engine woes

[aaamillertime]

Need some experienced opinions. I have a 97 silverado. 350cid. 158,000.

She ran great. Always maintained. Anyway, I either blew a head or intake gasket. She sucked up all the contents of the radiator, and now the motor is filled with oil/water/antifreeze.

I'm getting conflicting suggestions on what to do.
I've been told that the motor is shot and needs rebuilt due to the bearings getting soaked with coolant and water.

Others told me that's b.s. and to find and replace the bad gasket or gaskets and to flush the engine oil a couple times and it will be o.k.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

Your advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You

[horse482]

It may or maynot have damaged the inside of the motor, I would pull the intake and heads fix the problem, run some motor flush by gunk and see what happens. If it runs fine then that just saved you a bunch of money by not changing the motor, but if there are problems then you will have to change the motor and are only out gaskets, antifreeze, and oil. Also may be a good idea to do a compression test in case you decide to fix it.

[JustSayGo]

I have seen a few dozen cases of oil and coolant mixed in crankcases. I have never seen or heard of any one saying that bearing damage resulted nor do I know of anyone useing anything to flush. Changing the oil a couple of times will leave everything inside really clean. Hopefully your leak is at the intake manifold. You may need a new manifold if it is badly corroded. I wouldn't spend much money on the heads for an engine with 158K.

[sreve]

anti - freeze is a real piss poor lubricant. if it' way over full and it ran that way very long it don't sound good. try this get a really clean drain pan and a paint stainer from the parts store drain the oil and pour it off thru the strainer slowly look for metal or liquid that looks metalic. go from there.

[JustSayGo]

During 30 years as a fleet mechanic and manager I have seen and repaired dozens of engines that mixed a lot of coolant into the oil due to blown head gaskets and leaking oil-coolers and seals.

Most were pulling loaded trailers accross the desert and over the moutains for 2000mi before they returned and repaires could be completed.

Being fleet vehicles it was only a matter of time before I saw first hand the crankshaft bearings and crankshafts of each of these same engines that had coolant (50/50) mixed into the oil many miles before.

I have seen bearings that were disscolored to a darker shade of grey but have never seen a failure that could be connected or contribute to any type of failure 10s of 1000s of miles later. Never any type of crankshaft damage.

I have worked with many different individuals with 100s of considerabley diversified combined years of experience as well as a few factory engineer reps. This topic was often disscussed because many less experienced people would think that additional damage must surely occur.

I have never heard a tale of woe during discusion as to a result of mixed coolant and oil mud later devoloping into some type of failure or shortened engine life.

I recall a car load of corporate executives after drinking and what ever in Mexico, removing the oil filler cap from the valve cover of a low mileage Audi 5000, filling the crankcase to the top with water because they believed they were adding to the cooling system.

They didn't make it back to the border before the engine quit because the head warped so much from overheating that the camshaft broke. After the dealership repaired the engine they claimed they couldn't find a cause of overheating... so no warranty.

Then there was the case of a jet boat that had water only leaking into the crank case. The owner never changed oil because it was nearly impossible to drain. That oil eventually turned to tar that wouldn't drain when the drain plug was removed and the oil warmed with a torch. I think that engine never ran again either.

The purpose of lubricant is to cool parts. Water will cool until the heat turns it to steam.

Yes a few were even 350 Chevrolets and their competitors used under similar or more severe situations than your Silverado. Fix your leak and change your oil a couple of times and you will see how well it cleans up. Don't worry you will not have a problem.

Start another post and ask if anyone has first hand experience or has heard a reliable tale of woe from some one who had first hand experience that turned bad.

[69Charger]

IMO as a person who does alot of engine jobs, its a bad idea if you've run it much.. The water/antifreeze actually steam cleans the oil off the bearings, piston skirts and cylinder walls and it actually does cause internal damage.. Theres no way to tell how long its been leaking so I'd say don't risk it.. I see alot off people make the same mistake and then have to pay double for it because they spun a bearing 3 days later...

Just my opinion...