LT1-LT4 Modifications 1993-97 Gen II Small Block V8

Coolant in oil

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Old Oct 15, 2016 | 09:10 AM
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Default Coolant in oil

Bought a used 383 and ended up having a blown head gasket. How do I get the coolant out of the oil so it has fresh oil until I have time to pull it all apart? Multiple oil changes and run the car until all the coolant is out of the block?
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Old Oct 15, 2016 | 11:14 AM
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if the head gasket is blown causing coolant to get in oil....it will continue to do that regardless of how many times you change the oil if you continue to run the motor

if you continue to run the motor with a blown head gasket....your repairs will be well beyond just head gaskets
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Old Oct 15, 2016 | 12:34 PM
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Originally Posted by z28jimmy
Bought a used 383 and ended up having a blown head gasket. How do I get the coolant out of the oil so it has fresh oil until I have time to pull it all apart? Multiple oil changes and run the car until all the coolant is out of the block?
Originally Posted by ******
if the head gasket is blown causing coolant to get in oil....it will continue to do that regardless of how many times you change the oil if you continue to run the motor

if you continue to run the motor with a blown head gasket....your repairs will be well beyond just head gaskets
I won't be driving it. I just want to get all the coolant out of the motor so it's not sitting in water/coolant.
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Old Oct 15, 2016 | 03:22 PM
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if the motor is in car and starts than yes drain coolant and pull radiator/heater hoses from WP and then drain oil. I you want you can repeat oil change if you want to run it for a min and leave the 2nd oil change in motor. Any cheap store brand oil would work for this
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Old Oct 15, 2016 | 03:37 PM
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I recommend not running it if the coolant leak is sizable. The coolant and oil forms a gel that will clog up oil passages. Pull it ASAP, strip it down to the bare block, pulled all the oil galley plugs and freeze plugs, thoroughly wash the block and rifle brush all the oil galleys. This is what the oil and coolant mix will do over time....


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Old Oct 15, 2016 | 04:38 PM
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You will need to pull the knock sensors or sensor plug to completely drain and flush the block.
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Old Oct 15, 2016 | 10:09 PM
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Originally Posted by ACE1252
I recommend not running it if the coolant leak is sizable. The coolant and oil forms a gel that will clog up oil passages. Pull it ASAP, strip it down to the bare block, pulled all the oil galley plugs and freeze plugs, thoroughly wash the block and rifle brush all the oil galleys. This is what the oil and coolant mix will do over time....


so even if this just happened and I change out the oil you think it would still get clogged up?
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Old Oct 17, 2016 | 02:12 PM
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The pics were a case where the car was losing coolant, but no one ever tried to track down where it was going. They just kept putting coolant in it until one day the thing lost oil pressure. This particular leak was pouring straight into the crankcase.

Chances are what you have is no where near this bad(at least I would hope not). My main point is not to run it and do something sooner rather than later if possible.
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Old Oct 17, 2016 | 02:16 PM
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Originally Posted by z28jimmy
Bought a used 383 and ended up having a blown head gasket. How do I get the coolant out of the oil so it has fresh oil until I have time to pull it all apart? Multiple oil changes and run the car until all the coolant is out of the block?

I hate to give you bad news, but do to the pics, you're going to have to dissemble the engine, hot tank the block, and resemble it. No other way around it due to the severity.


Eddie
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Old Oct 17, 2016 | 02:46 PM
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Originally Posted by EddieGoesFast
I hate to give you bad news, but do to the pics, you're going to have to dissemble the engine, hot tank the block, and resemble it. No other way around it due to the severity.


Eddie
Thankfully that is not my motor! This just happened this weekend and have changed the oil already. So if I was to replace the head gaskets and make sure the heads aren't warped do you guys think it would be safe to put it all back together run it and do a couple oil changes? I really don't want to pull the motor apart if I don't need to.
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Old Oct 17, 2016 | 02:50 PM
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Originally Posted by z28jimmy
Thankfully that is not my motor! This just happened this weekend and have changed the oil already. So if I was to replace the head gaskets and make sure the heads aren't warped do you guys think it would be safe to put it all back together run it and do a couple oil changes? I really don't want to pull the motor apart if I don't need to.

You're going to spin a bearing going that route, the easily way to fix this is to disassemble it now and just clean it (Hot Tank). It could be much worse if you proceed....and ungodly expensive.


