Coolant mixing with oil - how big an issue usually?

[Bruce Aussie Chiang Mai]

On 2/13/2024 at 2:35 PM, mfinasi said:

How big an issue is coolant mixing with oil, garage has just sent me an itemized bill estimate that looks like it came from a stay at a tier 1 hospital, estimated around 60k with 35k deposit. 

It seems okay to drive, but when replacing the oil locally told the young guy to give it a little check for leaks as some sticky fluid on driveway usually, they just do oil, tires and brakes usually, but took a look and he thinks that that head gasket cover was leaking and that coolant was mixing with oil. Turns out the young lad was correct I think, and a week later another garage knocked down a tree to print me an itemized estimate..  

Tempted to just keep as a run around, and if it dies, then literally bin it, as long as won't explode on me until i run it to the ground..   They are only guaranteeing the work for 6 months and with other exclusions so really at point probably more prudent and quickly cheaper to get a new yaris or something similar

 

 

Cheap solution. Chem-i-weld. Follow instructions. After a few days change coolant and oil. I had a 10 taxis in Australia and used many times. Always worked unless very serious like water pouring out exhaust. Minor problems always lasted st least 10,000kms.  Head gasket replacement here shouldn't be expensive anything over 5000bht look for different mechanic. Get your Thai wife take car or they see farang $. Forget dealerships unless you like part your money quickly.

[Bruce Aussie Chiang Mai]

21 hours ago, mfinasi said:

Thansk everyone, difficult for someone unfamiliar to tell, but I would say if there is a mix of oil and coolant then  it's in the coolant and the engine oil seems okay - but that could be because it changed recently? on the coolant could that be I just didn't dilute it correctly last time I filled it? 

 

Anyway, I'll find a new garage and see what they say.. 

Head gasket or cracked head 

[HauptmannUK]

What you've got there is a GM Ecotec engine. Its one of GM's Global Engine family with design input from US, Germany, Shanghai-GM and GM Seoul. Unfortunately its poorly designed and cheaply made. It appears in various car brands - GM Chevrolet/Pontiac. Holden, Vauxhall, Opel, MG etc etc. They suffer a long list of problems including timing chain wear, cooling system parts that fail quickly and head gasket failure. 

I would not spend a single Baht fixing that engine. Either sell the car as-is with declared fault or try to locate a good secondhand engine to swap out and then sell the car.

Buy something Japanese but avoid anything with belt-in-oil engine (that means Honda with the 10A 1.0T engine or Nissan with the Renault-designed HR10DET 1.0T engine).

[cracker1]

On 2/13/2024 at 3:45 PM, worgeordie said:

Coolant mixing with oil is a big problem , and usually indicates a cylinder head gasket,

take the cap of the radiator to see if clean or covered in gunk ,

 

regards Worgeordie

 

And also while the engine is running, is the coolant water bubbling ? 

[Dan O]

The descriptions don't match correctly with the claim that the head gasket is blown or the oil cooler is leaking into the radiator. The headgasket cover is the cover for the valve and cams and it leaking oil would lose oil on to the engine but has no connection to the water in the radiator. If you remove the oil filler cap and\or dipstick  you would see evidence of the cross mixing of fluids. If you remove the radiator cap you would see evidence there also. It would be clearly evident in an oil change. It would also be evident in the exhaust smoke coming from the tailpipe. You need to go to a proper garage for an inspection. 

[cracker1]

6 minutes ago, Dan O said:

The descriptions don't match correctly with the claim that the head gasket is blown or the oil cooler is leaking into the radiator. The headgasket cover is the cover for the valve and cams and it leaking oil would lose oil on to the engine but has no connection to the water in the radiator. If you remove the oil filler cap and\or dipstick  you would see evidence of the cross mixing of fluids. If you remove the radiator cap you would see evidence there also. It would be clearly evident in an oil change. It would also be evident in the exhaust smoke coming from the tailpipe. You need to go to a proper garage for an inspection. 

I think you may be confusing the Head Gasket with the Rocker Cover Gasket ?

[Dan O]

3 minutes ago, cracker1 said:

I think you may be confusing the Head Gasket with the Rocker Cover Gasket ?

