The coolant is a little darker than the standard green, I believe it has some oil in it. I also have to put coolant in the tank every 4500 miles or so. It also cracks the insulators off of one of the spark plugs every 12-15k miles. I currently am doing a time belt job on it and was wondering if it is worth it to do the head gasket? How can I be certain it is just a head gasket? How long beyond the time to do a timing belt will this job take? Is it worth it or just slap it back together and continue to run it like I have for the past 40k miles? Also the front of the motor leaks. How much beyond a timing belt would that take and is that worth it. I have to put a quart of oil in every 1000 miles.
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The discoloration of the coolant could be oil, so something else. Do a full flush of the cooling system (using flush compound). Then see what happens.
The need to add coolant could be a very small leak. A pressure test of the cooling system should find it.The car makes it possible, but the driver makes it happen.
Jim Levie, Huntsville, AL -
Hmmmm, I already took the coolant system apart to do the timing belt and then started thinking that maybe I should finally address this possible head gasket issue. I do end up eating spark plugs. Will a compression test help me determine anything?Comment
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Oil analysis will tell you if you have any coolant in the oil, at the slightest of levels all the way up to massive leaks. Then you could see if you are getting any bearing wear as a result as well.sigpicComment
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What will that tell me as far as the head gasket goes? The oil looks good, but I realize that is not using a scientific use oil analysis. But, I am not sure it is worth sending out. If the oil comes back without coolant, what will that do as far as making decisions about what to do next? ThanksComment
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with the timing belt off you're already halfway there. It's not an expensive part, I say go for it.Comment
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Then you know exactly what your dealing with. Is it an internal coolant leak? If so, how big? They (head gasket failure) generally only get worse but sometimes they do not cause any wear, or at least at smaller levels. If you show evidence of coolant and high amounts of lead and copper, you could go from there on whether or not to repair it or move on. The analysis will tell you just how severe of a condition your engine is in, or it could reveal everything is fine, at least internally.
You cannot look at oil and tell if you have a coolant leak unless it is SEVERE.sigpicComment
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There is another problem. I changed the oil about 500 miles ago. Will that even be enough miles?Comment
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If you have even the slightest coolant leak, 10 miles might be enough...
If you have a sample pump, you can just pull a small amount of oil via the dipstick and do not need to change the oil in order to sample. Easier for me to say though, I work at a large oil analysis company and I just sample whenever I want. With the sample pump I never change any oil without knowing I actually NEED to.sigpicComment
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ok, lets say it has coolant in the oil. The car runs strong. Wouldn't I just do the HG anyway?Comment
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if it is worth it to yousigpicComment
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Well, I was also thinking that the front seal leaks so bad that I add a qt of oil every 900-1000 miles. That might be helpful if there is coolant in the oil correct? Sort of like adding fresh oil to help what might be contaminated, or am I way off?Comment
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Tough to say exactly without knowing what your dealing with, but anytime you are adding fresh oil you are "sweetining" the sump keeping your base number high, your oxidation/nitration low, and your additives will be fresh and useful. If you have a contamination issue severe enough, it could overwhelm all of that.sigpicComment
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As a reference, we have an M20 DD car with 230k+ miles. Although it is "tired" compared to our track car, it has never shown unusual wear in oil analysis. Our strong track/autocross car will show moderate fuel dilution and ring/liner wear at lower levels, not a surprise considering how hard it is driven.
The daily driven M20 car had a brief overheating time a few months ago and we sprung an external coolant leak. I have been watching the oil results closely since then and we still seem to be just fine.sigpicComment
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How long does the average bottom end last on an e30 that is fairly well cared for and not tracked? Thanks, I appreciate your help.Comment
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