I was doing a oil change the other day. I noticed the oil cap had a little milky look on it. So i looked in my coolant tank and noticed a little oil in it. The car runs fine didn't notice the coolant being low. I'm afraid its head gaskets. Is it safe to drive my car until i can get the money to get it fixed?

 

I drove a GMC van and all the bearings, valve lifters rings and bores were wrecked and the engine needed a complete rebuild. It was the head gasket leaking coolant on the 4.3 liter engine that failed. It showed up as emulsified oil on the oil filler cap and a steamy exhaust. Drive the car and it will get damaged even more, your decision.

 

You should not continue to drive your crossfire, you will destroy the engine.
https://dannysengineportal.com/antif...-with-quickly/

 

Curious about the mileage and any history to cause this. Thanks

 

Couldn't agree more. The antifreeze washes the oil away from those parts that need to be lubricated.
I would recommend getting it taken care of quickly and hopefully the damage hasn't started.
Sorry, and good luck.
Steve

 

I bought the car in 2019 it had 83,000 miles on it. Its never overheated i have 97,000 on it now. When i bought the car i flushed and changed all fluids. I have done 1 oil change since then i didn't see anything unusual until this oil change. Ive had misfire and hesitation problems but no overheating or loosing any coolant.

 

That’s a bummer. I agree that you should not drive it. If you do the work yourself it shouldn’t be to expensive. It would take a weekend or two so if it’s your primary transportation that could be a challenge.

 

Its not my primary car. I don't know if i can change them myself. I haven't found any videos showing how. Ive changed head gaskets on a 68 mustang but this is very different engine. Ill see if a can get a shop to give me a price.

 

Why the hell would an M112 engine blow it's head gaskets at such low miles? I know of a Crossfire with 230,000 and an SLK320 with 320,000 and they are fine.
In fact, we had FOUR cars at the 2021 Eureka Springs event over 150,000 miles and none had ANY history of any serious engine issues.


You SURE this engine has not been allowed to overheat in the past?

(And for crying out loud, don't even start the engine until this is resolved.)

 

I don't know whats happened in the past life before i bought it. It was wrecked went i got it was not taken care of very well. I wanted a project and i love these cars.My wife reminded me it had straight water in the reservoir tank when i got it. I don't know what else it could be other than head gasket. When i say theirs oil in the antifreeze its a few drops. If you just glanced in it you wouldn't notice. Hope I got to it fast enough.

 

The fact there was water in there tells me there were serious (possibly serious) issues with the cooling system or engine.
I dont see what else it could be, other than head gaskets, but that's a question for a REAL mechanic, not me.

 

I would not rebuild it , if u find it to be a blown ,head gasket, or cracked head or cyl the cost to rebuild, is more than buying a complete used engine,
if fact in MARCH or APRIL i will be removing my srt6 motor and trans to replace with a 113 SL 55 V8 . This will be my third v8. these engines can take a lot.
to make a long story short i learn about 30 years ago to replace, not rebuild. a factory built engine will last a long time compared to a rebuilt which MAY last 75000 miles . ( that is if you race it like i do) example the srt6 that i got in May of this year with 118,000 miles on it , has gone wide open throttle every time i get in it , mileage now 122.008 and 11 trips down the drag strip. good luck what ever u do

 

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Park it until you either rebuild, drop a used engine, or pay a mechanic (not my first choice). You rebuilding it can be a huge asset since you know everything was done with care (and done correctly). Getting and dropping a used engine brings with it a sense of 'what was, or is wrong, with that engine'. If you hire a mechanic to repair, make sure you get a warranty in months or miles (if you drive a lot). You can also (if you have the equipment and time available) drop a used engine yourself. This way you'll be sure care was taken during the remove/replace. BTW, if you do choose to replace it yourself, while your in there, inspect/replace anything you think looks 'iffy' like hard to get items (ie motor mounts). Good luck.


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agree with everything u said ,,,, except if u r going to replace the engine change the oil,,, then drive it until u find another engine ,,,, or it stops then park it .

 

If you just changed the oil, how did the old oil look in the drain pan? I once owned a Jeep that always had a milky coating on the oil fill cap. Never had a problem with it for the years I owned it.

Also you could send an oil sample to be tested on your next oil change.

I would do a thorough coolant flush. Be sure the coolant reservoir is totally clean. Fill with proper coolant and keep an eye on it. James

 

The old oil looked fine i notice the cap was milking looking. So i looked in the reservoir seen some oil drop. The reservoir hasn't lost any antifreeze. When it warms up here ill flush the coolant to make sure it was clean to start with. Ive parked it for now. Does anyone no what it cost to put a v8 in one.

 

Two things.

One Ive never seen oil/water mixing both ways in a motor with a bad head gasket or such. Either its in the coolant or its in the oil. Seems like it would flow back in forth but I have never seen that happen.

Two the milky stuff on the cap is common if you dont drive the car long enough. My bmw's get it allot since Ive got so many of them they dont get driven much.

I would get a radiator/coolant pressure tester and see if it hold pressure. If it does and the oil looks fine when you change it I wouldnt worry about it if it was me.

If your not loosing coolant you dont have a leak.

The final thing to try if you are positive you have a weeping condition and not an all out leak you can use bars leak silver. Its used in cadillacs and and gm vortec engines from the 90's from the factory. I dont know if they still use it in the current stuff but it wouldnt surprise me.

The castings on the heads of the 90's gm stuff was so bad that they dropped a block on the bars leak stuff in the radiator on the assembly line. That part is trivia. But the problem that people ran into later as the vehicles aged and had coolant changes the bars leak went away. Then they started having problems weeping water into the cylinders. Fresh application of bars leak fixes the problem.

This only applies to the bars leak silver.

 

Oh last thing on the milky cap. Vacuum leaks cause the milky stuff on the cap too.

 

I had a truck that had milky oil under the oil cap , but the oil itself looked fine. I f you don't drive the vehicle a lot you can get moisture in the valve covers resulting in the milky oil under the cap. If the oil looked good I wouldn't worry about it. You can send your oil to be tested if your worried.

 

Maybe I'm being paranoid. Just love driving the car don't want anything to happen to it.