Coolant Out the Exhaust and In the Crankcase

[chaplaindoug]

I have a 1997 Suburban, which has been well maintained. it has 224,000 miles on it and I plan(ned) to keep it a few more years. The last couple of week I have noticed it losing coolant. I took it to the garage and they could find no leaks. I have been adding back a little coolant or water each day. Today I checked the dip stick and the oil level was WAY up the stick (like putting 4 extra quarts of oil in the engine). I also noticed white smoke coming out the exhaust, even after it was well warmed up. it evaporates quickly, so it is water/coolant. I have it at the garage and they are going to find the problem (intake gasket, head gasket, cracked head). I would appreciate some thoughtful advice on how much damage would have been done with this problem going on for a couple weeks and driven 200 miles. Can the engine be saved?? I hope someone says "yes." Thanks for any help.

[j cAT]

water leaking for a period of time and your operating with that mileage find another scrap yard engine of this model yr and type and swap out. this is the fastest and cheapest way. with fuel costs high many of the vehicles in non farm country are not hard to find with low er mileage than this had...

make sure you use distilled water and 60% dexcool or the metal and gaskets leak.

[777stickman]

In a case like this spark plugs need to be looked at to determine which hole or holes are leaking coolant into them. Coolant in the oil is never a good thing. Usually a failure like this would require an engine rebuild since the coolant acts as an abrasive to the bearings, etc.

Good luck to you.

[chaplaindoug]

Stickman or J Cat:

Do you have a recommendation for an outfit that would have rebuilt engines for Suburban 1500? Let me know. Thanks.

[chaplaindoug]

Originally Posted by j cAT

water leaking for a period of time and your operating with that mileage find another scrap yard engine of this model yr and type and swap out. this is the fastest and cheapest way. with fuel costs high many of the vehicles in non farm country are not hard to find with low er mileage than this had...

make sure you use distilled water and 60% dexcool or the metal and gaskets leak.

I think they put pure orange coolant in the system long ago. I have only put pure (100%) orange coolant. Why the distilled water?

[777stickman]

Jasper sells great quality rebuilds, but at a price. The reason for distilled water is that it has no minerals in it and thus no corrosion. There are pro & cons about the percent of mixture. Look at the back of a gallon of DexCool and see what is recommended. I have always used the 50/50 (mix it myself) and had no problems down to -9.

[j cAT]

Originally Posted by chaplaindoug

I think they put pure orange coolant in the system long ago. I have only put pure (100%) orange coolant. Why the distilled water?

having used dexcool since 1996 I can say it works with no problems with distilled water. with tap water or even worse well water the minerals and chemicals will react with the metal coolant contact. a voltage is then created this is much like boats with the electrical currents eating away the metal like the prop blades etc.so with a high amount of dexcool which is 65% or so and distilled water you get max corrosion protection. as far as freezing goes that does not matter. the corrosion is what matters. also the 50/50 pre mix is not with the testing I have done 50% dexcool.but less.

the container must say gm approved dexcool then it is dexcool. compatible coolants are not GM aproved dexcool.

one way to know you have corrosion issues is when you open the system get a white cloth and wipe the coolant contact metal . if it is gray in color then you know you have issues.


I would never spend any amount to rebuild an engine with the fail you just had . especially with the amount of miles on it. to do this properly it would be best and cheaper to buy a new not rebuilt engine.

get a scap yard engine pop it in and get a few more years out of the vehicle. much faster and less cost. you should be able to locate a low mile engine 100,ooomi .....

[chaplaindoug]

Originally Posted by j cAT

I would never spend any amount to rebuild an engine with the fail you just had . especially with the amount of miles on it. to do this properly it would be best and cheaper to buy a new not rebuilt engine.

get a scap yard engine pop it in and get a few more years out of the vehicle. much faster and less cost. you should be able to locate a low mile engine 100,ooomi .....

Thanks j cAT. I am pursuing getting a salvaged engine with low miles. Great advice and much appreciated.