Water, antifreeze, oil mix engine death?

[tripletdaddy]

86, 1.9L, 2bl, auto 140k, new head around 100K-120K?

I checked the oil today, and found that hated white goo on the stick. Oh no. It wasn't too long ago I had checked it before, so I know that it hasn't been this way for long. I also discovered a disconnected vacuum line. Could a open vacuum line suck up enough rain water to cause water to show up in the oil? I thought I'd ask, because I don't like the other answer. I don't recall it using an unusual amount of antifreeze recently. Has anyone had any success adding Bar's stop leak or other product to stop a leak of this sort? I was thinking of running it for a little while, add a second stop leak if necessary, change the oil and see what happens. I'm not too motivated to do another head job on this thing, age, time, expense even with me doing it. What can I expect out of it to just keep running as it is, maybe more stop leak, and more frequent oil changes? Does this white goo mess up the oil filter or get trapped in it? Any way to trap it? Any other thoughts, advice, experience, teasing, harrassment, humor, words of wisdom, great ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

[bmwilson]

Anything is possible, I am sure that you have allready reinstalled the vacume tube. Buy or barrow an Engine block leak tester, it is a cheep and effective test to check and see if the coolant is leaking into your engine. If you do not have a leak I would still suggest changing the oil and filter now and in about 200 hundred miles or so to make sure you get all the moisture out. Good Luck

[12Ounce]

I have the same engine transplanted into my '83 wagon. As you know, the crankcase ventilation system is very "aggressive" and more than just a bit archaic. I have tried to re-engineer mine ... not yet installed a PCV valve, but its in my thinking.

I have experienced water-oil muck anywhere there is a vacuum leak. It took me a while to get the dip-stick where it doesn't leak so much ... and that did much to eliminate muck showing up on the stick.

[denisond3]

Is the oil/water emulsion on the bottom end of the dipstick, or merely on the middle part of it? Gunk on the middle part (when the bottom part is still dark) isnt much to worry about. If your driving is on short trips & in cold weather - the amount of condensed water vapor that your engine might accumulate is -enormous-. In hot weather & driving on a 30 mile commute, you might not see any such amount of water/oil emulsion. Remember, the coldest parts of your motor are the upper end of the dipstick tube, and the valve or cam cover. Look on the oil filler cap to see what I mean.

P.S. When you burn a gallon of fuel in the motor; the products of combustion include about 8 pounds of water vapor (which will condense more in cold weather) and about 16 pounds of carbon dioxide.

[mightymoose_22]

Don't use stop leak. WHile it may stop the leak, it will also cause you more problems down the road. It is meant to be temporary until you fix it... may as well just get it fixed so you aren't replacing radiators and heater cores a few weeks later.

[jeffreyhess]

I had an 88 Escort wagon that had that problem every winter. Despite being unsightly, it never seemed to affect anything. All it was was condensation on the dipstick. Cleared up when the warmer weather arrived. I finally retired the car at 170,000 miles. Engine still ran fine but most everything else was shot.

[tripletdaddy]

Originally Posted by 12Ounce

I have the same engine transplanted into my '83 wagon. As you know, the crankcase ventilation system is very "aggressive" and more than just a bit archaic.

Do you have that plastic box/breather that is mounted to the air cleaner and has a vac line and a line to the valve cover? Is this where it has "aggressive" ventilation? Do you get oil into the air cleaner?

When I checked the stick, the goo was more at the end, but the oil level was low. When I added oil, the goo did seem to be only at the end. Yes the car is now being driven in near freezing weather and is only driven under 10 miles at a time. I will continue to investigate and post as things develope. Thanks

[jeffreyhess]

Originally Posted by tripletdaddy

Do you have that plastic box/breather that is mounted to the air cleaner and has a vac line and a line to the valve cover? Is this where it has "aggressive" ventilation? Do you get oil into the air cleaner?

When I checked the stick, the goo was more at the end, but the oil level was low. When I added oil, the goo did seem to be only at the end. Yes the car is now being driven in near freezing weather and is only driven under 10 miles at a time. I will continue to investigate and post as things develope. Thanks

I retired the car several years ago now so my memory is a bit faded. I seem to recall however that oil was indeed in the air filter box. I just cleaned it up from time to time and it never seemed to affect performance. LIke I said, it seemed to be just a winter problem.