How bad is it Doc??? Coolant in oil

[Mr. Belvedere II]

Been some time since I’ve posted here, but I’ve got a situation I would like to bounce off you guys. Last year or so I discovered that my rockers were covered in greenish brown sludge. Of course since I’m writing this now I’ve obviously survived the cardiac episode I had upon that little discovery. I stopped driving the car immediately and haven’t really touched it for about a year or so. My plan was just to pull the motor and clean it all up when I could. I’m just worried that the coolant/oil mix was sitting in there for awhile. Do you think I’ve ruined anything? Can I just disassemble all but the rotating assembly and clean it up and change gaskets? Also I think the culprit was not a blown head gasket but a failure at one of the water pump bolt seals. One of the things I noticed when I pulled the engine last night was that the radiator was totally clean with absolutely no sludginess in the coolant when it was drained. I have yet to drain the oil pan but will be doing that next now that it’s on the stand. Guess my main concern is how long it sat with that mixture on everything even thought it wasn’t driven. I will find out soon how things look because I’m taking it apart to some degree but I don’t want to go too too crazy. Just looking for some input!

 

[Moparfiend]

Your going to see rust on the surface where the coolant mixture is. I hydrolocked my engine from a probable head gasket leak. Tore the engine appart within a month and it was already rusting up on all the contaminated surfaces. Sooooo brace yourself for a lot of surface rust. Nobody can tell you how many microns will be affected but since your going to pull it ...... everything should clean up when it gets machined borred and honed.

 

[PP1RT]

I would be worried about the bearings and just go thru the entire engine while it is out.

 

[BeepBeepRR]

It could be possible that the sludge in the valve cover was just condensation mixing with the oil. It does happen. Lets just hope your oil is clean and not a 2 part liquid. When draining the oil it will come out in two parts. The oil then the water/oil sludge.. Hopefully this is not the case.

 

[PRHeads]

There are no bolt holes in the water pump area that connect to oil that I’m aware of.

 

[threewood]

It could be possible that the sludge in the valve cover was just condensation mixing with the oil. It does happen. Lets just hope your oil is clean and not a 2 part liquid. When draining the oil it will come out in two parts. The oil then the water/oil sludge.. Hopefully this is not the case.

The water comes out first, but same difference. If you had any water at all in one or multiple cylinders from a blown head gasket, they will have rust in them.

I hope your oil comes out clean!

 

[BeepBeepRR]

The water comes out first, but same difference. If you had any water at all in one or multiple cylinders from a blown head gasket, they will have rust in them.

I hope your oil comes out clean!

Yup strike that reverse it..