1996 Explorer has oil in coolant overflow box

[toddundy]

Hello, I was doing maintenance on my 96 4.0l xlt today and found motor oil in my coolant box. The engine runs strong and hasn't overheated. My question is how big a deal is replacing the head gaskets on the 96? How long can I run it like it is? It has 150,000 miles and many many new parts on it so I think I will hang on to it for a while longer. Any advise would be appreciated. :exp:

 

[explorerguy89]

pretty easy but can turn into a hell of a job so have a handy mechanic close by if u can and make sure ur heads are good still (if not i have a new set for you =p) and same with block there cant be and uneven spots and make sure u torque very precisely for everything

 

[96eb96]

do you have coolant in your oil or on the dipstick? If there are no engine issues there is a chance that engine oil is really old trans fluid from the radiator cooler(just want to cover all bases).

 

[toddundy]

Yes I believe I have some coolant in my oil, it seems a bit runny and is fairly new oil. The oil in the coolant box was brownish black similar to the engine oil color. I think I will drain the oil and coolant and see if it happens again.

 

[toddundy]

Yes I believe I have some coolant in my oil, it seems a bit runny and is fairly new oil. The oil in the coolant box was brownish black similar to the engine oil color. I think I will change the oil and coolant and see if it happens again.

At least its not a Chevy!

 

[N1265]

If you bought this unit from another owner, consider the fact that what you are seeing in the coolant tank could be " Bars stop leak " it is used to seal up minor leaks in the cooling system, It looks like thick oil but is not...

I have it in my tank, I know what it is because I put it there.

 

[N1265]

Runny oil does not nessairly mean there is coolant in the oil, usually when this happens the oil will turn " milky " or a tanish color...

 

[96eb96]

2nd on the runny oil. Bad headgaskets usually create oil that looks like a milkshake. Also, by now the bearings would probably be trashed.

I would flush the coolant too, when was it changed last?

 

[toddundy]

It's been over a year since the coolant has changed but the volume of oil in the coolant box has increased by a quart or so in the last 40 miles I drove it.

 

[hworksinc]

the volume of oil in the coolant box has increased by a quart or so in the last 40 miles I drove it.

... is your oil level dropping? How about trans fluid?

 

[N1265]

If you were loosing a quart of oil from the engine every 40 miles it would not run strong, nor would it run for very long.

If you were losing a quart of trans fluid every 40 miles it would soon start to slip and you would be walking by now.

Think about it...

If you are not having to add any oil or trans fluid to keep the levels up then I would still suspect bars stop leak in the cooling system. The coolant box is suppose to be a place for the coolant to go when it expands due to heat. if this is the whole story I would say everything is working fine.