Heater is in, antifreeze is brown and oil is thin!

[blacknite3]

Ok, So I got the heater to go in yesterday. This morning I filled it with antifreeze and started her up and everything ran fine. Then the overflow tank started to fill with very brown water (didn't look oily though) and the temp kept creeping up. I noticed that the fans weren't working so I bypassed the temp switch and installed a toggle. Only one fan would work, and very slowly. Cranked it up again and everything seemed fine as the engine purged itself of air. Then the temp crept up towards high again and the lone working fan cut off. I immediatly turned everything off to let it (and my temper) cool off.

Then I checked the oil.... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cryin.gif It looked very, very, very, very thin. I am hoping for the best thinking that I just don't know what oil really looks like on a paper towel, but it spread through the towel like it was soaking up water. Tell me I'm imagining this.

I have lots of questions, but most are just me being in denial. Should both fans be turning at the same time and should they be turning fast, or should one be turned on be the radiator switch and then one turned on later by the engine temp switch? In a worst case scenario and I do infact have water in the oil, what are the chances that it is just a blown head gasket? I watched a friend go through about two or three heads just trying to find one that isn't cracked. Tell me I'm not dealing with a blown motor. It runs fine so I don't think there is a compression issue which scares me into thinking there is a crack in the head some where.

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cryin.gif

 

[jlaird]

Water in the oil makes it turn milkey.

 

[JoshP]

Re: Heater is in, antifreeze is brown and oil is t

Gasoline in the oil would thin it out like you described; go out and take a sniff of the oil and see if you get a scent similar to gas.

As far as getting brown crap getting pumped into your overflow tank...have you had a good cooling system flush lately?

Both fans should be turning at the same time; the thermostatic switch kicks both at once. Sounds like your fan motors may be giving up the ghost.

 

[DrEntropy]

Re: Heater is in, antifreeze is brown and oil is t

Water in the oil makes it look like chocolate mousse, and oil in the cooling system will first look like, well, oil in water. After it gets circulated in the system a while it'll get brown and foamy too. Sounds more like gasoline in the oil. Smell it as Josh says: it'll be distinctly "gassy" smelling if so. I'd say flush the cooling system well, change the oil and see to those fans. Both should be running full-bore when activated. Check the wiring physically, see if/where the realys are and trace from there.

Good luck. Report back with what you find!

...and remember Douglas Adams' advice: "DON'T PANIC!"

 

[zimmy]

Re: Heater is in, antifreeze is brown and oil is t

could a bad thermostat be involved maybe?

 

[DrEntropy]

Re: Heater is in, antifreeze is brown and oil is t

Sure! but figuring it took quite a while for thr temp to build, it'd be more likely inadequate air circulation.

 

[tony barnhill]

Re: Heater is in, antifreeze is brown and oil is t

Back flush the engine...pull the radiator & have it boiled/cleaned

so long as the oil doesn't look milky, you've just got a dirty coolant system.

 

[Nunyas]

Re: Heater is in, antifreeze is brown and oil is t

agree with everyone else on here... and definitely second checking the wiring on those fans. they should be full blast when on. and it ought to be both of them (not just one), IIRC. half hearted cooling fans lead to half hearted cooling.

Check the fan motors. If you connect them directly to a 12volt source do they spool up nice n fast? If they do then I'd look into the wiring and controllers under the bonnet. If they DON'T spool up full blast when you connect directly to a 12v source, then you might be needing new fan motors, or at the very least you'll need to clean up the motors.

Hope some of this helps.