Milkshake in coolant tank?????

Well I noticed for the past couple of weeks a little bit of oil in my coolant reservoir, today I looked at it and it looked like a milkshake in the top inch of the reservior tank.

My oil is still golden brown and does not show any sign of coolant leaking into the block as of now.

The coolant in the radiator is still green with little to no signs of oil in the radiator.

Any ideas as to when oil would be leak only into my reservior???

I am thinking a head gasket however isnt the tell tale sign coolant in the oil??? not the opposite as to what I have.

86 XJ 2.8Lv6 (about 20,000 miles on a rebuilt engine/5 years ago)

thanks as always

Frank G
86 XJ Laredo
01 WJ Laredo

See 90Pioneer 's thread today -Blown head gasket.

jldiaz said:

Blown head gasket.

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I was affraid of that!!!!

Just a thought if you have an automatic. Check the tranny fluid as the tranny cooler in the rad tank could be cracked. I expierenced this with a brand new GDI 3 row rad i installed a few years back.


Mike

2.8's have a habit of intake gaskets leaking..... i have had them leak internaly into the lifter valley and externaly.

And as far as why it's only in the bottle and not in the rad? Oil floats. Your bottle is higher than the radiator. Or at least it should be. And I have seen some head gaskets go without leaving coolant in the oil, but the opposite being true. One was last week in a company GMC.

-Rich

My radiator fluid has also been getting to the milkshake form since last month I also need to get a new header because my Headman header cracked wide open while I was offroading in Texas... My plan is to change the head gasket ( only possibility) and header at the same time... But what is odd to me is there is no rad fluid loss, no power loss, no oil loss, and all of the rad fluid is a milkshake... I did flush as much as I could and just waiting to see how things turm up on the new fluid ....

Darkmage said:

2.8's have a habit of intake gaskets leaking..... i have had them leak internaly into the lifter valley and externaly.

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Can I visually inspect the intake gaskets???? and if so how can I tell if their is a leak.

Frank G
86 XJ Laredo
01 WJ Laredo

It looks as though, by the posts, you may have missed the suggestion of checking the tranny fluid levels/etc... It is not uncommon for an internal leak in the radiator between the two systems to cause the milky appearance.


As for inspecting the intake gaskets visually, no, not really. For that, I would suggest going to your local autoparts store and getting a can of Chemtool B-12, I think it is.. ( I am sure it is Chemtool, not sure of the B-12...) With the vehicle running, use the squirtstick that comes with it to quickly spray down the area just around the intake gaskets.

NOTE:: do this at your own risk!!! Understand that the Chemtool, a cleaner, actually, is COMBUSTABLE!!! I do it, and have several times, but I must let you know that it is not 100% safe. Also, wear safety glasses... burns the heck out of eyes...
ALSO:: While you are spraying, preplan your attack as to avoid spraying the TPS/IAC directly. They are already a weak spot in XJ's when it comes to moisture, and if you blast them, you may create a whole other problem.

Now, back to the procedure... If the intake, or vacuum hose (can do the same test on hoses with this product) has a small leak, it will elevate the RPM slightly. If it has a large leak, it will kill it.

Lemme know what ya find....

Hang on!!! 2.8 are notorious for munching intake manifold gaskets. My 85 with the 2.8 went thru 2. I never got evidence of water in the crank but it would like yours ,get oil in the overflow bottle. I drove it for a long time the second time like this but you need to fix it. Take a jar of vasoline with you when you go to get the carb base/heater gasket. If I remember its gotta come off to get access to the maniford bolts with a torque wrench.

TheRasper said:

It looks as though, by the posts, you may have missed the suggestion of checking the tranny fluid levels/etc...

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Nah, I did check the fluid as red and clear as ever. Thanks for the other advice, I will try it out this weekend.

Frank G

Frank G said:

Can I visually inspect the intake gaskets???? and if so how can I tell if their is a leak.

Frank G
86 XJ Laredo
01 WJ Laredo

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Sometimes you can get an external coolant leak from the base of the intake by the distributor, or depending on year and model the cam sensor.
If it is internal check your fluid levels...... above mentioned seepage from the trans cooler to the coolant core in the radiater is a valid problem that can happen to many cars and trucks.
If you brought it to me to check over first thing i would do is check the oil condition, fluid levels coolant level and amount of contamination then pressure test the cooling system.
If you pressure check the cooling system and the tester is sealed well to the radiater fill neck and you notice substantial loss in pressure, you might want to pull plugs and check for moisture incase you have an intake gasket leaking coolant into an intake port or a head gasket leaking coolant into a cylinder..........hydrolocking isn't cool.

Your comment on tell tale signs for head gaskets being coolant in oil... true in some cases but not all..... depends on where the gasket failed in relationship to the coolant jackets and the oil journals..... what people notice alot of the time is coolant pouring out of the overflow or a full overflow tank due to cylinder pressure invading the cooling system.
A somewhat simple check for that is to run the truck with the radiater cap off and look for a steady stream of bubbles..... works sometimes.

Hope this helps
Chris