Technical Engine oil milkshake

I have a Ford 47 Tudor with the 59AB Flathead V8. I discovered coolant in my oil yesterday. Sunday I ran my car for 5 to 7 minutes, no excess smoking, and no overheating. The last time it was run was in January, temp was cold outside and no issues. Yesterday I went to pull the oil dipstick before running it and found that the oil was milky and 1 1/2" above the full mark. I took off the radiator cap and noticed that it was low. Next I opened the spicket in the lower left of the radiator to see what color the coolant was when it came out. It was bright green with no oil deposits. Does anyone have any recommendations for process of elimination? I was going to pull the plugs and later do a dry and wet compression test, but I wanted to ask first.

 

Start by pressure checking the cooling system. You may be even be able to hear by ear where the coolant is escaping to.

 

Cracked block....
Take plugs out...stand back...turnover engine...see which hole water comes out...install sleeve...
no water....crack is in the valve area under the intake...
Good Luck

 

I don't have any advice on what caused it, but I can tell you that if you get on it right away and find and fix the cause, you should be OK. I installed an aftermarket aluminum timing cover on the hemi in my race car, and the gasket I had was incompatible and it let coolant into the oil. I only ran it less than a minute and shut it down to check the oil. and saw I had the dreaded "milkshake". I immediatly drained the oil and coolant and went looking for the problem. I found it and fixed it and refilled the engine with oil and coolant. I started it and checked it immediately. When it looked good, I ran it about 5 more minutes and changed the oil again. It didn't seem to harm the engine one bit. That was probably 15 years ago and I still run the car occasionally at exhibitions.

 

I had a similar problem last week.
Bought this, followed directions.
Changed to oil twice and for now, all is good.

It took about 5 good thermal cycles and no more coolant in the cylinder

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Minnesota 'eh?
The first thing I would do is check the coolant strength. Compare that with the coolest day this past winter. That will tell a lot. If you have topped off the coolant or added water.....Forget that.
There is an outside chance this could be nothing. This could be nothing more than condensation. A Cold winter warm up produces a lot of water. Let's hope so.
There is also an outside chance this could be gasket somewhere.
This could be a head gasket.
A compression test will tell a lot.
Your spark plugs are another tool for diagnostic checks. Look for the washed plug or plugs.

 

Drain the shit mixture out of the crankcase before the engine bearings get damaged!!!

 

I'm doing a compression test later today. I drained all the coolant out of the radiator and it was bright green with no oil in it. Seems a little odd.


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If you Have a Blowen Headgasket that's what would Happen
you would get Water in the Engine!
If it was My Car I would Drain the Engine & Make sure all the Oil
came out., if you have some old oil I would put it in the Engine
But Don't Start the Engine Just Crank a Couple of times & Drop
it again.
Like somebody Fill the Rad up & Leave about1 1/2 " before the Top
and Pressure Check the Engine.

Just my 3.5 cents

Live Learn & Die a Fool

 

I ended up recycling my old oil. I drained the crankcase and left the plug off over night to get everything out. I have new oil and a new filter. I'm going to fill it and do a compression test for each cylinder tonight and later pressure test. After that drain and fill oil again.

 

No such thing as a " Mechanic in a can " don't waste time or $$ on that cr-P !!

 

I guess you say this because you would think you should have oil in coolant also? You would only have oil in the coolant if the damaged area was where the oil is under pressure so it would get pushed into the coolant. Like at an oil passage. If the damage is not around an oil pressure area like a cylinder wall or in a flat head motor, a head gasket, the coolant is under more pressure than the crankcase so the water goes into the block. Coolant is under more pressure from the pressure the cap holds or just gravity.

 

leave the drain plug, and spark plugs out and pressure test the radiator. no reason to ruin good oil.

 

What should I be looking for and where?

 

well... if you pressurize the coolant system, and you have coolant running out the open oil drain plug then its pretty self explanatory I would think.

 

yes, if you hear or see leakage through the plug holes or drain plug hole, pull the heads.....

 

That's what I needed to hear.

 

Here's a tip. I have a bag of regular sized kid's balloons from the variety store. I fit them over an emptied out spark plug shell, the oil breather, and any place else I can think of. They are very sensitive to any air flow and will show even the smallest leak. For an old fart, I still have pretty good hearing and these show leaks I could never even think of hearing.

 

Thanks. I like that idea a lot.

 

I had an 8BA in a '48 coupe that did that regularly. As a 17 year old high school kid money was no object (I never saw any to identify as an object). I did have enough to buy a heads gasket until the next go round. The block wasn't cracked but the head was slightly (!) warped. Go real good at it.

 

I can't do a compression test because none of the places have adapters that will fit my radiator. I pulled the spark plugs and cylinder 2, 3 and on the drivers side cylinder 8 spark plugs look clean. The rest of them have carbon on them.


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Clean is probably indicating water Ingres.

 

you need to rig something. if you have a regulator on your compressor set it for 5lbs and see if you can hook it up to a heater hose with a tee. old school bike pump?

 

Cylinder and Compression test psi (dry test)
1) 45 psi 5) 50 psi
2) 45 psi 6) 55 psi
3) 54 psi 7) 40 psi
4) 36 psi 8) 25 psi

I pulled off both heads and found no coolant on the cylinders, and no cracking between the valves. The right/passenger side head gasket had a burn between cylinder one in cylinder two. Also it look like someone used a stop leak in the motor a few years ago. When I took off the right side/passenger cylinder head I noticed some coolant coming out of the crank case drain plug. It was only a small amount. No coolant came out of the right side head. When I took off the left side head, A little bit of coolant came out. The other thing I noticed was there was a bit of corrosion deposits inside the right cylinder head.


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O.K., now pull it out & tear it down … you have a wore out flat motor ….

 

Those are some seriously weak compression numbers. Good luck and keep us informed.

 

are you sure the compression gage works correctly?

 

Yes. I tested each cylinder more than once.

 

I think 33anda3rd meant is the gauge accurate and the pressures are really that low.

 

Yes, you need to check the compression gauge. Did you have the throttle blocked wide open? If not, the cylinders can't take a good breath and your indicated compression will be lower than if the throttle is held open during the test.