also you can pull your spark plug wire's and remove your radiator cap, bribe someone with beer to turn your engine over while you look at the radiator fill area and look for any bubble's or any of the coolant moveing around that will tell you if compression is leaking past the combustion chamber...

 

[arash15]

it is possiable that could be filling up with oil and will start to leak soon.. really its worth it not to do the job half assed, find a 90 and buy the air oil cooler houseing and setup it really is sooo much worth it.. you will notice a decrease in both oil and coolant temps,

the only really good way to tell if your hg is blown is with a leak down test, also you can pull your spark plug wire's and remove your radiator cap, bribe someone with beer to turn your engine over while you look at the radiator fill area and look for any bubble's or any of the coolant moveing around that will tell you if compression is leaking past the combustion chamber...

i run a 7 bolt though.

 

[jott5555]

the same advice still applies... hmm i dont remember if the 90 oil filter will bolt strait up or not... i really dont see why not but i guess it is possiable..

 

[arash15]

the same advice still applies... hmm i dont remember if the 90 oil filter will bolt strait up or not... i really dont see why not but i guess it is possiable..

from what i heard the 90 oil housing only bolts up to the 6 bolts. can anybody confirm this? I looked down under the car today and i have fresh oil dripping from the coolant lines on my stock oil cooler.

 

[GTM]

...
I looked down under the car today and i have fresh oil dripping from the coolant lines on my stock oil cooler.

Sand castings of any material can be porus including turbo housings, filter base coolers, and blocks.

Of course this does not dismiss the fittings as being the drip leak source. After cleaning the area you can tie some cotton string or yarn around suspect fittings allowing a 3"-6" tail, this will act like a wick and seeping oil will run down the string to help in locating the problem without the rest of the car becoming contaminated.
..........

Unless I missed it, did anyone suggest you consider checking AND re-torque the cylinder head and maybe even adding another 10% to the re-torque. It isn't too common but it does happen more frequently when an engine gets overheated. Sometimes they will just leak to the outside and never get into the coolant or they can do both so check nearest the pressure feed to the head.

Cheers,
GTM

 

[92redman]

Like GTM metioned, you could have a porous head or even be cracked. Just had an 05 Neon with porus head, 3k miles on the engine and had half a quart of oil in the coolant but no coolant in the oil. Compression tested perfect all the way accross but still was getting oil in the coolant.
If you try everything that has been suggested and still get the oil in coolant, you may need to pull the head and have it checked or just replace it and see what happens.

 

[GTM]

...
If you try everything that has been suggested and still get the oil in coolant, you may need to pull the head and have it checked or just replace it and see what happens.

It use to be the mfgs would paint the inside of blocks, transmissions, transaxle, and diff cases. They used what looked like "RustOlium"(sp) and then baked them but like everything else that can be cost cut and just make it through warranty this is no longer done. I should give credit to the Japanese who's castings were intended to put the Italian's to shame. These new castings are much finer and done under pressure like injection molding to prevent inclusions that can lead to leaks and weep holes.

Agreed, do the suspect obvious things first including the torque and then retorque first. Even if you pull the head it's not always obvious for you can get so much contamination from oil drain back that it leaves you with splinters under your fingernails.

You can pressure check on the bench for a head oil passage crack by first removing the cams and cleaning the bearing faces. Then using a tire / tube patch cut small squares and place over all the drilled cam bearing holes. You will have to do same for hydraulic lash adjusters, reinstall the cam followers and cams but light torque the bearing caps. You will need to plug the oil supply hole in the head with a larger patch and then use a "C" or bar clamp to hold it tight. You then have to find an oil gallery plug and attaching an air hose fitting, remove the thermostat and cut a large gasket that will blank it off and put the cover back on. With the head upside down fill the water passages with soapy water and apply air pressure and look for bubbles. There is another way to do this but requires making a jig with holes to allow valves to stand proud. You then get a piece of closed cell foam and clamp the head, foam, jig to the work bench. Now you can fill the head with water and apply air pressure. In either case you need to keep pressure on it for several hours just to make certain it's a sealed system.

Just guessing, a machine shop would charge you $50-$100 so it may be worth your while to DIY. Granted it's a lot of fiddle time but you will know it's been done right.
................

Some day I'm going to write down all the how-to's when Chris gives me my own heading in the Tech Guide section.

