Oil in radiator questions - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

scrid · 02-27-2007, 04:54 PM

Hello everyone!
I am a new member here and have some questions regarding a 1996 Toyota Corolla 1.6L.
This vehicle belongs to my sister in law and she recently took it into Walmart to have the oil changed. Within a week of changing the oil she said her oil light came on and she stopped to check the oil and found it 2 quarts low. She added oil and took the car back to Walmart and asked them to check it for her. They told her she has a headgasket going out because theres oil in the radiator. So she asked me to look at it for her also.
I just got back from looking at it and it indeed has oil in the cooling system. The upper and lower radiator hoses are pretty swollen as well as the overflow hose to the resivior which will need replace. The cap gaskets are also swollen beyond use.
Now since I can't be 100% that Walmart, or my sis in law didn't accidentally put oil in the radiator by mistake...and nobody probably would admit to it anyway,..
I thought I would ask everyone here if:
1. Is is common for the trans oil cooler to crack and leak into the coolent on these models?
The oil in the coolent looks black to me, however I forgot to check the trans fluid to see if it was still red or if it's so old thats it is also black imitating engine oil.
2. Is it common on this model for a headgasket to leak oil into the coolent, instead of into the combustion chamber as most do?
I did a quick compression test and found them all @ 170lbs + - 3 lbs.
The vehicle has 130k on the odometer. And the engine runs smooth with no excessive noise.
I thought I might drain the coolent/oil mixture...disconnect the oil cooler lines from the radiator...plug one and put about 3 lbs of air pressure to the oil cooler after filling the radiator with water to check for leaks / bubbles to elliminate it from the equasion.
Any thoughts? I'd hate to pull the head for no reason and find out later it was a common issue I just wasn't familiar with.
Thanks in advance.
Chris

scrid · 03-03-2007, 09:52 AM

Nobody?

dakmor · 03-03-2007, 10:34 AM

Naw, I don't know how to help you, and I'm sure someone else will reply in time.

But I have a few thoughts, why would you be messing with the Trans. fluid if your head gasket is the main suspect?

Dave's · 03-03-2007, 02:46 PM

No way I can tell exactly what's wrong but yes, it's very possible for the head gasket to leak between an oil and a cooling port and not leak into a cylinder. Thus the cylinder pressure can be fine. Maybe a pressure test of the cooling system to see if it forces coolant into the oil?

ghost_ryder35 · 03-04-2007, 09:19 AM

sounds like your going down the right path. It's not common for the cooler to crack to my knowledge, I wouldnt rule it out, but its definetly not common. I have heard of the gasket leaking into the coolant instead of the chamber before, so your not the only one. Let us know how it goes, I think I'm going to be doing another one on my BMW here soon

toyotaspeed90 · 03-04-2007, 02:35 PM

it's a headgasket...... there are no oil/coolant oil coolers to leak...

the only other thing it could be is a cracked head or block.... the hoses are probably swollen from excess pressure....

freakinbox · 03-04-2007, 04:56 PM

headgasket. When mine went the oil went into the coolant rather than the other way around. It's better when it does that! rather than anti freeze in your oil :|

scrid · 03-07-2007, 09:28 AM

Hey thanks everyone.
I'm hoping that the head or block isn't cracked. I will probably check the trans cooler just to be safe. I still haven't got the OK to do the job yet so I will report back if and when i do and what I find. Thanks again.

scrid · 04-15-2007, 09:06 AM

Well I got the approval to do the job and tore into it after first testing the transmission oil cooler for cracks just in case.
It proved to be vacuum solid so I removed the head.

Seems to me that the only place "pressurized" oil can get into the coolent via a headgasket problem is from the pressure supply jacket seal.

It's almost too close the the adjacent water jacket and after 130k miles on the engine the orange rubber seal was pretty damn flat.

Oil was probably just slipping right past it.
I sent the head out for resurfacing and crack check and it came back ok. Not bad for 60 bucks and a 2 hour wait.

Not a bad job by any means, I was impressed with the fact that the only time I had to go under the vehicle was to drain the oil.
Pretty damn cool.
But then Toyotas always thinking.
I also filled the radiator up with fresh water and put in a cupful of automatic dishwashing detergent that was predissolved in some more water. Capped it up and took it for a 5 mile drive. Drained the radiator again and found that the detergent worked like a charm!
The oil was broken down by the detergent and wasn't even trying to seperate from the water.
Filled it up with fresh water and ran it for another 10 miles. Then drained it and flush it until it ran clear, and refilled with coolent.
I was wondering if someone may have already been into this engine before.
Does the old gasket look original?
Also that split intake cam gear was not lined up with the service bolt hole before I removed it. The engine did have a bit of rattle to it prior to the repair and I am wondering if it was from the split cam gear not being preloaded correctly. The engine is darn quiet now.

scrid · 04-15-2007, 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by toyotaspeed90

it's a headgasket...... there are no oil/coolant oil coolers to leak...

the only other thing it could be is a cracked head or block.... the hoses are probably swollen from excess pressure....

Technically the transmission cooler in the radiator could crack and leak trans fluid into the radiator coolent. Which could look like engine oil in the cooling system. For the 10 minutes it took to test the oil cooler circuit it was worth the peace of mind.

retiredat44 · 04-15-2007, 10:42 PM

how abou the timing belt (and tensioner) and water pump while it is apart??

scrid · 04-16-2007, 07:24 AM

That stuff was all suppose to have been done 4.5 monthes prior to me getting it.
Otherwise I would have done those also.

ghost_ryder35 · 04-16-2007, 10:36 AM

glad to see some pics. I'm a visual learner. Suprised that the head gasket went at 130,xxx. does she perform regular maintence? or does she drive till it breaks, fix it and then continue?

broke · 04-16-2007, 12:25 PM

Nice pics can we get a sticky

wheredoesthisgo · 04-22-2007, 10:16 PM

You said 60.00$ I guess you did not have the valves done. In the pics it looks like they cleaned them or something. They sure dont look like when you took them off. Did you have them done?