Coolant in oil STILL after head gaskets were replaced
04-05-2018, 01:17 AM
#1
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Coolant in oil STILL after head gaskets were replaced
2007 Z06 coolant in the oil
Hello there, recently bought a 2007 Z06 with 30k on it. New block, sleeves, forged pistons, ported polished heads, boost cam and a P1 Procharger. Drove the car 800 miles home with no issues. Got home drove it around a couple weeks and the low coolant light came on. Come to find out there was coolant in the oil. Went ahead and replaced head gaskets and today drained the oil for the second time in 100 miles aince the head gasket replacement and found coolant in the oil stil (maybe about a quart worth of coolant). Heads were machined and inspected, block seemed fine, sleeves looked good, no evident signs of cracks. Not sure if it was old coolantnin there or new one. Reservoir did drop in level of coolant about 2 inches (which I thought was fine, i figured there was pockets of air and it was working its way out) not sure what else to do!
Hello there, recently bought a 2007 Z06 with 30k on it. New block, sleeves, forged pistons, ported polished heads, boost cam and a P1 Procharger. Drove the car 800 miles home with no issues. Got home drove it around a couple weeks and the low coolant light came on. Come to find out there was coolant in the oil. Went ahead and replaced head gaskets and today drained the oil for the second time in 100 miles aince the head gasket replacement and found coolant in the oil stil (maybe about a quart worth of coolant). Heads were machined and inspected, block seemed fine, sleeves looked good, no evident signs of cracks. Not sure if it was old coolantnin there or new one. Reservoir did drop in level of coolant about 2 inches (which I thought was fine, i figured there was pockets of air and it was working its way out) not sure what else to do!
04-05-2018, 07:13 AM
#2
Did you thoroughly flushcthe system? Just bc you drain the radiator and overflow doesn't mean it's all out. The block holds a lot of coolant so you could be having residual oil in the coolant. Try a block pressure test or the dye that checks for exhaust gasses in the coolant
04-05-2018, 07:59 AM
#3
Le Mans Master
heads inspected but including crack check? head gaskets go on the correct way? just thinking...........
04-05-2018, 08:01 AM
#4
Melting Slicks
Water can also be in the oil cooler is that was not flushed. You might also want to put in one of those GM stop leak tabs. I presume you changed filter too. I would also recheck head bolts/studs to make sure they did not move through the heat cycle process. I use the ARP assembly lube and that seems to be very good at keeping the torque specs.
04-05-2018, 08:49 AM
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Did you thoroughly flushcthe system? Just bc you drain the radiator and overflow doesn't mean it's all out. The block holds a lot of coolant so you could be having residual oil in the coolant. Try a block pressure test or the dye that checks for exhaust gasses in the coolant
04-05-2018, 08:50 AM
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04-05-2018, 08:59 AM
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2007 Z06 coolant in the oil
Hello there, recently bought a 2007 Z06 with 30k on it. New block, sleeves, forged pistons, ported polished heads, boost cam and a P1 Procharger. Drove the car 800 miles home with no issues. Got home drove it around a couple weeks and the low coolant light came on. Come to find out there was coolant in the oil. Went ahead and replaced head gaskets and today drained the oil for the second time in 100 miles aince the head gasket replacement and found coolant in the oil stil (maybe about a quart worth of coolant). Heads were machined and inspected, block seemed fine, sleeves looked good, no evident signs of cracks. Not sure if it was old coolantnin there or new one. Reservoir did drop in level of coolant about 2 inches (which I thought was fine, i figured there was pockets of air and it was working its way out) not sure what else to do!
Hello there, recently bought a 2007 Z06 with 30k on it. New block, sleeves, forged pistons, ported polished heads, boost cam and a P1 Procharger. Drove the car 800 miles home with no issues. Got home drove it around a couple weeks and the low coolant light came on. Come to find out there was coolant in the oil. Went ahead and replaced head gaskets and today drained the oil for the second time in 100 miles aince the head gasket replacement and found coolant in the oil stil (maybe about a quart worth of coolant). Heads were machined and inspected, block seemed fine, sleeves looked good, no evident signs of cracks. Not sure if it was old coolantnin there or new one. Reservoir did drop in level of coolant about 2 inches (which I thought was fine, i figured there was pockets of air and it was working its way out) not sure what else to do!
04-05-2018, 09:04 AM
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Does yours have the engine oil cooler in the radiator? Those are famous for leaking and causing issues, especially when the DexCool is left in the system for too many years. If it hasn't had regular coolant flushes (every 5 years or so), that's what I would have checked first.
it has a separate oil cooler. Unless im not seeing something. Block was replaced through previous owner about 4k ago.