No I'm just correctly describing what the op wrote. The head gasket is between the bottom of the head and the engine block. The head cover gasket is the cover on top of the engine. It  can be called several things but bottom line the head cover gasket would leak oil onto the engine and drip on the driveway as the op described but mever mix with the water in the radiator. Go back and read what the op originally wrote and you'll see what I'm saying.

[cowellandrew]

In 1986 on my Talbot Ti sunbeam 

I changed the head gasket, ported the head myself, now a days cars its nearly impossible to change a light bulb 

[VocalNeal]

6 hours ago, Bruce Aussie Chiang Mai said:

Cheap solution. Chem-i-weld. Follow instructions. After a few days change coolant and oil. I had a 10 taxis in Australia and used many times. Always worked unless very serious like water pouring out exhaust. Minor problems always lasted st least 10,000kms.  Head gasket replacement here shouldn't be expensive anything over 5000bht look for different mechanic. Get your Thai wife take car or they see farang $. Forget dealerships unless you like part your money quickly.

 

The correct answer from a taxi driver and not a load of techie BS from forum F1 engine assemblers.

[xtrnuno41]

Your pics show, they replaced oil, it is shiny yellow. However too much oil!

Your stick is showing oil above maximum. Not good, you must drain till it is about in the middle.

Too much oil can damage car. How long have they been doing that?

 

Your coolant isnt right, it is not clear and even has no color. Coolants have still color, depending for what purpose.

There are different types and you CANT mix them. 

https://carhampt.com/the-different-types-of-engine-coolant-used-in-asian-cars/

SO what ever they put in your cooling system? As it should be clear. The drops are oily?

They put in AOT with maybe some other additives or just the right only coolant specified by manual? 

 

Pressure of water system is higher then engine pressure, with a leak coolant / engine, coolant is going in engine and creates mess in your engine. The oil cap doesnt show that much mess.

But also oil level should be correct. Maybe there is a possibility, due to too high oil level, oil can mix with the coolant and comes into cooling system. Maybe a tiny leak which sucks in the oil (ejector working). Coolant flow creates vacuum and oil is drawn in.

That is a guess. Fact is your coolant isnt clear. If it is sucked in oil, it could effect gaskets and rubber hoses, as they arent made for oil.

 

You said you loose coolant, so shows there are maybe more leaks.

I would start with draining the oil level to required (middle point of stick). AND of course drain the coolant, flushing it and put new in it. Going to reset cars values in oil level and coolant and cleaning, flushing.

There are some movies about flushing on youtube.

Of course can go to garage and let them do it, be specific. Learn how it s done and be there when they do it.

[wozzlegummich]

If it's a head gasket or cracked head/block then it is a BIG problem. 

If it is an issue with an oil/water heat exchanger then not such a problem but it is a P.I.T.A. to get everthing clean again.

[thesetat]

On 2/13/2024 at 4:09 PM, Moonlover said:

This is the classic symptom of a blown head gasket. If there's no white smoke (steam actually) and you're not loosing coolant, I doubt if you have this problem.

It is possible there is a problem with the water pump instead. same symptoms if i recall. happened to me once that way. 

[PFMills]

You should be able to check if it is an head gasket leak … buy some AVia, it’s not expensive …follow the instructions

[steve187]

14 hours ago, PFMills said:

You should be able to check if it is an head gasket leak … buy some AVia, it’s not expensive …follow the instructions

what is AVia

[PFMills]

AVia is one of a number of liquids that will identify C02 in the gas within the cooling system. You can Google how it’s done.

 

I gave you bum information, it’s not available to buy in Thailand. WuRTH have similar product but only available to the trade, there maybe be other similar products available here but I haven’t seen any.  I know that CT14 Garage have imported it and can do the test.

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

[PFMills]

On 2/23/2024 at 6:08 AM, wozzlegummich said:

If it's a head gasket or cracked head/block then it is a BIG problem. 

If it is an issue with an oil/water heat exchanger then not such a problem but it is a P.I.T.A. to get everthing clean again.

Not really …well yeah it is …run the engine with a hose in where the radiator cap goes ..after a while stop the engine and add a quantity of liquid soap. Run the engine until hot as possible, ensure heater set to hot. Leave to soak. Then flush all the soap etc out …hose in radiator cap area again. Make enough room to add recommended manufactures coolant job done.

 

And as suggested previous …try a head gasket sealant … Google …Do Head Gasket Sealants Actually Work ( Full 2 year test)for interesting video.

