I just got a 93 Loyale Wagon.

 

It decided to start making steam today.

 

The temp guage is on cold, but when I opened the radiator cap, there was oil. I think that means a blown head gasket or cracked head.

 

I have had the car all of a week and put 217 miles on it. The odometer says 210,000. Previous owner said it was burning some oil. It was throwing off white smoke so I put some engine oil stop leak on it and it stopped throwing off the smoke.

 

Then today, steam out from under the hood, antifreeze all over and oil in the radiator.

 

How about it, is this a head gasket, cracked head or what do you guys thinki it is?

 

Karl "OgreOwner" Peterson

Your assumption would be correct... But I thought head gaskets would just seep oil, not blow it all over the engine... So probably a cracked head...

Doing head gaskets on an ea82 isn't very hard if you've got some basic tools and a repair manual. You'll will probably want to do timing belts at the same time.

 

One other thing you might try is a product called Block Seal. It comes in an orange can and you can get it at Walmart. Basically you mix it up with some water, run it through the radiator following all the directions on the can, and it's supposed to seal any holes in the head gasket or head. I have used it in an ea82 and it worked good although I was only able to test it for about 50 miles because I promptly ran my car into a tree after getting it back on the road. The wreck damaged the engine so I pulled it out and decided to do a complete reseal and replace the broken cam tower, and its been running good ever since so I don't think it's possible to damage the engine with the Block Seal.

not possible for the engine, but you better hope that block seal junk doesnt clog your heater core or radiator.

do the headgaskets, block and heads should be fine. make sure you do not have a blown out hose. look behind the throttlebody, and under the thermostat housing between the top of the block for 1.4 inch hose that may be leaking.

@MilesFox: I did not check that hose, but will do so. Is there any other way for oil to get into the radiator? I think that I may have some hose leaking since I could see green radiatior fluid collecting on top of the cylinder heads on the passenger side of the engine.

 

I am tempted to try the block stuff mentioned, then drain and refill the radiator on the presumption that once the block is made, it will be permanant. The weather is not real conducive to me as a shade tree mechanic to be tearing into this engine at the moment and my other ride is a 10mpg Ford Explorer.

 

Ogre

Your assumption would be correct... But I thought head gaskets would just seep oil, not blow it all over the engine... So probably a cracked head...

 

The oil was in the radiator, the radiator fluid was all over everything. I did not see any oil on the engine, just radiator fluid.

not possible for the engine, but you better hope that block seal junk doesnt clog your heater core or radiator.

 

My approach to that would be to put the stuff in with water, running the heater for all it is worth so that there are wide open passages, then drain the whole system and fill with antifreeze mix once the compound has had a chance to seal the gasket.

Stop leak is bad news, and will not fix headgasket issues. There is no flow control valve on the heater. You will likely plug the heater core and almost certainly exacerbate the radiators natural tendency to plug. Oil could be in the radiator from any number of previous maintenance issues, so its presence doesn't mean much. A more significant indication of blown HG would be coolant in the oil or combustion gases in the cooling system.

 

Follow MilesFox's advice and check for hose leaks, especially that little hose between the top of the block and the t-stat. The temp gauge reading "cold" could be bad gauge/sender, bad t-stat, or low coolant level. Also check for a plugged radiator.

 

Blocks and heads very rarely crack. The most common crack occurs in the exhaust port of turbo heads, and there isn't even a close second.

 

Block sealers just line the pockets of manufacturers of block sealers and radiator shops.