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Old Oct 18, 2016 | 11:51 AM
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Just curious what would cause it to spin a rod bearing? Is it because there is no way to ensure that all the coolant is out?
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Old Oct 18, 2016 | 12:16 PM
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Originally Posted by z28jimmy
Just curious what would cause it to spin a rod bearing? Is it because there is no way to ensure that all the coolant is out?
when oil is so contaminated with coolant....there is little "lubricating" ability of oil/coolant mix so bearings get killed.
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Old Oct 18, 2016 | 12:26 PM
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Originally Posted by ******
when oil is so contaminated with coolant....there is little "lubricating" ability of oil/coolant mix so bearings get killed.
Alright sounds like I will just have to pull the motor and take it to a shop. Thanks for all the replies.
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Old Oct 18, 2016 | 01:02 PM
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Originally Posted by z28jimmy
Alright sounds like I will just have to pull the motor and take it to a shop. Thanks for all the replies.
Not clear on how long the motor ran with the blown head gasket. If not long your bottom end should be OK

if the motor didn't run that long after head gasket went out than just replace head gaskets, change oil a few times you should be good

does the oil look like chocolate milk with metal flakes in it?

if yes than you need a rebuild
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Old Oct 18, 2016 | 01:14 PM
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Originally Posted by ******
Not clear on how long the motor ran with the blown head gasket. If not long your bottom end should be OK

if the motor didn't run that long after head gasket went out than just replace head gaskets, change oil a few times you should be good

does the oil look like chocolate milk with metal flakes in it?

if yes than you need a rebuild
I bought this motor from a member on here and installed it in my car. I fired it up without coolant to make sure it ran for about 30 seconds. I proceeded to finish up installing it and put coolant in it and that's when I found out it had a blown head gasket. It ran for about 3 mins with the coolant in there and was shut off after that. Yes the oil was milky and definatly had coolant in there, there was not a single piece of metal on the magnet either.

I texted the guy I bought it from and he said he wasn't aware of any issues with the motor but who knows. So at this point I think I just need to replace the head gaskets and hope for the best.
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Old Oct 18, 2016 | 01:52 PM
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well I suspect the PO knew of the bad head gasket.....it didn't blow out just starting it the 1st time you started it

your description of its operating time while you had the motor would not cause any problem so if there is bearing damage....it is from use the PO did after the head gasket failed

always a risk buying used stuff. Hindsight is always 20/20. I would have minimally popped the pan & valve covers off to check things out (pull a rod & main cap and look). Any coolant contamination or bearing damage would have been visible in that case.

Motor in the car now, PO claims it didn't have a bad head gasket, no metal in oil...than replace head gaskets, fill with oil/fluids and run it. change oil again after 15 min of running.

if by chance you have the oil filter that came on the motor, if it did, cut it open to see if anything inside "sparkles".

If replacing the head gaskets and the same thing happens immediately after filling with coolant you got F'ed on the motor buy. Heads likely got warped or cracked from over heating by PO.
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Old Oct 18, 2016 | 02:01 PM
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Originally Posted by ******
well I suspect the PO knew of the bad head gasket.....it didn't blow out just starting it the 1st time you started it

your description of its operating time while you had the motor would not cause any problem so if there is bearing damage....it is from use the PO did after the head gasket failed

always a risk buying used stuff. Hindsight is always 20/20. I would have minimally popped the pan & valve covers off to check things out (pull a rod & main cap and look). Any coolant contamination or bearing damage would have been visible in that case.

Motor in the car now, PO claims it didn't have a bad head gasket, no metal in oil...than replace head gaskets, fill with oil/fluids and run it. change oil again after 15 min of running.

if by chance you have the oil filter that came on the motor, if it did, cut it open to see if anything inside "sparkles".

If replacing the head gaskets and the same thing happens immediately after filling with coolant you got F'ed on the motor buy. Heads likely got warped or cracked from over heating by PO.
Yeah I defiantly learned my lesson on this purchase! Thanks for the info I'll post up what the results are once I get the work completed.
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Old Oct 18, 2016 | 03:04 PM
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Jimmy

I replied in another thread about "your" problem. You explain more in that thread about your "radiator"...do as I noted in that thread reply about confirming your radiator is not leaking coolant into the side tank where your oil cooler lines connect.
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Old Oct 18, 2016 | 03:22 PM
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Originally Posted by ******
Jimmy

I replied in another thread about "your" problem. You explain more in that thread about your "radiator"...do as I noted in that thread reply about confirming your radiator is not leaking coolant into the side tank where your oil cooler lines connect.
Thanks for the reply, I don't have any leaks in my radiator and I actually drained the coolant out of it and did not have any oil in there. I was just thinking maybe if I was lucky it would be this so I just wanted to double check it.
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