Coolant and Oil gone missing?
 

Hey guys, so after the fun no oil fiasco about 5 weeks ago, i changed the oil and everything, topped it off about three weeks ago and have been checkin it since. So this past weekend, at three weeks since change, i added 1 qt to bring it back to full. In those same three weeks, i had to refill the coolant reservoir since it was almost / completely empty. Would this be a head gasket problem or what? I dont know where else it could go. I put a new rad cap and stop leak in it, so i know its not leakin from the cap at least. Thanks....

By the way is a 87 350 TBI....

BRAD

Re: Coolant and Oil gone missing?
 

does it appear to have water coming out the exhaust or white smoke? or do you have steady blue smoke ? how many miles on it?
have you crawled under it and looked for any leaks?
perhaps use a pressure tester on the coolant system and you could do a compression test to see if theres a head gasket problem too

Re: Coolant and Oil gone missing?
 

And check if theres water in the oil..

Re: Coolant and Oil gone missing?
 

Im pretty sure no water in the oil, and i have noticed a little smoke out the exhaust, however, lately, its been pretty cold whenever i drive it, so its hard to notice, its definately not very blue. The pan and flywheel cover have a little oil "spray" on em, and the little drip that always develops at the very buttom, but its very minimal. I think ill try and do a compression and pressure test, gotta get eh stuff for it first though...

BRAD

Re: Coolant and Oil gone missing?
 

unless its really damp out the white smoke should disappear once the truck is at operating temperature...
Id crawl under the truck with a penlight and carefully inspect all of it sounds like a seal may be going relating to oil and ive had problems with the lower end of a water pump sorta weeping.. if at all possible get some gunk and clean the motor and then run it a week and see whats going on if it leaks... also im not familiar with your story about the oil fiasco but did you at any time have the cooling system open and not get it completely full? perhaps an air pocket which "burped" causing the overflow tank to go low?

also if you had water in the oil it would look like coffee with milk in it that sat for three or four days in the cup should be pretty easy to see .. you should also inspect the bottom of the oil cap too and make sure its now showing moisture

Re: Coolant and Oil gone missing?
 

Will do, thanks guys. Ive been wanting to clean up the engine compartment anyway, so ill do that this weekend. the fiasco is noted here....blast cant find it, it was a while ago. Bascially i bought the truck in june and checked all the levels and it was good, then went 3 thousand miles and left for college, and on the way down the engine got really hot and started kncokin really bad, stopped and had to add 4 qts of oil to get her back to full. I wouldnt doubt that that probably has something to do with my current problem....

BRAD

Re: Coolant and Oil gone missing?
 

I would say one of two things, Either a bad head gasket or a cracked head. There is a test that a good radiator shop can do to see if there is leakage into the coolant system from a cylinder. It will check for hydrocarbons or carbon-monoxide in your radiator.

Re: Coolant and Oil gone missing?
 

Ok so i have yet to test anything, but today i was working on undercoating the wheelwells and there seems to be at least some sort of leak on the front either at the water pump or at the oil pan. It appears to come from above the oil pan, but ts hard to see up there....it "drips" down the pan and then onto the front of the main crossmember...would this be water pum or oil pan gasket or something else? Thanks....
by the way it appers to be somewhat green but mixed with all the gunk its really hard to tell exactly what the leak is..

BRAD

Re: Coolant and Oil gone missing?
 

These are the best pics i could get...

Re: Coolant and Oil gone missing?
 

thats either a front main seal leaking or the oil pan, as to the coolant i'm not sure i got cars i severice at work and fillt he coolant tank and 3000 miles later i am doing it again but we can;t find any leaks and pressure test is good

Re: Coolant and Oil gone missing?
 

The front main seal was what i was worried about....how in depth is that to get to, i have yet to do one. Basically all the way to the block or? Thinkin about doin the repair over my winter break, have a month to do it...

BRAD

Re: Coolant and Oil gone missing?
 

re-torque the pan and clean it up and drive it and look again

Re: Coolant and Oil gone missing?
 

will do...

Re: Coolant and Oil gone missing?
 

I would look a little higher and see if there isn't a coolant leak also. Get an inspection mirror and a flashlight and look close at the inside of the pulley on the water pump (water pump front seal) and also at the gaskets where th epump seats against the block.

A coolant leak will make a smaller oil seapage look really nasty and that could what you are really looking at in your pictures.

Get a spray can of brake clean and wash that area down and wipe it clean for a better evaluation.

Re: Coolant and Oil gone missing?
 

sry, forgot, anyone got torques on those bolts? I dont have an assembly or service manual sadly...

Thanks

BRAD

Re: Coolant and Oil gone missing?
 

Brad that looks Identical to my water pump leak. Mine was leaking from the WP weep whole and the gasket on the impeller cover. I just got a new pump from napa. Clean the area and re inspect it.

Also does anyone have TQ specs for the oil pan?

Re: Coolant and Oil gone missing?
 

i agree about the water pump thing.. id invest n a can of gunk like i mentioned earlier and clean things down good then see exactly what you have,, using a mirror and light as another guy suggested

Re: Coolant and Oil gone missing?
 

Alright, ill get on that tomorrow, im also thinkin like a lot of u guys its more water pump than anything. I got a little time tomorrow b4 class where i can do some lookin. Thanks...

BRAD

Re: Coolant and Oil gone missing?
 

front main is not thatr bad jus tremove pully and balancer an hour worth of work if eveything gos right