The wife, that is. Her ole Dodge has been rather gutless since I bought it in Feb 09 with 154k. We're at 171k now, and I figured it was a good time to send in an oil sample on her to Blackstone due to the mileage. Including a screen shot of the guts of the analysis on the Cenex 10/30 (diesel) oil I've been running in it lately.



It's consumed a quart of oil every ~800 miles since I bought it. Discovered here that it's the plenum gaskets, but I haven't gotten around to doing anything about it. Now based on the oil analysis, can the plenums be the cause of potential antifreeze in the oil? I do believe that I've refilled the overflow twice, maybe a quart or so of antifreeze each time.

If it is indeed bearing problems, I talked to the fella who teaches automotive at the college in town about rebuilding the motor, but his suggestion is due to the age/mileage/condition of the old rust bucket, it's not worth rebuilding. However, I'd consider doing the plenums, radiator flush, and flushing the tranny if it'll keep us on the road for another year or two even... ESPECIALLY if that'll get us better mileage...

Anyhow, thoughts/suggestions? Thanks for the help.

 

Yes, do the plenum, and while you have the manifold off, change the distributor cap/rotor/ and wires. It is much easier to do this while it is all apart. Also, you may want to look into getting a new catalytic converter as I am sure it is pretty much passed it since your 318 is drinking a quart ever 800 miles.

As far as the coolant leak goes, I think you may have a slight head gasket leak, the gasket may possibly be perished where it seals around one of the water jackets. If your lucky, it could be one of the manifold to cylinder gaskets that is perished, which will be replaced when you do the plenum. All in all, I would do the plenum, and make sure you take your time and do it right. If you are still getting coolant in the oil, go to a local garage and have them pressure test the cooling system to see if it holds pressure or not.

Hope this helps buddy!

By the way, how much does Blackstone Labs charge to test a sample?

 

coolant in the oil can come from intake manifold gasket or head gasket or cracked head, but not the intake belly pan (plenum).

check your compression before doing anything. head gasket or cracked head will show low compression. then pull the heads and have them magnafluxed for cracks. both heads can be replaced for about 600, and the bottom end is very durable. you could do all this work in one job, including water pump and timing chain and run it for another 177k for about $1000.

 

Good call dh! Definitely pressure test all the cylinder's first. Although, a small leak on one cylinder may not show up on the compression tester. You would know it if the head gasket was truly blown, and you would also notice it in your oil, you wouldn't even have to send it off the blackstone, it would be jamocha shake colored. I took this pic a while back, the second bottle from the left is what oil from an engine with a blown head gasket looks like.



And yes, the belly pan gasket itself will not have anything to do with coolant in the oil, but the actual manifold gaskets themselves could be the culprit, but this is very unlikely.

 

I wouldn't flush the trans, it'll likely to cause problems. Just do a fluid and filter change and adjust the bands while the pan is off.

 

that's what i meant, but last time i checked manuals didn't have bands...

i'm not planning on doing any of this myself, i just don't have time. the auto kids at the college can do it for a lot less than a mechanic will.

i'll see about what they say to doing some of the stuff ya'll are suggesting. pretty much it boils down to we ain't spending more than about 500 bucks on this thing. it's a RUST BUCKET, and will fall apart LONG before it gets another 100k. really, if we can get to 200 still running we'll be great. i just need this thing to run long enough so we can afford to get her something better...

 

I wouldn't be too quick to say coolant is leaking into the oil. Two quarts of coolant in five quarts of oil will look like muddy water.
You may have high Na and K because you keep adding oil and leaving the salts behind. The coolant may be escaping through the heater core, loose hose or bad radiator cap. Also, add a 50/50 mix of water and antifreeze instead of straight antifreeze.
I agree with doing a compression test. Have them check each cylinder. Fix the plenuem. Pressure test the cooling system and track down the leak. New cap, rotor wire would be nice. Change the gear oil in the tranny and at least the rear axle (do the front and transfer case if you plan on using the 4x4 otherwise skip it since you are going to scrap it after 25K). I doubt the teach will let the kids gut the catalytic converter or remove it but maybe you or one of the kids would do it on the down low.
I doubt the bearings are going but at the next oil change, add a can of Restore. That will help the compression and add some life to the bearings.
A one off wear metal analysis is't really of much use. They are useful if you have an analysis regularly (change your oil every 3K miles and analyze every third oil change for example). Then look for trends. In the case of a bearing, over time you would see a baseline of copper then gradually increase and then a spike up when the bearing is starting to fail.