Coolant in PCV hose

[kroberts]

I pulled the PCV hose off today at the intake elbow and a solid teaspoon of coolant dribbled out of it. I obviously have problem. Not the least of which is the fact that I paid a "reputable" shop here to rebuild the engine before I began the project. Shit!

I have some of that white foam shit around the inside of the valve cover oil cap too. I pulled the valve cover off. No evidence of water on the dipstick. This engine has only run for about 15 minutes, I've been careful trying to bleed the air out. The engine hasn't even reached full hot yet. For having been run only 15 minutes, the oil is kinda dark. I would think it should be still be pretty clean looking.

So what possible issues could I have? How many ways can coolant get in? I could really use some trouble-shooting advice.

Where do you begin?

Thanks,

kr

[Farbin Kaiber]

sounds like 15 min of leaky headgasket.

[PiercedE30]

Same thing I saw until I got the motor up to operating temps and got it warm. All it is is condensation that has built up in the motor from not getting up to temp or just sitting. Same thing that happens when you just drive a car for short periods and don't let it get to operating temp. Just get it up to temp and warm and then drive it a little while and it will be gone. Very common in climates where you see big temp changes between night and day (like 30* at night and 65-70* during the day).

[kroberts]

I'd like to think that was it, but I cant see how that much fluid could accumulate in the hose.

Aside from a blown head gasket, what other paths could coolant take to get into the engine. Are there any spots on the timing case where a bad gasket could allow fluid in? I'm going to put the valve cover back on today after work and watch for bubbles in the expansion tank.

This really sucks.

[Jason89i]

.Aside from a blown head gasket, what other paths could coolant take to get into the engine. ......This really sucks.

i really feel for ya. my buddy had the exact same problem right after a rebuild. not sure if you want to continue reading....... well, we replaced the head gasket, still had the intermittant milky residue on the oil cap. replaced the new head, still milky. finally we pulled the motor and sent it back to the shop to get checked. well, one of the cylinder sleves had an itty bitty crack, about midway down cyl 3 i think. we are all quite certain that it would have been noticed after the slight bore and hone, but we didnt notice it and he only had 1hr on the motor. found a new block, sonic tested it this time, bore, hone, reassembled.....drove off into the sunset.

keep us updated. cheers, jason

[FredK]

How is your PCV hose hooked up? Stock M50 stuff? Fat hose to throttle body elbow, small hose to M50 manifold fitting?

How are the fittings on the bottom of your throttle body hooked up? From left to right, facing the butterfly, it's coolant line, coolant line, vac line to electric check valve for charcoal canister, right? Is the electric check valve hooked up?

[Jason89i]

How is your PCV hose hooked up? Stock M50 stuff? Fat hose to throttle body elbow, small hose to M50 manifold fitting??

yes, it was hooked up like the stock s50......except we made some custom elbows / fittings. http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/atta...3&d=1149268632

cheers, jason

[kroberts]

Jason, that was a real buzzkill.

[lateapex31]

How does a blown HG make coolant get into the block breather? Unless it's mixing with the oil, then the oil is getting so hot that it boils the coolant out, I don't see how it can be coolant. The failure mode of these HGs is generally to leak between cylinders or to leak coolant into the chamber or oil gallery. You'd know it if you had coolant in your oil (think chocolate milkshake). And a teaspoon? Dude, come on, it's a teaspoon of water condensate and crap from the crank case. It's not like you have a liter of coolant coming out of somewhere.

It's normal for crank breather lines to get a frothy nasty mix of condensation and hydrocarbons from the crank case, perhaps this is what you are seeing?

[kroberts]

Lateapex is the winner.

I took an oil sample over to a local indie shop. One of the mechs there is "sympathetic" and gives me advice. I told him what was going on and showed him the oil. He said I had nothing to worry about. He then showed me an old M42 they had in the corner. It really did have a water-in-the-coolant problem. When you said chocolate milkshake, you weren't kidding.

In the end, I'm guilty of being a noob and over-reacting. My oil looks like shit because all the bearings and rings are trying to seat. He told me to change the oil, I'll be fine.

I feel a lot better.

[PiercedE30]

Nice.