Coolant In My Oil...

[88fordRanger]

Before I start, sorry for the long story!

Okay... Ever since the miles rolled over 200k, I've been having a bunch of problems... I've been losing coolant pretty rapidly lately but just in the last couple days have i found that there is slimy coolant/oil in the oil filler neck on the valve cover... Within the past couple weeks I've had to fill up my coolant like every 3 days or else I run out completely... The temp needle has never gone above 3/4 hot (even the 2 times i found that there is no coolant at all in the radiator.)

So there is coolant in my oil but no oil in my coolant...

Now there are a couple things it could be. I'm aware of the weak head problems on the '88 2.9's, but could this cause the coolant in oil but not oil in coolant? Is it likely, since it's never been overheated in its life (according to the needle)?
I would think the head gasket is more likely the problem...
There is another gasket that looks to be the timing cover gasket or something (my dad pointed it out) and it's wet around the edges of the gasket... It looks like it goes up to the heads...
What else could it be?

I haven't taken the valve covers off because I don't have the $15 for new gaskets or have the few hours to do it... plus I just replaced them no more than 4k ago...

P.S. I have no money and little time to do the head gasket or especially change the heads...

Is there anything I can do to make it last until summer like a month from now? Is there some product that will clean up the slime and slow the leak? I thought of just changing the oil a lot, but it wont get the slime off the top end of the engine... I think by the time I'm half way through summer I'll have money for a 5.0 swap which i think would be more worth my money than rebuilding a 2.9.

My dad who gave me the truck a year ago is really getting pissed at me because everything is going wrong and he thinks I'm beating on it... But it's 24 years old with 200k on it and everything is original.

Need some tips to make it last and I'd like to know that it's not completely my fault... It's partly the age of the truck, right? My dad's making me feel like I'm killing my truck lol....

Here's a pic of the inside of the filler neck... I tried to wipe out most of it that i could reach down the neck.

 

[Heavyfire14]

yeah your motor doesnt have much more life without a rebuild. but if your going to replace it. it should last a month

 

[88fordRanger]

There's no "magic product" that can help clean out the slime from the heads while I get some money for a rebuild or swap?

 

[Big Jim M]

Easy-peasy!

The snot in your cap is from CONDENSATION! If you had coolant in the oil the oil level would be raised by the amount of coolant in it.. Also the water in the coolant would turn the oil to a milk chocklet looking crud..
The thing that is leaking coolant is the coolant pump gasket! Tighten the bolts around that gasket and it should stop leaking..
To get the snot out of your cap simply drive 50 or so miles at tempperature and it should evaporate back into the air it came from.
That snot happens to ANY engine and most of us don't happen to find it.
SEE! Nothing to get upset about..
Big JIm

 

[--weezl--]

without fixing the problem that got it there in the first place, anything you put in is a waste of money

 

[Heavyfire14]

ya try this.

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/ac...&fromString=search&itemIdentifier=238994_0_0_

 

[88fordRanger]

The snot in your cap is from CONDENSATION! If you had coolant in the oil the oil level would be raised by the amount of coolant in it.. Also the water in the coolant would turn the oil to a milk chocklet looking crud..
The thing that is leaking coolant is the coolant pump gasket! Tighten the bolts around that gasket and it should stop leaking..
To get the snot out of your cap simply drive 50 or so miles at tempperature and it should evaporate back into the air it came from.
That snot happens to ANY engine and most of us don't happen to find it.
SEE! Nothing to get upset about..
Big JIm

It's not just in the cap, and there's a bunch of slime buildup on that rocker you see when you look in the oil filler hole... And it doesn't evaporate... plus when i run it and stare at it for 10 minutes i see no drips at all of anything... I also bypassed th heater core in case that was leaking... The leak has slowed down a bit since then, but still goes down slowly... and my oil level isn't rising (weird) but there is a very slow (oil) leak on the bottom end that i find slung up on the trans...

 

[88fordRanger]

without fixing the problem that got it there in the first place, anything you put in is a waste of money

I know this, but Remember, I'm the one whose spider gears just exploded and had to drop $100 on a new set... (got it done btw)
So I just need something cheap to keep me going for the next few paychecks.

 

[88fordRanger]

ya try this.

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/ac...&fromString=search&itemIdentifier=238994_0_0_

Thanks! I'll definitely try that. I'll just go there and try to compare products or whatever. $5 is definitely a reasonable price though.

Oh, and what is this "sea foam" crap that all my friends are putting in their older cars? Anyone know what it does or if it works?

 

[--weezl--]

don't bother, it's not worth it, the coolant is going to be right back in there, plus you would NEED to do an oil change for anything to work anyways

 

[88fordRanger]

don't bother, it's not worth it, the coolant is going to be right back in there, plus you would NEED to do an oil change for anything to work anyways

I don't mind doing a lot of oil changes as long as it keeps the slime from continuing to build up... I want to at least manage it, I don't care if I have to change oil every 2 days lmao. It's my daily driver and I rely on her to get me to work to make the money to fix her...
I need the engine to last until I get the money and time off to work on it...

 

[Heavyfire14]

seafoam... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRAV5ln5cUc&NR=1

 

[--weezl--]

an oil change costs roughly $30 in parts, to do it yourself,

headgasket costs $10 a piece, which may solve your problem... (though the head is quite possibly cracked)

additionally, if you know what you're doing, you might be able to peen your head to fix the issue

i'm sure you can do the math to figure out what the smart way to go is

 

[88fordRanger]

I'm sorry to argue with you (really) but I simply don't have the time to change my head gaskets at the moment... An oil change can take me 10 minutes, which i can surely spare. The 3 days that I was working on my differential, I miraculously had 2 of those days off so I had time to do it. And when I don't have work, I have school. I understand your logic, but I have a real tight schedule. And plus, I don't know what peening a head is lol... I'm sure my dad could help me do it though if it needs to be done.

 

[--weezl--]

basically, you take the rounded end of a ball peen hammer, and hit the crack with it, it seals it back up, it's not perfect, it's not as strong as it was when it was new, but it fixes it for a while... that's why that end is on those hammers, instead of a claw end