Edited February 29 by PFMills

[retarius]

I had this recently, about 6 months back, our 3rd car broke down. Oil mixing with coolant. Cylinder head warped. I was told I needed a new (scrap....recon) engine. We had two quotes one for 60K and one for 50K. Our car was not used much and didn't have many miles on it, and was only used for ferrying the wife's sister who lives with us back and forth to see her mum. The car is 10 or 11 years old with about 50K miles on the clock (80K kms), so it was very early to have such a catastrophic failure, but then again it's a Ford and a poor quality build in my opinion. Anyway, I shelled out the 50K for the repair.....but I got a lot of things I didn't expect.....1) I had a 1600 engine, the repairer put in a 1300 or 1200 replacement, 2) I now have no odometer, 3) I now have no VIN numbers, they have all been filed off and so the car is basically illegal and 4) the repair took about 3 months.

If you ask me if I would have the repair done again, the answer is no, I would just scrap the car. 

[The Fugitive]

1 hour ago, retarius said:

I had this recently, about 6 months back, our 3rd car broke down. Oil mixing with coolant. Cylinder head warped. I was told I needed a new (scrap....recon) engine. We had two quotes one for 60K and one for 50K. Our car was not used much and didn't have many miles on it, and was only used for ferrying the wife's sister who lives with us back and forth to see her mum. The car is 10 or 11 years old with about 50K miles on the clock (80K kms), so it was very early to have such a catastrophic failure, but then again it's a Ford and a poor quality build in my opinion. Anyway, I shelled out the 50K for the repair.....but I got a lot of things I didn't expect.....1) I had a 1600 engine, the repairer put in a 1300 or 1200 replacement, 2) I now have no odometer, 3) I now have no VIN numbers, they have all been filed off and so the car is basically illegal and 4) the repair took about 3 months.

If you ask me if I would have the repair done again, the answer is no, I would just scrap the car. 

Sorry you had a bad experience. Our 1995 Toyota Hilux 'Mighty X' boiled dry and engine seized. 338,000 km on the clock. When engine stripped found water erosion on the cylinder liners indicating coolant leaking. Much rust in coolant galleries, no corrosion inhibitor added. Block was cracked. Mechanic asked if we wanted it repairing? Asked him about a replacement reconditioned engine but he pointed out that it might have suffered the same fate. Original engine repaired for 58,000 baht. Now much easier to start, no rattling, no black smoke and seems to run smoother.

[noobexpat]

4 hours ago, PFMills said:

AVia is one of a number of liquids that will identify C02 in the gas within the cooling system. You can Google how it’s done.

 

I gave you bum information, it’s not available to buy in Thailand. WuRTH have similar product but only available to the trade, there maybe be other similar products available here but I haven’t seen any.  I know that CT14 Garage have imported it and can do the test.

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

 

I said this on page 1 - cheap & simple diagnosis, but falls on deaf ears.

[Yellowtail]

21 hours ago, noobexpat said:

 

I said this on page 1 - cheap & simple diagnosis, but falls on deaf ears.

What test are you talking about, and what is AVia? 

[noobexpat]

6 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

What test are you talking about, and what is AVia? 

 

Read the thread!

[Yellowtail]

12 minutes ago, noobexpat said:

Read the thread!

I read it. But if you don't know just forget it. 

[SAFETY FIRST]

On 2/14/2024 at 11:47 AM, mfinasi said:

Thansk everyone, difficult for someone unfamiliar to tell, but I would say if there is a mix of oil and coolant then  it's in the coolant and the engine oil seems okay - but that could be because it changed recently? on the coolant could that be I just didn't dilute it correctly last time I filled it? 

 

Anyway, I'll find a new garage and see what they say.. 

Might be time to trade her in, I read those Chevy ECO engines are trouble. 

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/tWgiicyyLCT48gvm/?mibextid=oFDknk

 

 

Edited March 1 by SAFETY FIRST

[PFMills]

On 3/1/2024 at 11:35 AM, Yellowtail said:

I read it. But if you don't know just forget it. 

OK .. bit late replying … sorry. You attach the gear to the highest point and suck …it will turn yellowish If CO2 is present …pic just testing the gear on wife’s car. You need to run the engine and test over about 30 mins but if a problem should see within a few minutes …

Edited March 18 by PFMills