Hello All, I have oil in my coolant and its black like coffee . I suspect that the previous owner may have used oil instead of coolant... I hope. I think that because the oil in my engine is gold like honey and I haven't changed it yet. I'd like to drain it and refill with fresh coolant but I'm afraid that if there is a problem I might make it worse. Does anyone have a suggestion? If I do have a problem with my gasket is there anyting I can use to band-aid it for now? I don't use her much just take her out for an hour or so on weekends. I have it a year and have less that 100 miles on her. Thank you
I'd drain it and fill with straight water at least once to flush it out before putting fresh coolant in it. If the oil isn't contaminated you should be good.
It wont taste like coffee. I had an off topic Caddy that had oil in the coolant. I drained the coolant, filled with fresh water and dish soap. Let her run for a while with the radiator cap off, then flushed it again with straight water, then put in new coolant. Never saw the oil again. Put around 40k miles on that car. Bitches loved that car.
She runs really smooth but smokes a little when I first start up, no steam. Holds coolant level and oil level. I will try to flush it out and see what happens. Hope its a fluke Thanks all!
It's worth trying to clean it out and see what happens. And if it does have a problem with the engine, you can probably nurse it along for several years, at the rate you drive it.
It could be just some leak sealant that was added to the coolant system at some point. Oil mixed with coolant/water isn't usually black. It looks more like beige slimy goo.
Yep, Barrs leak or something like it. Drain it, flush the sysytem and refill. I would use straight water the first time. If its sealant, it may leak after the flush. Easier to deal with straight water vs antifreeze. If no leaks after some time, drain and fill with 50/50 water and antifreeze.
Does your car have automatic transmission?, I have seen many times that the radiator goes bad and lets the transmission fluid go into the coolant.
That's what I first thought. Whatever it is, it would have to be a lot of contamination to make the coolant go to that frothy "milk shake gone bad" consistency. This doesn't sound that bad, go with a flush 'n fill as others suggest. Bob
I see you are in New York. Using water is a good recommendation, but beware of freezing. or is summer here to stay?
Often black coolant is a result of the black rubber hoses deteriorating. Time to flush and refill, but check every rubber line in the system before adding antifreeze. Rubber that has started to slough it's carbon components will feel soft, all most mushy. Oil in coolant will look more like an elephant snot milk shake gone bad.
coolant could of been topped off with a dirty funnel that had some left over oil in it..not that I have ever done that!
This is what I was just going to say. This is also why I never run tranny lines through my radiator. It's like a double wammy! The tranny cooler in the radiator goes bad and take out a perfectly good tranny. I always run an external tranny cooler ONLY. The BarsLeak idea also make sence. It's like pouring molasses or Kayro syrup into your radiator.
Hello All, She is a stick thankfully She lives in a heated garage makes the new car jealous! Yeah feels more like Florida here... The lines to radiator and heater are extremely soft. I just replaced all the electrical wiring and the rubber hoses to the gas tank because it was dry rotted from sitting in the desert. Also last weekend was the first time I ran her for a long time. I hope its barrs or the hoses! Will flush her out and change hoses and let you guys know what happened. Thanks again!
If it is running fine and not overheating a good drain and flush is in order. You could check for a blown gasket first. I would not fill with antifreeze after flushing, I would fill it with straight water and drive it and see if you have the same problem.
New hoses arrived and it took a while for me to get to it. I replaced hoses, drained old fluid ran with water for about two hours replaced with fresh pre mix and ran it again. No issues after I ran it with water. Looks like it was bar's sealer all along. There was a time when the engine was decked. After draining it twice there is still remnant of the brown goo. I don't know if it was put in before it was decked but its tough to get rid of Its running good now albeit a little hot not sure if that is something else or if it is supposed to run hot? The gauge shows normal but the body get hot as well.
Kinda hard to tell if what you call "hot" is ok or not. The gages back then read kind of high, if the sender has been replaced. Make sure the radiator cap is rated 7 lbs, not 13 or 16 or whatever. The old radiators with large tanks can't hold much pressure, they'll swell.
Thanks Squirrle! Thankfully the cap is 7 lb. When say hot I mean the cab gets hot like its been sitting in the sun all say. I probably should get a new sender its the original one. Do you know if those snap on the way out? I have had a lot of fun with that already, when I tired changing the dounuts. Thanks again!
Hello all, I changed my oil yesterday as a result of a fuel delivery system fix. Someone here recommended replacing the oil in case gas had gotten into it. So I drained the oil and found the same exact stuff in the oil filter I was finding in the radiator. It looks very thick like barrs but now I'm thinking it might be sludge. I used marvel as a replacement for leaded fuel and I have been reading that it loosens sludge. Is it possible the sludge is getting past the some gaskets? or am I just chasing ghosts? Thank you
Have the cooling system pressure tested. If it holds pressure you do not have a coolant leak. Period! If oil is in fact getting into the cooling system it will not hold pressure. A small leak will not hold pressure. Even a leaking thermostat gasket will allow the pressure to fall rather quickly. I don't know what you are seeing that is scaring you. Water in the oil turns it into a chocolate milkshake which does not look like black coffee. You say that the levels remain the same. I can't see where you have a problem?
I think you just have sludge. You can change the filter again later. Straight water will get rusty looking as the cast iron will rust. If you aren't seeing any leaks or contamination, it's a good idea to put anti freeze in to prevent corrosion.
Thanks guys, my main worry is a rebuild I guess I feel confident to tackle pretty much everything else. It ain't broke so I'll just leave her alone. Hopefully she stays that way! Thanks again!
If you truly have "oil in the coolant" the only way that will occur will be if there is a leak path between an oil pressure galley and coolant. It will usually have some coolant in the oil as well. Reason is the oil pressure has to overcome the coolant pressure (7 psi in this case) in order to leak oil in to the pressurized cooling system. Once you shut the engine off you still have pressure in the cooling system but no oil pressure and it goes back the other way. I have only seen 2 engines that did this and both of them had swollen coolant rubber hoses that were oil soaked inside. Never did find the leak path had to replace both engines (and all the hoses). Nobody has said what engine we are talking about here? Automatic Trans cooler leaks are more common but the trans usually fails quite rapidly before it damages the hoses. Trans fluid will look like a strawberry milkshake with coolant/water in it. (obviously not the case here since this is a manual)
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