water in oil pan, 1985 S-10

[Pwriggle]

I've got water getting in the oil pan of my 1985 Chevrolet S-10, and it seems to be coming from the radiator. I've added water over and over and it seems to never end. I'll fill it up and soon after it'll be empty. Before this I checked my oil cold and it was full. A few days later it was up double of what it was (cold) and it seemed to be mixed with something, and my radiator was empty. This has to be evidence of water from the radiator getting in the oil pan. It's gotta be a gasket, cracked engine block or something. If you can be specific that would be great. Thanks.

[Dr Blazer]

Yup...I would say head gasket(s). Also could be cracked block or cracked head(s). Get the engine pressure tested....might show you where its leaking.

[Pwriggle]

Thanks a bunch, I think I'll have that done. Will post later.

[nightdriver09]

It's probably at the head-intake manifold gasket
surface, this is probably the oldest problem with the
2.8L. There is probably nothing else wrong with the
engine, of course if you just replace the gaskets you will milk the mearings.

[gear head]

install cooling system pressure tester,run engine& observe gauge reading.

[nightdriver09]

I don't see any real need to do that , although he
didn't say he had a 2.8 I can assume he has, as that has been an issue since 1985. It seems that
GM thought it was a good idea to use studs at the
water jacket locations and bolts in the middle, it
didn't figure on the nuts and bolts acting differently
under heat. It seems the nuts hold torque and the
bolts don't. therfore on one side of the water passages you might have 20 ftlbs and on the other
side maybe 2 ftlbs. Original intake manifold torque
is 13-25 ftlbs for 1984 up. the back two passages
are blank in the manifold but since water is still
present on the head side that makes 4 locations on
the two intake manifold gaskets where a leak can
occur. My best suggestion is to check the torque
on all 10 intake manifold studs and bolts. Running
the engine any more than necessary at this time
can only cause further damage to all bearing sur-
faces, (not the cast iron and steel surfaces, they
can handle the water-oil mixture). I went through
this ten years ago, so I know what i'm talking about
When I talked to some people in the business, do
you know what they said? "welcome to the club".

[cheryl95npr]

nighdriver09,

What does this mean? How do you avoid it? I had the same problem, and just replaced the gasket (replaced fluids).

"of course if you just replace the gaskets you will milk the mearings."

[nightdriver09]

Just a bad finger, I meant to say "bearings". The
person who started this probably let it go way too
long. If you stopped running yours the day you saw
water on the dipstick, and then changed the oil and
filter about 3 times after repairing it, you may get
away without a bearing job. Back in 1993 though I
was told by at least three people that that was not
likely. "milk the bearings" refers to what the bearing
surface looks like when you take them out of a con-
taminated engine. The water -oil mixture softens up
the bearing surface, causing very rapid wear. Oh,
also it plugs up your lifters. The standard fix for an
engine that is otherwise in decent condition is to
remove and replace main, rod, AND cam bearings,
and to remove and clean lifters completely. Check
you oil constantly for any sign of what looks like
grey milk in the oil. And recheck the torque on the
intake manifold nuts and bolts several times in a six
or so month period. I hope you caught yours early
enough, good luck.