SOLVED: Coolant in oil opnions on whats next

[ecgreen]

So here is the deal -> I put a used engine in my 89 BII last year. I put new head gaskets in and I had it running really good. A few weeks ago the water pump blew and I had a very brief overheat. I fixed that and it is still running really good with good compression. I took it wheeling yesterday and was plagued by a coolant smell all day. Checked all connections and no leaks. Decided to drain the oil and found this:

There is a greenish tint to the oil and it looks like coolant in the oil to me. Other than the smell of coolant, there is no white smoke out of the tailpipe and the engine runs fine. The head gaskets are new, so I am guessing warped head?

Keep in mind I know just enough about auto-tech to be dangerous. Am I missing something here?

If I am not, my question is this...what is next? 'Cause I certainly ain't giving up.

My options as I see them;

1. Strip it down to the heads, get them checked and do the head gasket thing all over again and hope the lower end is ok (this is what I did with the used motor and look where it got me).
2. Buy a Reman or have my lower end rebuilt, and go from there.
3. Finally say F.U. to the 2.9 and begin the transition to 4.0.

What do ya'll think?

Sean

 

[adsm08]

Get the lower intake out and put a machinist straight edge on all the mating surfaces. You may be lucky enough to have only warped the intake.

 

[Uncle Gump]

I know what I would do in your position...

Ford

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It wouldn't be real cheap but I think so worth it in the end.

 

[Dirtman]

I think they serve a drink like that at starbucks...

But on a serious note, 2.9s + overheating = cracked heads. Doesn't matter how "brief".

 

[RonD]

What I would do first is to see if I have a cylinder leak into the cooling system, i.e, blown head gasket or cracked head

Glove test or pressure test cooling system
Basically you seal the cooling system and crank the engine over, but do not start it, so disconnect the coil
You don't need to have coolant in the system to test it, but all hoses have to be connected and tight
Remove rad cap
Put a latex glove over rad cap opening, including overflow hose connection
Cooling System is now sealed
Crank engine over and watch the glove

If glove starts to bounce you have a blown head gasket or cracked head, the 150psi engine compression is being pushed into cooling system
If you want you can pull out 1 spark plug at a time and retest, when glove stops bouncing the last spark plug removed was from the leaking cylinder

You can do the same thing with a Cooling system pressure gauge
Pump it up to 15psi then crank engine over, if gauge starts to bounce then cylinder is pumping pressure into the cooling system


If there is no cylinder leak then coolant can leak into oil pan from intake manifold's connections to the heads, the coolant crossover passages
As said pull the lower intake and look for signs of coolant in the valley above cam shaft

With oil drained and drain plug removed, you can refill cooling system with water to see if water starts coming out the oil drain plug hole, that wouldn't come from a cylinder leak, it would be from a cooling passage leak, i.e. intake manifold
Its possible for head gasket to not seal between coolant passage and oil drain back openings in the head and block, its not likely, but possible

 

[rusty ol ranger]

What year is the used engine?

Either way, chances are you cracked a head, do what ron said and report back.

Make sure you drain and flush the oil multiple times. 2.9s have a very resilant bottom end but...coolant is coolant

 

[ecgreen]

Used engine is reportedly out of an 89, but who knows without tearing it apart.

I will definitely try the glove test. Thanks RonD for that detailed post, its really helpful.

Not sure whether I will stick with the 2.9 or not. I have been dicking with this engine for over a year and it is such a money pit for so little engine. Basically you are relying on an engine that is toast anytime a cooling component even thinks about dying. I am leaning towards a 4.0 swap right now and selling the wall of 2.9 parts I have accumulated.

Either way, I hate when people leave a thread unfinished, so I will post up whatever I do next.

And diesel swap wouldn't suck lol

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Used engine is reportedly out of an 89, but who knows without tearing it apart.

I will definitely try the glove test. Thanks RonD for that detailed post, its really helpful.

Not sure whether I will stick with the 2.9 or not. I have been dicking with this engine for over a year and it is such a money pit for so little engine. Basically you are relying on an engine that is toast anytime a cooling component even thinks about dying. I am leaning towards a 4.0 swap right now and selling the wall of 2.9 parts I have accumulated.

Either way, I hate when people leave a thread unfinished, so I will post up whatever I do next.

And diesel swap wouldn't suck lol

The 4.0 isnt immune from issues either, and honestly isnt as "bad ass" of a swap its made out to be.

Id just swap the heads and keep on trucking instead of buying a 4.0 that may very well have more issues then what you got now,

 

[ecgreen]

The 4.0 isnt immune from issues either, and honestly isnt as "bad ass" of a swap its made out to be.

Id just swap the heads and keep on trucking instead of buying a 4.0 that may very well have more issues then what you got now,

I might stick with the 2.9. Have to wait and see after I get over being grumpy at my current 2.9 LMAO!

 

[rusty ol ranger]

I might stick with the 2.9. Have to wait and see after I get over being grumpy at my current 2.9 LMAO!

Get yours worked out im sure youll be more then happy

 

[ecgreen]

OK, so do I have to drain coolant for the glove test? I tried it with the coolant still in there and the glove did not inflate at all. Gave a few shots making sure the glove was sealed well.

 

[Uncle Gump]

You don't have to... if your leaking compression... it doesn't care one bit about coolant.

 

[ecgreen]

ok, so looks like heads might be fine then...

 

[ecgreen]

Alright boys, I tore things down and removed the LIM. There is absolutely coolant in there. Given everything up to this point, I assume something is either wrong with the LIM or something is wrong with the way I installed it last time. Also there was oily residue on the gasket of the upper intake manifold - is that normal? So whats next? I await you instruction Master Luke...

 

[ecgreen]

Wouldn't this align with the fact that I don't have any white smoke out of the tail pipe? The fact that the heads are ok and the LIM is the issue?