Cheers,
GTM

 

[arash15]

just to give everyone a heads up, i bypassed the stocc oil cooler. there are no coolant lines connected to the stocc oil cooler. the stocc oil cooler is crushed. thats why oil is comming out of the coolant lines of the stock oil cooler. i flushed the coolant system, no oil seems to be in there anymore. (besides little bubbles of oil, very small, probably residue from coolant lines) the only problem is that the car feels quite sluggish. i had a hunch my stock head BOLTS might have lost its torque reading. i was planning on throwing in some arps, but I am kind of skeptical about doing the arp headstud install with the head still on the car. how would you guys reccomned this and whats the easiest way to do it. This is my finals week and i need a way to get bacc to campus, and dont want to go through the hassle of taking off my head and all timing compnonets and remachining the head. HELP ME. THANKS

 

[92redman]

To install studs, you could replace the stock bolts one-by-one in sequence. I would take out the first bolt and washer then drop in the new washer followed by the stud. Torque it down to factory spec then continue in the proper sequence and once they are all in, re-torque to ARP specs. If you do it this way, I can't see there being any problems with warpage or lifting of the head.

 

[arash15]

compression results on a COLD motor: in order 4-3-2-1
150,150,150,110

 

[GTM]

compression results on a COLD motor: in order 4-3-2-1
150,150,150,110

That's not looking good at all and _somewhat_ dismisses an oil leak at the cylr head. I still would try a retorque.

How come you didn't mention a rough running engine unless that was dirt that fell on the valve just before you took that cylr. If you can baby the car and it starts and stops then finish your finals and don't worry about the car. We can sort it out after you are done.

Cheers,
GTM

 

[arash15]

That's not looking good at all and _somewhat_ dismisses an oil leak at the cylr head. I still would try a retorque.

How come you didn't mention a rough running engine unless that was dirt that fell on the valve just before you took that cylr. If you can baby the car and it starts and stops then finish your finals and don't worry about the car. We can sort it out after you are done.

Cheers,
GTM

i dont think i have oil present in my coolant. but compression dropped. i did the test on a cold motor, but i was leaning towards a 1g headswap. throw a mls gasket and some arp's. swap over my cams from my 2g head to the 1g head. what do you guys think? i have the timing belt tensioner tool. im hoping this is all that i need to get my damn car up and going what do you guys think? FINALS ARE DONE! haha. now i need to get my car running. I doubt a retorque can boost up my compression numbers.

 

[GTM]

...
but compression dropped. i did the test on a cold motor, but i was leaning towards a 1g headswap. throw a mls gasket and some arp's. swap over my cams from my 2g head to the 1g head. what do you guys think? i have the timing belt tensioner tool. im hoping this is all that i need to get my damn car up and going what do you guys think? FINALS ARE DONE! haha. now i need to get my car running. I doubt a retorque can boost up my compression numbers.

It's a big jump from 165,~ and 150 to 150,~and 110. The first were within the 10% tolerance and I might accept the difference from hot to cold, but the 150-110 has me wondering. If the 1G head includes manifolds and TB then you will have a better performig engine. I still think that at the time the thread was first started a retorqe might have been meaningful. If I had to guess 1in5-1in10 compression checks will result in a false reading on one cylr in DOHC engines where the plugs are in wells. You just blow air through the plug hole and repeat the test. If you don't have a rough idle then check the compression again.

Hopefully you are aware the block and head need an exceptionally fine finish if the MLS is to seal correctly. $85 is a lot for a head gasket plus the cost of machining the block and head. I would think long and hard about the switch in gasket materials plus the down time getting it done.

Cheers,
GTM

 

[arash15]

Update: Compression is excellent. 180 accross the board and 170's for cylinder #1. i found out that my small odessey battery didnt crank as much as a conventional battery when doing a compression test.thats why as the car sat and wasnt turned on for a week the battery lost more power, hence the lower compression numbers the 2nd time i did the test. SO with that good news, I celebrated with some ARP headstuds and im going to reflush the coolant one more time. the oil in the coolant was from the oil cooler and the oil cooler alone. the car was running sluggish because the deposits of oil were still in the coolant after i flushed it 4 times. the coolant is somewhat white/milky right now. Im running straight water right now. the flush will probably fix this.

 

[GTM]

Update: Compression is excellent. 180 accross the board and 170's for cylinder #1. i found out that my small odessey battery didnt crank as much as a conventional battery
...
I celebrated with some ARP headstuds and im going to reflush the coolant one more time. the oil in the coolant was from the oil cooler and the oil cooler alone. the car was running sluggish because the deposits of oil were still in the coolant after i flushed it 4 times. the coolant is somewhat white/milky right now. Im running straight water right now. the flush will probably fix this.

That is good news, I was suspicious this might have been the problem but dependent on you knowing how fast it should crank.

I would wait on the studs until you have thoroughly cleaned the cooling system as I described previously. If you continue to get milk/opaque water then it's not clean. The oil coated every thing has no reason to mix with the water unless you include a solvent and a detergent along with it getting hot. I know it's time consuming but it must be clear and no sheen floating on the top.

Not so sure that I agree with relating sluggish running to the muck in the cooling system. With it taking a long time to get warm the temp sensor may be telling it to run rich. Watch you hoses over the coming months.

Cheers,
GTM