Here's my probelm. Saturday I dumped the antifreeze in my 85 GT, 5-spd and refilled it with water. My local drag strip requires no antifreeze to test and tune. Sunday I make 6 passes and call it a day. I get home I drain the water and refill the radiator with the antifreeze that I previously had drained. (The pan was cleaned before the antifreeze was drained into it). The motor was cold when I refilled the radiator. I start the motor to warm it up so the thermostat will open. When the motor warmed up I noticed what seemed like oil floating in the antifreeze. Could this be anything other then a blown head gasket? Could this be anything other then oil? Does oil float on top of antifreeze or does it foam? The car runs fine. Oil preassure is 55 psi.,(normal) and the water temp is steady at 185 degrees (also normal). Any opinions are welcome.

 

was there any oil in the water that you drained out? I would think if it was oil, than it was probably a head gasket. Since all vitals are normal, there is probably no problems with your block. You could always flush your cooling system and run new threw it again to be sure. let me know what happens..

 

Since I was draining water and not antifreeze I dumped it in grass near where I keep the car so I wasn't able to see what came out. I plan on driving it around a little tonight then draining it again and refilling to see if it cleans up. I'm hoping I losened up some rust when I ran it at the track with just water in it. However, I've probably dumped and refilled the radiator 5 or 6 times this summer, so if there was rust in there it would have come out by now.

 

Has the car ever overheated? Is it a high mileage motor? do you have steam or white smoke out of the tail pipes? just a few questions... these things can help find the problem. I still think its probalby a head gasket. Good luck!

 

take off the radiator cap when it is cool. start the car and let it run. will usually get bubbles in the antifreeze in the radiator if its a blown headgasket. i blew the head gasket on my 86. and the antifreeze would bubble out of the radiator and cause the overflow tank to overflow when the coolant was hot

 

62,000 miles. It runs at 185 degrees. Oil preassure is good. 55 psi. No steam or smoke.

 

my guess is that there was just oil resadue in the pan

usually it works the other way for head gaskets and cracked blocks along with blown intake gaskets you get water in the oil

oil is lighter than antifreeze and/or water oil will float on top

your not blowing smoke white (water antifeaze = head gasket cracked head/block)
blue (oil rings/burnt piston, valves)
black (running way rich)

my guess like i said befor is that you just had some resadue left in the pan you will allways have a little left
and i wouldnt worrie too much about it unless it was working the other way around

but to be safe watch your oil level and watch for it turning into a brown color (the color of oil and water/antifreeze mixed)

allso keep an eye on your water level

good luck

Joe

 

The pan was as clean as possible. Scubbed out with Acitone, so I know there wasn't any residue. I ran the car hard for 20 minutes last night and everything seems okay. Couldn't get the temp over 195. Oil preassure stayed at 55 psi. and no smoke/steam coming from the exhaust. Still a lot of junk in the antifreeze. I'm starting to think my running it at the track with just water in it losened up deposits/rust, etc. At least I hope.

 

I could be wrong, but wouldn't a blown head gasket have antifreeze in the oil and not the other way around? I had a '90 GMC that was two years old at the time and it had oil in my overflow tank. Turned out to be a cracked engine block. Good luck figuring out whatever is wrong (or if there is anything wrong).

 

you are right read my post above

 

Auto Zone or Oreilleys
Has a test kit for testing bad head gaskets or cracked heads.
Its like a small bicycle air pump that you hook to your radiator.
It has a gauge on it.

Not gonna go in to to many details since it should come with instructions.
The best part is if you catch them at the right time. The use of the tester is FREE
The bad part is the deposit is more than buying the tool tester...
Like 100 bucks yet you can buy it for like 70ish good luck

 

Ive never had a problem with oil in the coolant, but I've had it the other way around. when I had a cracked block, the oil looked like a milk shake (this was on a 351 SVO in my boat). Drop the oil and see what it looks like. Your water is under greater pressure than the oil ('cause the 55lbs is the pressure in the pump) and if there's a passage between the water jacket and the oil passages, the water will find it..... especially after you shut the engine off and there is no oil pressure, but the heated water is still at near boiling temp (and would boil if the it wasn't pressurised). If there's nothing in the oil, I'd check your radiator again after you fill it back up and see if there's still oil. perhaps the bucket just had some residoodoo in it. .... like the others were suggesting.