katrinebonn

Im from California.

I have no idea.

mark kibort

anyone know of that radiator shop in, or near, San Carlos that worked on 928 radiators?

86'928S MeteorGrey

This same problem was the culprit with my S4. I had a thick milkshake going in the cooling system, while the oil remained clean in the engine. Compression checked ok. I swapped out the radiator and the problem was fixed. Fortunately, I had a spare radiator sitting around. It took about 5 or 6 flushes with cascade automatic dishwashing liquid to get all of the oil out of the coolling system. The cascade is non foaming and did a great job getting her cleaned out. There was a good trick posted somewhere here about cutting and mounting a bicycle tube between the two water outlets with hose clamps. When you inflate the innertube, you can hear the air leak from the oil cooler outlets if your endtank has been compromised. Would an aftermarket aluminum radiator be a better candidate for a racecar?

GregBBRD

They just need to have experience with the aluminum radiator and the plastic tank thing. They will need a new o-ring for the plastic tank. If they stand there with a blank look on theri face and don't understand English....

mark kibort

I found these guys in SJ called the Radiator Doctors. 30years experience, etc, they speak english and everything. Anyway, he seemed to be familar, but Ill bring up the "O" ring thing. Is that a standard part? (for other radiators).

best way to flush the system?

Ill email you about that salvage radiator offer. I bet thats the issue, that oil tank!


thanks again!

GregBBRD

They probably have o-ring material and make up one to fit.

Mike Ballard suggested Cascade dishwasher soap, as it does not foam...pretty smart!

Let me know if you need a cooler....If you do, I'll send you up a whole radiator that you can steal the thing out of.

dr bob

Mark--

Try San Carlos Radiator. They used to do Devek's stuff. They should know them pretty well, and they are closer than SJ.

mark kibort

I just went to take out the radiator, and noticed after not looking at it for a week, the water was really low. lost about 2 quarts. hmm, Oil level magically is way over filled. Hmm, could it be the Amsoil fairy just giving me more than my fair share? water was leaking into the oil! and because the oil level has raised, is it possible that this issue could still be the radiator? could the water leaking through the oil cooler, then pass through the oil lines and then fill into the pan?

Since we all know that oil is lighter than water, i pulled the drain plug on the oil pan, and sure enough, it was like a faucet. 1-2 quarts of water came out, and then pure oil and plugged it up. got another container and drained the rest which was about 7 quarts of oil with no water.

I was able to pressurize the oil cooler, by only 3psi, and there was no leaking or hissing. did the same to the water side on the radiator, sealed as far as I can tell. now, does it leak under 5bar 70psi? I dont know. but, how did so much oil enter the engine, if it came via the oil cooler without an obvious leak. PLUS, the fact that so much water entered the engine while I was away.

Cracked block from the accident?
warped heads from the running of the engine without fans and when the red light came on, I shut it down?
backfiring from the cracked distributor cap, causing a blown headgasket?

If blown headgasket, I should probably check all the cylinders for compression before I pull the engine.

Looks bad folks. What do you all think of the possiblities?

Thanks,

Mark

namasgt

My 88 had coolant in the oil, like you say, about 2 to 3 quarts. But mine was because of a cracked cylinder wall caused by hydro locking.

Hopefully its not serious.

IcemanG17

NOT GOOD...been there done that on chocolate milkshake oil.....NOT FUN...

My 1st guess is headgasket...thats what the old euro had...easy check...just look at the plugs...the ones that are steam cleaned are a hint!! in my case in was #4.... Having a video borescope helps too, but all you will see is steam....

Pull the engine AGAIN.....

mark kibort

no chocolate milkshake, i only noticed oil in the water, but that might be because the oil is new and Ive only run it for short stints. I suspect that the oil in the water started later, because the water level was remaining stable.

Now, i wonder if it is the head gasket, but it is those fancy Cometic copper gaskets, so do they blow like this, so that oil can can enter the water, and visa versa?

jon928se

My money is still on leaking oil cooler the rad end tank.

A compression/cylinder leakdown test will only tell you if the fire rings in the head gasket are leaking. won't tell you if the head gasket between oil and water passageways has a leak.

The fact that you got a couple of quarts of water out of the oil drain and it wasn't chocolate milk shake must mean it is water that entered the oil after the engine was shut down? I'm thinking that a head gasket leak (or a cracked head) isn't going to be big enough to transfer much water into the oil when neither is pressurised. but a failed oil cooler could leave a big enough hole for water to drain into the oil part of the cooler just under the static head of the water in the expansion tank.

A quick way to check would be to remove the oil cooler hoses, refill the coolant and see if water comes out of the rad oil cooler connections.

mark kibort

I agree. plus the car was running so well, after we changed out the distrib. cap.

I hope you are right, but I did do a little make-shift test by pressurizing sligthly, the oil and water sides of the radiator. no hissing sound or leaks, but that was only using blowing pressure, of around 3psi. what if a crack in the head happened during the accident or overheating for a second or two?
maybe the head gaskets (Cometics) leaked if the heads warped a little, dont do much when under pressure, but when left for few days, you get a drip , drip drip of water into the oil passage due to gravity working on the water dribbling out of the water jacket, seeping to the oil passages. howevever, that couldnt happen, unless that leak was near the high pressure oil passage, that pushed out oil slowly, but when the engine cooled, water flowed through that breach back down the lines due to gravity. cracked heads???

Also, when I took the lower oil line off the cooler, a lot of lumpy water and oil came out. the fact that the water level went down by about 2quarts when sitting in the garage.

It will be really nice if that little hole is in the oil tank to the radiator, and the water just entered there and ran down the oil line, into the pan.

GregBBRD

Seems like you could have already had this pressure tested to make sure that is the problem...sure would save a whole bunch of speculation.

Let me know what you find out when you pressure test the silly thing. I've got one at the shop, sitting there for you, but not really anxious to ship it around California, unless you actually need it.

Lizard928

Fill both systems but disconnect the oil lines to the engine block and cap them. Then pressurise the coolant system. Once you have done that place a bucket under the rad to catch all the water that leaks out of it.

However, that does not explain how that much water got into the pan IMHO........