Oil in coolant with only 55K miles on motor!?

[r6speed]

So this car has been sitting for a couple years...driven every couple months just around the block a few times and started every week just to keep things in order...also change the oil every 6 months even though it still looks brand new. NOW I HAVE OIL IN MY COOLANT! Like said above this car only has 55K miles on it so its killing me that this could be the head gasket. The car has some mods with the 16G and the problem I really have been having is the damn intercooler piping leaks which I just found the main leak (in a weld, go figure) but now I have bigger problems...could anything else be causing this besides the good ole head gasket? i have NEVER overheated this car or abused it AT ALL, this is my baby and I can't believe its doing this! GRRRR

 

[soulefood]

leaky head gasket?

 

[KadieTSi]

Definitely sounds like a headgasket.

Could simply of had a bad hg job done in the past + gaskets do dry-rot over time but i'd think your startups/small drives would of kept it in shape.

 

[r6speed]

7itanium: Please read above, I tested the cooler already

after the last episode of it boiling coolant ya I'm pretty convinced its the HG.
So I have been reading into all the things I need to do when rebuilding and to be honest I don't want to do it, I think it will end up being 4,000 dollars and I might get 5 for the car if I'm lucky...
So quick question is what is a good price on a used engine and where should I look to get one? At this point I'm lookiing for the cheapest way for it to be sellable for a decent amount...kills me but I can't keep dumping money in this thing for it just to sit and never get driven, now all this...I'm done with it

 

[ReYnd]

Waitwaitwait. Where are the posts I missed that would cause your expenses to be so high? Have the head tested for cracks, then decked. New head studs and gasket. New timing components. Flush and refill coolant system. Change oil if you're running out of things to throw money at, and call it a day. Nothing else should be damaged by a blown head gasket, which I'm 99.8% sure this is. Your coolant should smell like exhaust gas, and/or your exhaust should smell sweet.

 

[r6speed]

I will check the exhaust for sweet smells today and get back

Well as soon as you start reading about rebuilding there are a million other things you should do too...
balance shaft mod (or atleast belt), npr pistons and rings, gasket after gasket after gasket, ARP head studs, air cooled oil cooler, oil pump, timing belt and tensioner, water pump (already invloves moving timing belt), tensioner bearing, idler pully bearing, balance shaft tensioner bearing, ect ect ect.

Just seems like really the list never ends, also constantly reading about how it took 4-6 months. Seems like every first time rebuild on a dsm took 4-6 months...I'm not looking forward to that


EDIT: Car is throwing P1103 CEL code. Says oxygen sensor

If I do rebuild...here is a gasket set, what you guys think? - 250
http://www.streettunedmotorsports.com/parts/dsm_engine_gasket_kit.htm
The extremepsi one is 75 less but doesn't come with all the gaskets I will need
also with extremepsi is the 1.3mm HG ok or do I need the thicker one?
85.5 stock bore correct?

water pump - 125
http://www.streettunedmotorsports.com/parts/water_pump.htm
OR
http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/search/?searchType=global&N=0&Ntt=water+pump -55

Timing Kit and balance shaft elimination kit - 255
http://www.extremepsi.com/store/customer/product.php?productid=22306&cat=865&page=2

ARP Head studs - 110
http://www.streettunedmotorsports.com/parts/arp_head_studs_4g63_evo_dsm.htm

K and N oil Filter - 11
http://www.streettunedmotorsports.com/parts/kn_oil_filter.htm

 

[Hitmachine101]

if your convinced its the headgasket and you want to go the used motor route -- when you find the motor,

do the following ( with it out of the car )

timing belt kit ( fresh tensioners and a balance belt ) and water pump i just ordered this and all of that cost me 110 on autopartswarehouse

cam seals as well -- just so they dont leak in the future

id look into a clutck kit you want ( dont know what your hps goals are )

and there you go

once you drop the motor back into the car you should be set for 60-70K miles more and you shouldnt have to worry about the car drivetrain wise for that long


thats the route id go if i had your problem right now

 

[r6speed]

Well I might as well just use the motor I have I guess. I'm not looking for any real high HP just want to run 14-15 psi with this 16g (which I'm still having problems with...can someone tell me how to test these for cracks to be sure thats not my problem first?)

as for the timing kit from the parts house its not oem...its some brand called ContiTech. I hear a lot on here to stick with oem, but I would like to save the money what does everyone else here think?
http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/s...ame:Timing+Belt+Hardware,part:Timing+Belt+Kit)

Clutch was just replaced with stock...its fine and I don't need it to be any better I don't think.

