Small amount of oil in the coolant - am I in trouble????

Unknown

Getting ready to take the 49 Commodore 8 on a long trip - checked the oil, level is O.K. and color and texture was good. Checked the level in the radiator - level was good but the fluid looked funny. Stuck my finger into the fluid and it came out with oil. Took a rag and was able to remove the small amount of oil floating on the surface of the anti-freeze / water mix. Now I am talking about a very small amount of oil. I can't tell how long it might have been in there or where it came from. Do I have a blown head gasket? The engine runs fine. No overheating at all. No milky oil. Should I worry, or just keep an eye on it and see if the oil film reappears?



BST RGDS

GARY ( happychris )

Unknown

I think that if you had a blown head gasket you'd know it. If indeed that were the case, the coolant would be in the oil pan and blowing out the exhaust. Are you sure that what you perceive as oil in the coolant isn't just some forum of coolant break-down or hose sludge? After all, rubber hoses are petroleum based products.

junkcarfann

It is possible to have a small head gasket leak on a flathead with no trace of coolant entering the oil. That is because on a flathead there are no oil passages in the head. For oil to get into the coolant, a substantial leak must exist (or cracked block with the crack in the cylinder wall...you would have serious symptoms in that was the case).



Barring a serious crack, any oil that gets into the coolant on a flathead would have to come from the combustion chamber itself....oil that has made it past the oil-control rings on the pistons or sucked in through an intake valve guide.



Overhead valve engines are another story... they have large volumes of oil in the head to lubricate the valve train, so their head gasket leaks usually cause coolant to get in the oil, and the oil then looks like milk.



On a flathead, a small head gasket leak can run from the combustion chamber directly to a coolant passage, but no further, as the coolant passage becomes the escape valve for the leaking combustion pressure.



I had this happen with a 1940 six. A tiny amount of oil as you describe was in the coolant, but no trace of coolant was in the oil.



I finally tore the head off, and inspection of the gasket and mating surfaces showed the leak.



I would suggest you thouroughly flush and clean the cooling system with a product designed for that purpose.



Next, after flushing the block, put in some stop-leak, carefully following the directions. If the leak is tiny, it will likely stop it. Don't worry about using stop-leak...all the new car manufacturers put it in engines at the factory to insure that any tiny leaks are plugged up.



Also, you should re-torque the head before, and after, flushing and putting in the stop-leak.



If the problem does not go away, pop the head off and change the headgasket.