oil in coolant???!?

91scoobiesubie · Post by **91scoobiesubie** » Sun Jun 15, 2003 12:39 am

i went to put water wetter in my coolant today and i noticed black oil like substance floating in the resivoir. what is this why and what do i need to do to repair . please help!!!!

91White-T · Post by **91White-T** » Sun Jun 15, 2003 1:18 am

You should check the oil, and if there is coolant in there, then you more than likely have blown headgasket(s) or a cracked head/block.

91scoobiesubie · Post by **91scoobiesubie** » Sun Jun 15, 2003 2:35 am

is it hard to change the head gaskets?? how long ??

91White-T · Post by **91White-T** » Sun Jun 15, 2003 8:56 pm

Yes. Make sure that's what's wrong first though...

entirelyturbo · Post by **entirelyturbo** » Mon Jun 16, 2003 4:36 am

Ask petridish38 for some tips on that. He just put new headgaskets on his, I don't know how successful he was though...

91scoobiesubie · Post by **91scoobiesubie** » Tue Jun 17, 2003 10:50 pm

i was told today by a garageit could be the exhaust manifold and also to check and see if its in the oil he said it would be milky my question is is any of this true and milky how??

entirelyturbo · Post by **entirelyturbo** » Wed Jun 18, 2003 3:13 am

Never heard of exhaust manifold causing that...

The oil will have the texture and flowing characteristics of milk, waaay more watery than regular oil, if it pours like water out of the oil pan, that's definitely coolant in it...

petridish38 · Post by **petridish38** » Thu Jun 19, 2003 3:05 am

If you're getting oil in the coolant or coolant in the oil you can be 95%-99% that you have a head gasket leak or a cracked block or head...
Did it overheat or run hot recently? Mine didn't when my head gasket went...they just went... my problem was different though... i wasn't getting oil/coolant contamination...i was getting air bubbles which were leaking into the coolant system and bubbling out through the radiator cap into the reservoir...either way, both of our problems seem head gasket related.(i know mine was)...
I did the job myself and i have to say... it wasnt as bad as i thought. the only thing i will emphasize is organization...find a place to put everything you take off and put every series of bolts in a bag and label where they went (this helped me since I had to remember where everything went a month and a week after taking it apart)... just get all the gaskets and seals to do the job and take your time...
I also did a valve job on the heads and hand lapped the valves... she runs much better since the valve job, but, unfortunately for me, I am still getting air bubbles in the coolant

I suspect a cracked head or block(I have been told that cracks can be very hard to spot, which might be the reason that i didnt see one)......all was not lost though...it was a tremendous learning experience for me...im hoping it will run for a while like this and i plan on driving the engine till it stops running again....then i will most likely get a rebuilt or used engine.

if you have any more questions just IM me on AIM or e-mail me at: HOT ROD 85

Good Luck... and i hope you have a better outcome than me...

91scoobiesubie · Post by **91scoobiesubie** » Fri Jun 20, 2003 1:07 am

hey if i started at 8 in the morning how long would it take to complete job and what special tools would i need thanks for all the help guysant mods to consider when doing this

petridish38 · Post by **petridish38** » Fri Jun 20, 2003 5:55 am

if you started at 8 in the morning, it would probably take you 3 days....depending on how long you worked and how skilled you are...the reason i say 3 days is....one day to take the heads off.....one day to clean the heads and block and get the heads machined if necessary....(you want to get the heads/block looking brand new before u put the new gasket on...u barely want a trace of old gasket on there)....and one day to put it all abck together....this is of course that you have the proper tools and parts...and u dont run into any unexpected problems...just take your time...even if you can do it in one day(which would be one hell of a day) spread the work out and take your time so you dont mess anything up.
you will need a torque wrench( i had to use 2 because the large one didn't go to 14 ft.lbs, and the small one didn't go to 54ft.lbs or whatever the specs are)...just follow the correct procedures in the FSM (dont forget the head bolt loosening sequence either)...you might want to get that special tool to take the camshaft sprockets off (i just loosened them with the timing belt still on...but tightening them with the timing belt on is more difficult since the timing blet could jump teeth while tightening the sprockets...like it did for me...i didnt notice it and tried to start the engine and it wouldnt start...WHOOPS) but no damage was done and i set up the timing again and she started up great....

get new gaskets and seals...along with new head bolts...also get some cam seals while ur in there and get some new valve cover gaskets and grommets. you should also replace the timing belt... and maybe even the water pump depending on your budget.
I recommend getting all the parts from Subaruparts.com

thats about all i can think of right now....if i forgot anything, someone let me know...it's almost 1 AM and im pretty tired here...

Good Luck!

Post by **Legacy777** » Fri Jun 20, 2003 1:29 pm

don't forget oil pump o-ring and to locktite those two little screws as they like to back out.

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oil in coolant???!?

oil in coolant???!?

head gasket