Coolant in oil Oh NO | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Coolant in oil Oh NO

ExPlOrErImPoRtS

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March 2, 2008
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Year, Model & Trim Level
2002 4.6 Limited
I have 2002 ford explorer 4.6L V8 awd 4x4.

I have a coolant loss issue. Over last month have been loosing coolant. Could not find leak. Added dye into coolant. Found no leak outside motor with uv light. Did find coolant in the oil. oil cap has the white goo in cap. Green coolant drops on the dip stick in oil. Runs Great, no smoke out tail pipe. I hope its not head gasket but might think is a intake manifold gasket leak or blow out of o ring. I have the updated plastic manifold was replaced at 90k. 160k miles on the clock now.

what do you think I should do.
large paper weight?
 



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Stop driving it till it's fixed. Do compression test.
 






have u overheated it recently or at all?
if so then chances r its your head gasket.
im new to the explorer so im not sure if it could be the intake man gasket but like the last post said, do a comp check first then post your findings here.
 






I have had the same problem and so have others if you do a search. No conclusive fix for me as of yet. I too lose about a pint of coolant in a month of driving. Parked the truck pressure tested for 24 hours, and coolant is getting in the oil. No combustion gases in the coolant though. No external leak. Intake gaskets have been replaced. I've done compression tests, and it showed acceptable. I did a leak down test and didnt see any problem there either. I figure it's one of a few things. The last "easy" fix, is the oil cooler that could be leaking internally, so I'll try that next. If it's not that, then it's either head gaskets, cracked head, cracked block, or freeze plugs behind the timing cover. All of those are seriously looking as much to fix as the truck would sell for used...
 






it very well could be the cooler or the head gasket is bad between the oil and coolant galleys.
 






i just thought, have you changed the oil filter adapter gasket?
it could be bad and the coolant and oil are mixing that way.
 






i just thought, have you changed the oil filter adapter gasket?
it could be bad and the coolant and oil are mixing that way.

I did have a leak in oil filter adapter and had a shop install a new gasket a few years ago. It was leaking oil external out of gasket.

I think I will have that gasket changed again.

I did a block tester in coolant bottle. Test negative

changed oil was slight milky.
 






have u overheated it recently or at all?
if so then chances r its your head gasket.
im new to the explorer so im not sure if it could be the intake man gasket but like the last post said, do a comp check first then post your findings here.

No overheating issues.
 






Any updates on yours? I'm probably going to pull the oil filter adapter on mine this coming week or so, replace the gasket, and check the adapter over with a magnifier to be sure there's no crack there. Really hoping that's it...my last chance.
 






im in the process of doing the gasket as it was leaking like a siv and it is a pain.
most the work was draining the oil and coolant and trying to get the damn oil filter off.
other then that the bolts com off easy.
they are 13mm and torque to 18 lb-ft in the end but i dont think im getting a torque wrench up in that tight space so just dont overtightened them, remember how hard they were to get off and go by that.



GOOD LUCK
 






Was head gasket

Any updates on yours? I'm probably going to pull the oil filter adapter on mine this coming week or so, replace the gasket, and check the adapter over with a magnifier to be sure there's no crack there. Really hoping that's it...my last chance.

Shop said it was head gasket. Had very small passage where water jacket port & oil port were crossing in the bad gasket. He said is was very minor. Coolant in oil has stopped . :eek:
 






Head gasket cost

So what was the total cost to diagnose and repair the head gasket? Was this a dealer repair, or outside shop? If you can give me some costs to expect, I'd appreciate it.
 






So what was the total cost to diagnose and repair the head gasket? Was this a dealer repair, or outside shop? If you can give me some costs to expect, I'd appreciate it.

1700 bucks total. 800 labor new head bolts gaskets ect.

quotes were 1,400-2,000 range non dealer. I stay clear of dealers.
 






Repair cost -one last question

Thanks for the info. I'm resigning myself that it's probably a head gasket. For the 1700.00 repair, was that for one side only, or both sides?
 






Shop said it was head gasket. Had very small passage where water jacket port & oil port were crossing in the bad gasket. He said is was very minor. Coolant in oil has stopped . :eek:

i thought so,
great that u got it back on the road.
i would have charged 1300. :(
 






Thanks for the info. I'm resigning myself that it's probably a head gasket. For the 1700.00 repair, was that for one side only, or both sides?

i would, for the price, do the oil adapter gasket 1st
 






Thanks for the info. I'm resigning myself that it's probably a head gasket. For the 1700.00 repair, was that for one side only, or both sides?

Both sides were done.
 






got the new gasket on yesterday and it is holding up but now the water pump is leaking so i have to take care of that now.
 






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