vp v6 milky stuff in coolant..
my commo has milky stuff under my radiator cap, the oil is clean and doesnt seem to be anything in the oil, is this a blown head gasket or something else, im going to flush out the radiator n put new coolant in it and see what happens, or am i wasting my time and money???
SSM11K
Probly wasting your time, and money... lol, if it got in there, it came from somewhere, so chances are it'l come back.
It COULD be the head gasket,
But since doing one on my neighbors - I think its most likely to be the Lower Intake Manifold Gasket, where the intake manifold meets the heads...
There's a bit of info on here about them, Search and see what comes up, I've gotta go out, when I come back I'll try and find some more info..
May not be, as the oil is not under pressure there and the water is, so, usually the water only goes to the oil and you need to keep topping it up and the engine overheats.Originally Posted by Zeussy
Have a look under oil filler cap and is it there too?
Oil will be under pressure in the cylinder if the gasket is cactus.
Oil floats on water, so your dip stick may not pick it up at first.
It could be a head gasket, so be prepared for the extra work,
Do a compression test first and inspect all the spark plugs for contamination.
"..of mice and men.."
hmm.. Not good, I've seen oil turn milky when coolant is gotten in to the oil, so maybe oil is getting in to the coolant passed a gasket somewhere, as stated above..
On the 7th day, God created Holden, then on the 8th day, God created Ford, to keep idiots out of Holden's.
travo, as stated above;
The water system is pressurised, but the oil isn't. The valley would need to be full of oil to the top and the Crank case ventilator blocked to cause oil to contaminate the water in the valley. The water, under pressure, can contaminate the oil in the valley from that gasket.
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depending on how much is on your cap, if it is a small amount it may not be a major problem, if you have followed the service procedures correctly, you should have added the gm cooling pellets into your coolant when it was last flushed and refilled. this wont be much but the purpose of these pellets is to lubricate the water pump etc.
i know nothing about commodores at all, i baught it for a cheap car for my missus to run around in as we just had a baby a couple of weeks ago, its a one owner with service history etc, the coolant looks clean, but just under the radiator cap is milky, im about to drop the oil and see what that looks like, and im going to flush out the radiator etc im still wondering if im wasting my time..
If it's running fine at the moment, dont panic until you discover you do or don't have a real problem. I would say concentrate your efforts on elimination before spending money and time on guesses.
Clean the cream off the cap and make sure your coolant system is bled. Run the car for a week, checking the water and cap before each start. Also keep a constant eye on the temp gauge.
I drove home 600 Kms with a VR V6 engine with water going into the sump through a pin hole in the timing cover. Had to top up the radiator every town. The oil was like ice cream when I got home and it took seven oil changes over seven days to clean it. That engine lasted another 12 years!
Unless your going on a big trip, don't panic and keep it for the short runs till you find out if it does have a problem.
i just dropped the oil and its fine, a bit black but nothing out of the ordinary, i flushed out the radiator etc and got a good coolant etc, maybe im dumb but im not to sure how to bleed the the coolant system????
so i did a search and found so many different ways, would i be alright if i ran the car with the heater on full till it warmed up the nipped off the screw on the thermostat housing a little bit till all the air came out? or is this a dodgey way to do it?
If cold, run the car till hot, with the heater on hot and with the bleed screw open, (don't loose it as it vibrates out of its hole into the abyss below it). Watch till water comes out in a constant stream. Close the screw and fill the overflow bottle, above the full line, the level will sort itself out after you drive a decent amount in stop/start traffic. Check water in radiator and overflow bottle when cold the next time before you are going somewhere.
If hot with the heater on hot, open the bleed valve till a stream of water comes out, then close it, fill the Overflow bottle, the level will sort itself out after you drive a decent amount in stop/start traffic.
"..of mice and men.."
A quick way is to do a cold bleed, I do it by using a coke bottle with the bottom cut off.
Use some insulation tape wrapped around the lid spout to make it a tight fit in the radiator cap filler neck.
