I have a 1996 Mustang Cobra SVT DOHC which keeps losing water from the rad. I know it goes straight out the back passenger side, making me suspect a head gasket. Upon further poking around, I see the oil has a bit of water in it and a bit on the milky side. A friend suggested a possible cracked block. ( I hope that's not it) !!!! My question beyond that is... will a compression test be able to tell me if it's a cracked block??? Before I drop top dollars into a complete head gasket change.

Where on the block is it coming from? that would tell you if you need a new block or not, I had a cracked block was a small block chevy from the head to the oil pan and it didn't hurt the motor at all , infact found it when i pulled the motor to put a new one in(burning oil, needed bearing 275k on a stock motor is bad, But if its coming from by the head/block mating surface its just a head gasket.


Good luck.

Thanks for your quick reply Muscle!
That's my point. I can't see anything on the top, only a small amount of oil on the floor under the oil pan. The car is so low I can't get under to see where exactly it's coming from. It needs to go up on a hoist. I was told that if the oil was on the milky side..that's a sure sign of a cracked block. Upon checking the oil I can see it is a bit milky.
However, when I start the car, it's down at least 1 litre of water. And, I can see and feel it coming out the tail pipe on the passenger side.
Again my question, can a compression test detect a cracked block?
A head gasket I can handle, but it's hard to swallow a cracked block.
This car can't be driven to a shop as I have the front end torn apart.
Soooooo..... ??? Any suggestions?