Oil in the coolant, and coolant in the oil

[Ciera]

Hi everyone,

I have 2000 Expedition Eddie Bower 5.4 liter with 205k miles on it. It's my mommy car for our family of 5.
Last week it started spraying coolant everywhere, thankfully we were only 10 miles from home, and we made it without running out of coolant. We checked and saw that the leak was somewhere in the engine. Upon further inspection, including taking apart some of the engine, the culperate turned out to be the intake manifold. Part of the plastic manifold had broken apart, loosening the gasket, causing the coolant to be pushed out of the engine.
We bought a brand new intake manifold from Autozone, it looked completely different from the original but fit right in. Now the car runs perfectly.
However, upon draining and refilling the coolant, I noticed that when we ran the car the coolant turned from the fresh green color to a milky tan/white color. We drained the car again and refilled the coolant, and upon running the car for 10 minutes it became milky again. I also noticed that the oil cap has a frothy milky color, but the dipstick is clean.
Is this just residue from the broken manifold?
Should I be worried?
We checked all the seals as we put the engine back together, and there aren't any leaks.

 

[stamp11127]

Yep that is something to be concerned about. A gasket is leaking, usually the head gasket which is allowing the oil to mix with the coolant. Major bucks if you can't repair it yourself.
Your title states coolant in oil but you didn't say anything about that in the text. Is it milky also?

 

[ExplorerTom]

Very likely a bad head gasket.

Don't drive it anymore until you get it fixed.

 

[stamp11127]

Main and rod bearings are probably shot - coolant doesn't offer the needed lubrication that oil does. Once they mix that is all she wrote.

Check this:

https://www.google.com/search?q=oil...s&biw=1680&bih=919&dpr=1#imgrc=DjruOAmr_HYU3M:

 

[1955moose]

Ciera, I concur with Stamp and Tom, 99 percent chance running low on coolant and overheating, took out the head gaskets. You've got the advanced symptoms, milk shake oil mix. If your going to keep your mommy mobile, maybe look into a low mileage motor you can throw in. It must have been getting hot for a while to blow the gaskets. Rebuilding your old motor with new gaskets and reworking everything is a gamble. After an engine overheats like yours, the bearings, and cylinders/rings are never right. You could have the work done and have a smoker, or have bearing noise. Let us know what you do. Maybe one of our members could help with a motor?

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[deweysmith]

I also noticed that the oil cap has a frothy milky color

Oil in your coolant is not at all normal and you definitely have a problem, probably the head gasket like the others have said. HOWEVER, some buttery residue under the oil fill cap is totally normal for these engines, especially if you only run it for short trips. I've found a LOT before (like a tablespoon or more) and it just goes away after a long trip or when the weather gets lots warmer. It's caused by water in the blow-by collecting in the pan while the engine cools. Take it for a 30 minute drive (after you've fixed it up of course) and pull the cap off while it's hot and you'll see that it's (mostly) gone. Just so you know once you get it fixed.

 

[bobmbx]

There isn't any good news when you have chocolate milk in the oil pan. You could have a cracked block (a water jacket), and there is no fixing that. To check for that, drop the oil pan, fill the cooling system without the thermostat and pressurize it. Watch for coolant dripping out the bottom. If so, you're done.

 

[toomanytoys]

Pressure test the radiator. The leak should show itself. More than likely one of the intake gaskets is compromised allowing coolant into the oil. The short drive with a leaking system shouldn’t be enough to lift a head and blow a gasket. Are there any bubbles in the radiator when the truck is running? Is there any heavy white smoke coming from the exhaust ? I seriously doubt the head gasket is blown. Modular engines don’t pop very easily

 

[1955moose]

After rereading Ciera's original post, and reading too many toys comment about the intake failure, I'd tend to agree. Ciera, have a shop check your cooling system for any exaust gasses. That and flush motor, and obviously refill with new oil/filter. They also need to pressurise system to be sure head gaskets, hoses, and water pump are sealed. Let us know the outcome, sure be good news if that's all it was.

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[stamp11127]

Anyone notice the OP has gone "****"?