Poor some coolant in the coke bottle, until the level is higher than the bleeder, which should be the highest point on the intake.
Make sure you heater is set to full hot.
Then undo the bleeder, until it streams out runs steady, with no spits or air bubbles.
Keep topping up the coke bottle as needed.
Close the bleeder, but not full tight, then start the engine, let it run for a little till it warms enough to have a smooth idle.
Then carefully open the bleeder, to make sure there is no more air pockets, this may take a little while for it all to work it's way out.
Keep an eye on the coke bottle in case it needs topped up.
Once you are happy there is no more air, close the bleeder off and fully tighten it, then turn off the engine.
Remove the coke bottle(you may lose some coolant everywhere here..lol), and put your radiator cap back on.
Top up your coolant overflow bottle, then go for a short drive, but do not push the engine hard, just take it easy, then home again.
Once you're home, turn off the car, and let it sit to cool.
After a while you should see some coolant from the overflow has been pulled back in to the system, this is normal.
Then once the engine has cooled enough, and the pressure has all gone, take off your radiator cap, and check what it looks like inside.
On the 7th day, God created Holden, then on the 8th day, God created Ford, to keep idiots out of Holden's.
manifold gasket. mine did the exact same thing. No water in the oil but oil in the coolant.
oh ok, i have been thinking head gasket but it just didnt seem to add up, i expected to see shit in the oil but it was clean as... did u replace the manifold gasket youself? if so is it a diffucult task? or would it be expensive to get a mechanic to do it?
also thanks heaps to everyone that has posted here, you guys have been a big help, im learning a lot!!
Mechanic ?!?! umm nah I never been to a mechanic before. was easy just time consuming.
SSM11K
I didn't say it was definately the Lower Intake Manifold Gasket, merely my opinion...
Lower Intake Manifold Gaskets are more common of a failure than a Head Gasket, and in the process of stripping the motor down to do a Head Gasket, you will easily be able to see if the Lower intake Manifold Gasket is ruptured/damaged/causing a leak.
The problem the O/P describes doesn't sound like a major oil leak into the cooling system, more so very similar to the symptoms of my neighbors car, that I did the LIM Gaskets on. Sure it 'could' be the Head Gasket, but then it 'could' also be a number of other things, cracked head, cracked block, corroded water jacket etc etc...
If water is getting into the oil, it will mix with the oil, causing a milky mess. So it will be easy to identify.
Here is a thread that shows/explains where the oil 'CAN' get into the cooling system.
Engine Oil In Radiator
Scroll down to post #7 Scooter79 explains it in more detail. (its on an L67 though... My neighbors was a N/A ecotec)
Again, didn't say that this is definately your problem, but IMO, its where I'd be looking before buying head gaskets.
i had the same prob i done all those things but had the same shit again it turned out i had a damaged trans fluid line in the radiator. except it was happening alot quicker thanwhat u were describing
oh ok thats interesting, do u know how to check if that is the problem?
smell maybe? oil smells a lot different than trans fluid.
i smelt it n it just smeels like coolant but the coolant feels the tiniest bit oily when i rub it on my fingers... im confused as to what to do next
yeah mine smelt like motor oil. Any color to the oil in it?
nah not at all, just the milky shit under the radiator cap thats it
Ute Finatic
correct me if im wrong but another possibility is the trans oil in the radiator if its an automatice aka this is if the trans has a run of to cool through the bottom section of the radiator again nto sure what models its from but its a possibility that the radiator ef'd up and u got water in your trans and trans oil now in your coolant system?
Oil under the radiator water cap is only a good sign of oil in the water if you know it was not there from when the previous owner had the car. OF COURSE, something everyone does when the do a pre-purchase inspection is check for oil on the bottom of the cap right? And if they didn't do it then, then they did it soon after getting it home and if there was some there then, it was wiped off immediately so a check on it can be done in a weeks time - RIGHT? SO what is your time measure for the oil you have just found under the cap? How many days or weeks since you last checked or cleaned it?
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