04-05-2018, 09:39 AM
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Water can also be in the oil cooler is that was not flushed. You might also want to put in one of those GM stop leak tabs. I presume you changed filter too. I would also recheck head bolts/studs to make sure they did not move through the heat cycle process. I use the ARP assembly lube and that seems to be very good at keeping the torque specs.
oil cooler was not flushed unfortunately, so hopefully it flushes out. Planning on refilling the oil this morning along wih a new filter and seeing if the coolant in the reservoir keeps dropping. I used plenty of the arp lube, torqued in the adequate sequence and went 5-10 more lbs than spec
04-05-2018, 10:17 AM
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St. Jude Donor '08
2007 Z06 coolant in the oil
Hello there, recently bought a 2007 Z06 with 30k on it. New block, sleeves, forged pistons, ported polished heads, boost cam and a P1 Procharger. Drove the car 800 miles home with no issues. Got home drove it around a couple weeks and the low coolant light came on. Come to find out there was coolant in the oil. Went ahead and replaced head gaskets and today drained the oil for the second time in 100 miles aince the head gasket replacement and found coolant in the oil stil (maybe about a quart worth of coolant). Heads were machined and inspected, block seemed fine, sleeves looked good, no evident signs of cracks. Not sure if it was old coolantnin there or new one. Reservoir did drop in level of coolant about 2 inches (which I thought was fine, i figured there was pockets of air and it was working its way out) not sure what else to do!
Hello there, recently bought a 2007 Z06 with 30k on it. New block, sleeves, forged pistons, ported polished heads, boost cam and a P1 Procharger. Drove the car 800 miles home with no issues. Got home drove it around a couple weeks and the low coolant light came on. Come to find out there was coolant in the oil. Went ahead and replaced head gaskets and today drained the oil for the second time in 100 miles aince the head gasket replacement and found coolant in the oil stil (maybe about a quart worth of coolant). Heads were machined and inspected, block seemed fine, sleeves looked good, no evident signs of cracks. Not sure if it was old coolantnin there or new one. Reservoir did drop in level of coolant about 2 inches (which I thought was fine, i figured there was pockets of air and it was working its way out) not sure what else to do!
04-05-2018, 01:48 PM
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Update: i drained the oil and have had it draining for 10-12 hours, ive ran about 6 quarts of oil through the motor with no drain plugs on it while ive been doing this, i put a cooling system pressure tester on the car at 22psi and its down to 21.5 in 90 minutes
04-05-2018, 02:41 PM
#13
Team Owner
Maybe a very fine hairline crack in a sleeve? Did you do the build, or the previous owner? How many miles since the build? What sleeves, what block?
04-05-2018, 05:09 PM
#14
Put pressure back on the system. Remove the spark plugs. Look at the plugs for signs of antifreeze. If one looks suspect, put that piston at BDC. Find a scope that fits through the spark plug hole and look for antifreeze puddling on top of that piston. All I got for now unless you have a plate exchanger type oil cooler.
04-05-2018, 05:48 PM
#15
Le Mans Master
Did you clean out the holes for the head bolts properly ? You can easily crack the block if not. Especially if there was water in them.
04-05-2018, 05:51 PM
#16
Team Owner
Very easy to have a small crack that opens up when motor is hot, but near impossible to see when cold.
04-05-2018, 05:58 PM
#17
Melting Slicks
Generally speaking, over torqueing your head-bolts by 5-10#'s is not a good idea. So if the torque you set the bolts to varied by that amount, the higher than spec'd torque and the difference between 5 & 10 on final numbers is enough to create the potential for problems.
04-05-2018, 06:40 PM
#18
Pro
JM2cW
1st off I ain't an expert but I got experience with head gasket problems on Corvettes with aluminum heads....believe me. 6000$ worth.
So, the horse is out of the barn, you have already done the head gaskets...so do the pressure leak down tests as suggested, buy a boreoscope from harbor freight and start lookin in the holes.
In hindsight..did you have the heads inspected for cracks? very important when dealing with aluminum heads. ( I believe you said you did not get the heads checked.)
Next important issue..get the heads surfaced, this is critical. 3rd, use GM original factory gaskets from the dealer. 4th Your head bolts are torque to yield, you have to use new GM (from the dealer) head bolts.
I realize all this " I told you so" is of no use to you at this point, but if you have to go back in follow the path to enlightenment.
Sorry for troubles. I know far too well the stress this issue can have on you.
So, the horse is out of the barn, you have already done the head gaskets...so do the pressure leak down tests as suggested, buy a boreoscope from harbor freight and start lookin in the holes.
In hindsight..did you have the heads inspected for cracks? very important when dealing with aluminum heads. ( I believe you said you did not get the heads checked.)
Next important issue..get the heads surfaced, this is critical. 3rd, use GM original factory gaskets from the dealer. 4th Your head bolts are torque to yield, you have to use new GM (from the dealer) head bolts.
I realize all this " I told you so" is of no use to you at this point, but if you have to go back in follow the path to enlightenment.
Sorry for troubles. I know far too well the stress this issue can have on you.
09-13-2020, 12:51 PM
#20
Melting Slicks
Good question. I hate it when guys sign up on a forum to ask one question, get all the thoughts about the problem and then bail without providing the fix...