Hi All,

I have coolant in the oil but not coolant in the oil (thankfully). After doing a compression test and finding low values on several cylinders I have taken the heads off to replace the head gaskets. I enclose a photo of the head gasket still on the block. Between cylinders 1 and 3 the gasket was degraded right through. That looked to be the worst area that I could find on both front and rear. Could that be enough to cause the oil in the coolant?


Thanks for your help, opinions and tips!

The head gaskets don't go out on these engines. I also don't see in that picture any coolant leaking in to the cylinders. You haven't said what engine you have, but I'm willing to bet you have a non supercharged engine. And in that case I'm willing to bet the EGR stove pipe is where you are getting coolant in to the engine. The upper intake manifold tends to crack at the EGR stove pipe and that crack goes in to the coolant passages of the UIM.

Yes, I have the non-supercharged 3800. I have heard that head gaskets are not a problem as well but I could not see any leakage or deformity where the stove pipe attaches to the intake manifold. I was thinking that issue was more common on the Series II. The bottom of the intake had very evident coolant leakage and I have purchased a replacement unit (Dorman). Would the crack around the stove pipe be small enough that I may have missed it? Also, I have the oil fitting on the radiator for cooling, perhaps there could be an internal leak within the radiator. Is this somewhat common or not very likely?

Did you see any dampness behind the throttle body? If not then the stove pipe may still be OK. Inspect your old gaskets from the LIM. Do you see any seepage from the coolant passages in to the cam valley area? This tends to be a much slower leak, but can still get some coolant in to the oil.

I just noticed I messed up my original post! I have OIL IN THE COOLANT! I have not seen any coolant in the oil. Sorry for the mix-up...

Well, that changes things a bit. A leaking gasket wont put oil in the coolant. You mentioned you have a oil cooler line in the radiator? Your sure that'* oil and not transmission fluid.

Here is a photo of the gasket area from the upper intake manifold for reference.

that all looks clean, check your LIM gaskets. Here'* a example of some seeping.

I had the original LIM gaskets, the one in the original post is actually my replacement. They may very well have been the problem although they weren't as obvious as your example. I'll be sure to update this when I get everything back together.

Dan, I appreciate all your help.

Well, it looks darker than I would expect the transmission fluid would look.. no reddish tint at all, very muddy. How could trans fluid get into the coolant?