So if I use my motor...I would think it would be just as easy just to take the thing out and do the work then re install, but I hear it can all be done with it still in and on the tranny...opinions?

 

[talonesi95t]

you can just pull off the head and leave the block and tranny in the bay but by pulling it all out u have more acsess to do your timeing belt and ect.

 

[r6speed]

after the drive when I did the WOT and it boiled over...this is the picture days later of what it looked like when I took the cap off.
The other pictures are after I filled it up with water, closed it, and started it...let it run for about a minute and pulled the cap off and it spewed oily water everywhere (see picture)

My main question is can this still be the turbo? Seems as though its filling with more and more oil just idling(not positive on that), do I bother even doing the leak down test?

 

[ReYnd]

It's not likely to be the turbo, and I've no clue how to test it for such things aside from visually inspecting the oil passage as best one can, or pressurize it with water and see if you lose pressure rapidly.

You can't really judge how much oil is getting into the coolant by looking at the coolant. Oil will come to the top every time, and it takes some convincing to get it all out. You could check the dipstick and judge by that, if you don't have any other oil leaks.

What you describe sounds very much like a head gasket. The only other thing would be the oil filter housing. You've tested it to your satisfaction (pretty much the same method I would use for the turbo, minus submerging it), so HG is likely. It's not that bad though. If you don't have the cash, you will be fine for a long time by just sticking your undamaged OEM parts back in the head. New timing components, oil and water pumps, and all the gaskets you care to replace is a good plan though. Honestly don't need the oil cooler, though it would be nice. Wait until you have a better excuse to replace it, and more money. If you want to start making tremendous power, then you can invest in ARP head studs, new rods and pistons.

ContiTech is the OE manufacturer for the timing belt on our cars, and many others, so I'd say it's a good one to go with!

If there's anything I missed... well, time to prioritize. Things you don't absolutely need to make it run right or keep it running right can wait until later.

 

[PieEyedPiper]

I know you sort of tested the cooler, but you have to admit that seeing coolant dripping from one spot and then only 4inches away you have an oil leak sounds a little suspicious.

 

[r6speed]

I know you sort of tested the cooler, but you have to admit that seeing coolant dripping from one spot and then only 4inches away you have an oil leak sounds a little suspicious.

YA! Thats what I thought too, but I really did inspect that cooler really well. My whole oil pump/cooler assembly looks pretty rough really, but the cooler wasn't leaking when I applied air...is there any chance the cooler could only leak from the oil to the water and not from the water? If so it would make sense why filling the water section with air would still hold (remember no water in my oil yet...just lowering oil level) I tried tightening that alen bolt thats leaking water and actually stripped two huge alen wrench's trying

EDIT: The only real way to be sure its the HG is the leak down test, I need to do it but my car is so low I don't have a jack that fits under it to get the wheel off to turn the crank to get Top Dead Center. I usually use ramps with this car cause its so low (even then with ramp extenders)

I'm also not completely convinced its not the turbo...I know its not a very high possibility but it is messing up, I can't get it to boost under 25 lbs, tried controller and adjusting wastegate. Also mind you the car ran fine the whole trip last drive until the WOT and 25 lbs of boost and well...its not built to take that in any form period so can't blame it for boiling over coolant, however the fan should have been on.
To test the fan can I just pull the harness and put power to from the battery right?

 

[ReYnd]

What's your oil pressure look like? If it's high enough, oil can get in your coolant at the oil filter housing if it's busted (or anywhere the two come close) but not the other way around. Mine is super high all the time, which is half the reason it's sitting in the garage. It caused a leak near the oil pan, and I suspect it killed the baffles in my oil filter housing (or it was already dead). My coolant is thoroughly contaminated with oil, but can see absolutely no coolant in my oil. You'd have to drain it to be sure, but there can't be much.

Suspecting this was caused by whoever deleted the balance shafts not porting the oil relief hole on the OFH (said this in another thread somewhere). Abnormally high oil pressure will kill a lot of stuff fast, so if that's your problem, get it fixed. Then chances are your head gasket is okay! Still do the leak down test to narrow the possibility even further, though. I find myself actually hoping your head gasket is okay, as bad as it's looking. Maybe because I'm in a similar situation.

