Oil in the radiator. lots of oil

[mushroomwick]

Can someone confirm for me that oil in the radiator means the head gasket is shot? I don't see it leaking anywhere. Also, its smoking really bad, nice dirty white colored smoke. No power to speak of. And i suspect antifreeze is in the oil as well.
Next big question is, considering it has aluminum heads, how likely is it that they will need to be completely replaced vs. slapping in new gaskets and going. I've heard the heads on the 4.0 OHV are bad to crack everywhere. Do they warp as well, need shaved?
Also, if it turns into a nightmare. Is there any other motor/tranny/transfer case combo that can just be dropped in as a replacement?

 

[Creager]

Nothing other then another 4.0 driveline can dropped in as a direct replacement. A SOHC or a 5.0 OHV swap can be done with $$$

White smoke out the exhaust, excessive oil loss, oil in coolent, coolent in oil? haha, good indication of head gasket failure and/or cracked heads.

If you are worried that the heads you have are cracked, you need to have them magnafluxed (bascially just a big magnet + fine, fine, fine metal particals). Find a good machinest with a computer! haha i say this because normally this guy will have a program, LOADED with service bulletians. This will tell him where to look for cracks.

Good chance those heads are cracked, and yes they are known to warp too. Take them to a good machinest to have looked at. You shouldnt have to spend more then $20-40 just to get them cleaned and checked.

I wouldnt just slap head gaskets on there, you are just asking for trouble doing this. Make sure to have those heads checked for cracks, check the guides while you are at it. You will be surprised what you might find.


Try a compression test, and a coolant system pressure test. That will tell you a lot. hell, test the vacuum too, that way you can get a good idea with whats going on with those heads.

 

[mushroomwick]

Thanks. Thats about what I had figured the situation would be. Since I have no garage or tools I think I'm gonna see about a whole driveline changeover.
I know a guy that just roller his over. I will try to get the whole thing.

 

[Glacier991]

In the vast majority of cases oil in coolant is a head gasket failure. An easy check is to hook up air to a connector in place of a spark plug (typical leak down compression tester) and see if you start getting bubbles in the radiator. While this can also point to a head crack, more often than not bubbles during this test indicate a head gasket. Either way, when you pull the head an offending head gasket will be obvious. If no offending head gasket, probably a cracked head.

The nice thing about doing a test is, IF it is a head gasket, you only have to pull ONE head instead of taking the 50/50 gamble on pulling the wrong one first.

 

[Tony H]

Are you sure it's oil and not Trani Fluid?

Trani Fluid can look pretty muddy in antifreeze. That would mean you radiator has a hole in the Trani cooler line.

White Smoke, no power...probably a head gasket or Intake. If you didn't overheat it, you might be OK

 

[mushroomwick]

To make it a little more clear. I traded a stealth for this explorer. The previous owner said he replaced the head gasket after his kids had a round of fun in it. So I think,knowing how this guy is, that he just replaced a head gasket and noticed that it had more problems, so he traded me. I still think I'm the winner in the trade. I know that i need a new motor. I'm betting that the heads are cracked to hell and back, and may have some damage to the block as well. So, I'm planning on replacing the whole motor with another. Still cheaper than anything done to the stealth. Explorer motors are common, stealths are rare. I replaced the alternator on my stealth 6 months before the tranny gave out. It was $325 for a rebuilt unit. And i did shop around. So in hind sight. I think I'll be better off replacing a whole motor($400 at local junk yard) vs. anything to do with the stealth. (parts rare and expensive) I will have my 4X4 in order before this next winter. I believe i did good.