Question for those in the know

[bdudney]

I have a 1994 2.3l Ranger.

It's got about 154k on the clock.

I have a layer of oil in the coolant overflow, which made me think the head gasket had blown. I drained the oil out of the oil pan, expecting to find coolant, and there was none.

I changed the oil, cleaned out the overflow, and again I have a layer of black in the overflow reservoir. I've put about 1k on it since the oil change. Pulled the dipstick, absolutely no sign of water/coolant at all.

What gives? Any suggestions?

My next step was to check the compression on all cylinders, see what I've got.

 

[Southern3.0]

Is the truck an Automatic? If so the Trans cooler runs the trans fluid through a set of tubes in the side tank of the radiator and the tubes maybe leaking.

Hers a cut away pic of a side tank with a oil cooler.

 

[Ranger44]

I think he actually means engine oil. If so, this would indicate possibly a cracked cylinder head.

 

[bdudney]

no, it's a manual.

yeah, engine oil.

It's not losing enought to actually notice on the dipstick. even after 3-4k.

 

[Ranger44]

I'd say oil is leaking into a coolant jacket.