 

[r6speed]

Well I don't have any coolant in my oil either, like you said. BUT I don't think the balance shaft was ever eliminated in my car, it was like new when I bought it very very low miles all stock. I have never had the oil pressure look too high but its stock gauge so who really knows I guess. I need to do the leak down test really, still don't have a jack to do it and not looking forward to the cost. with everything on my list to replace while doing the HQ its a bit over $600 and thats being cheap! (all fluids filters ect ect are in that 600).
I actually have the $ to do this and would love to do it, this is whats stopping me...
Like I said in the beginning of the post this car sat for years getting driven very little...a lot of times low on coolant due to the leak and filled with water...I'm worried my block could be cracked and I will spend 600 on parts, two weekends, and find out its all screwed anyways and needs a new block.

 

[r6speed]

Today I found some more problems and maybe useful information.
I have tried doing the leakdown test many times with the cheapo from Harbor Frieght and they just don't work...the second gauge is always a 15psi gauge (I am on my 4th tester from them), so I still don't have a good leak down test results.
Today I fired the car up and let it sit and run for a half hour or more, it pured like a kitten the whole time and didn't get hot at all, but what I noticed is even after being up to temp for 15+ minutes my heat inside still didn't work...I have never noticed this before but could the oil in the coolant have anything to do with that? No water on floorboards.

 

[r6speed]

UPDATE: -----STILL NEED HELP

I got the car to a local dsm shop to determine what was letting oil in the coolant and what was going on.
He did compression test which was high on all 4, and he did a coolant system test which he said held fine and even overnight still had 5psi, said no way a cracked block. He did not do a leak down test, he doesn't beleave they are ever accurate information...(I still disagree but hey, he's suppose to be one of the best dsm mechanics)

When I first took it in there he was almost sure it was the cooler or HG, when I picked it up he was sure it was the cheapo ebay turbo doing the mixing (cracked internally...since he checked everything else he figures its gotta be it which he was one to say its very very rare...)

I was happy, found a 14b local (fellow dsmtuner), put it on, found a wastegate for it fairly local got it on, everything back together (this time I bypassed the turbo's coolant as well as the oil cooler just to be 100% they could NOT mix oil in the coolant), spent 2 nights flushing, and I mean flushing! I put a tee in where I tied the turbo coolant lines together and ran it out to a valve, I also put a T in the heater core outlet hose because I heard it was a good place to flush and the heater is not working I think the heater core is clogged up with the oily gunk (its nasty, real nasty), I ran it while flushing, ran it till the fan came on, ran it flushed it ran it flushed it over and over all different ways and here is what I find...

Every one of the flushes I did I tried letting stuff out that upper heater core line (return line) with my valve and I never got one drop of anything from that one (wierd cause when I spliced into the line it had a good amount of antifreeze in it and no oily gunk resedue), the other valve I put in where the turbo would normally be being fed would get a little bit of gunky garbage every 20-30 seconds or so and thats it out of that one. I also did it while draining radiator and also drained radiator when it was hot and got lots out that way. STILL even when up to operating temps I have no heat in the cab, I still have oil in my coolant (not sure if its still in there or I'm getting more from Head gasket), and if I fill the coolant system almost to the top, start the car and watch the coolant...all the oil starts rising to the top (at first I figured this was coming from heater core) and then if you don't put the cap back on real fast it will overflow that nasty oily gunk all over it just keeps rising (points to HG again), put the cap back on and it doesn't blow out the overflow though...or out any of my valves.

Now here's the hard part, I can't tell if I'm currently loosing oil into the cooling system because now I have a big oil leak I can't figure out where its coming from so I am losing oil (possibly out this leak AND into coolant system still). I just cant figure out where it is. Look at the pics and tell me what you think?

ALSO this whole time I am still leary of my Oil Filter Housing. I am still leaking coolant from it and it just doesn't look good. My question with this is...even though I have the coolant lines BYPASSED from the oil cooler...is there any way the oil filter housing itself can be cracked and still causing oil to go to coolant? Or is the only possible way for the oil to get there at this point the HG?

Like I said I'm still not 100% sure I'm getting more oil in the coolant, could be still from before (could still be clogged in that heater core and I'm only getting a little at a time), and I can't tell from measuring oil on dipstick because I'm already losing oil somwhere else and I don't know where! its up inbetween the block and the turbo/exhaust manifold area somewhere. Here are some pictures

One more thing about the new oil leak...I have been watching the turbo feed and dump lines very closely even while its running and thats not it

Any and all help, suggestions, and advice is appriciated!
I'm ready to tear it all the way down, pull the motor if I have to, just help me figure it out please

 

[DSMer541]

so any update on this? did that 14b help out?