Coolant in my Oil

[miskis]

Ok guys I need some serious help here, my wife was complaining about having next to no heat coming out of the heater. She had the same problem a few days before, so I checked the coolant overflow and is was almost empty. So when she complained of it again yesterday, I checked the overflow and it was almost empty again. So since I didn’t see any on the ground after she would leave for work or something, I decided to check the Oil dipstick and sure enough I had coolant in my oil and the level was twice as high as it should be. So now I have the decisions of replacing the gaskets myself or getting a mechanic to do it, which will be like 1000$ to 1500$ that I just don’t have. I need some help first to find the leak, and if it’s in the intake gasket or the head gasket. The 2nd is, if someone knows of a good guide on how to replace either of those gaskets. I do plan on going out and getting the Haynes repair manual, but I know from previous experience they sometimes are more of a pain than a help. So please guys, any suggestions welcome!
Thanks

 

[retorq]

There are a TON of guys that have done this swap here recently and took pics and did a write up. Unfortunately the only way to tell for sure if it's the intake or the head gasket is to tear it down. If it was run low on coolant (to the point you had no heat) then you might have cracked a head as well ...

 

[Ceejkay]

these heads crack easily, from the time ive owned my truck its never overheated but my heads were cracked.. more times than none the intake gaskets will cause you to burn coolant first.. also a compression test would help you figure out if its a head gasket or not and thats a free test you can do.. really there is no way to figure out for sure whats going on until you tear it apart..

 

[miskis]

these heads crack easily, from the time ive owned my truck its never overheated but my heads were cracked.. more times than none the intake gaskets will cause you to burn coolant first.. also a compression test would help you figure out if its a head gasket or not and thats a free test you can do.. really there is no way to figure out for sure whats going on until you tear it apart..

Ok so it looks like I should start shopping around for some new heads then, the wife just informed that the warning light came on because it was over heating just before she shut it off. She said the gauge was right at the start of the red on the gauge cluster, which means after reading what you guys said I will need new heads as well by the sounds of it. I plan on ripping it apart this weekend, and see how much I can get done then.
So does anyone know of any write ups or guides that they used which worked well then? I could really use some guidance.
Thanks

 

[Ceejkay]

what kind of mileage do you have on this truck? also check craigslist, wicked showed me a link last night 100$ for a set of heads. but thats a gamble as well.. im actually dealing with this right now and just opted for a brand new crate motor ($2100 shipped 3yr warranty) but your gonna need a few more things if you go that route

 

[miskis]

She has 122,410 miles on her roughly; I’m from Canada so it has 197,000kms on her right now. To me that’s rather low for these trucks, one of the reasons why I bought it.

 

[SunlitComet]

the cracking comes from overheating such as blocked passages and does not usually cause fluids to cross contaminate. that is usually a gasket issue.


you this multi-part video as reference. I think 6-7 videos total.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysnxBbdtu84

 

[raptorforme93]

I literally just replaced my lower intake gasket yesterday because I had the exact same symptoms that you do. Let just say that I was able to replace it by myself without any problems and I have never worked on my tahoe's engine before.

 

[TORONTO 95 GT]

Guys, I am no expert but since he is in Canada and just down the highway from me, he has been running antifreeze in the truck. Two overflow bottles of coolant in the oil. The chances are higher than not that he has taken out the bearings in this one.

I would not waste a dime on it unless you are pulling it out for a rebuild or swapping in a new or a good used. Check Kijiji they are out there.