Chuck_66

I started my car this spring and took it for a drive to make sure everything survived the winter. After about two miles down the road I noticed smoke coming out of the tailpipe. I pulled the oil dipstick and found coolant in my crank case it filled it so high that it was coming out the breather. This is not a v8 it is a quad 4 apparently the water pump seal let loose the pump is driven by the timing chain and that is how it filled the crank case with coolant. I drained the crank case and I am in the process of replacing the water pump which requires the removal of one of the motor mounts. My question is do I pull the motor and have it completely rebuilt or do I just install the water pump and hope the main bearings will survive.

BILL DEMMER

just had the same experience with ernie, the bearings get eaten-up quickly when exposed to coolant. i think you're looking at a rebuild-i know i am.


bill

bdub217

yea basically after the oil and coolant mixes in the engine it's kinda done for.......sorry for bad news =(

getawaycar

I disagree. Coolant in the oil is not absolutely condemning. It is a bummer but not that big of a deal, especially if you did catch it early. I would repair the problem, change the oil and filter and start it up and see how it sounds. If the oil turned to mayonnaise because of the water contamination idle the engine with a quart of diesel fuel in the new oil for 10 minutes and then change it again. The diesel will wash most of the garbage off the inside of the engine down into the pan.

Cut open the oil filter and check for metal debris. You can use a big pipe cutter, remove the filter media and cut out a large piece from one side. Compress the media in a vice to squeeze out the oil and then open it up outside in the sun and look for metal flakes.

When I bought my Olds it had a cracked cyl head and the crankcase had all the coolant in it. I ended up rebuilding the engine because I am restoring the car, but the bearings looked OK and did not have any significant etching due to glycol contamination. As a mechanic if someone was paying me to inspect the bearings I would have left them in. In fact, I can't remember a time that I had to replace bearings because of coolant contamination.

Most heavy truck shops sell pre-paid oil analysis kits. You can take an oil sample and send off in the kit and the company that checks it can tell you if there is heavy traces of metals in your oil and even give you a list of likely sources. If you are worried that is. My expert advise is change the oil and start it up and see how it sounds, see how it feels and take it from there.

Chris

bdub217

I don't disagree with that.

If there are no symptoms of knocking or other non normal operational noises after he does as you mentioned, then I'd assume he's in the clear, I honestly hope this is the case and he can continue to use this motor to the extent of it's life.

I've just had really bad luck I guess when it comes to chocolate milk in some of my previous cars. Best of luck thanks for the additional input Getawaycar

ihengineer76

While you are in there, I would replace the timing chain tensioner. I bought a Grand Am as a parts car for my old Grand Am that had this motor. The donor car had a newly rebuilt motor that was junk because the mechanic didn't replace the timing tensioner. It jumped time and the valves kissed the pistons. Its just cheap insurance. My $.02

Chuck_66

I appreciate all the comments and I have received the same from all the motor heads at work some say you will be fine others say yank it and rebuild it. Rebuilding it leads to other issues as this is a first generation quad 4 and the oil pump is no longer available it will not fit the oil pan that I have so I will need to find one at a bone yard. The one thing that I did not mention is I had synthetic oil in the car for the past 6 years which hopefully saved the bearings. I think I will just install the pump and cross my fingers.