Oil in coolant

[sydthekid7]

So have a 22 5.7 with 63,000 miles, bought it with 55,000 miles
Take it in for my first oil change owning the truck and find possible oil on coolant dip stick.
Reservoir below the minimum to the point almost dry, but half way up the stick is a brownish crud built up on the stick.
I ask technician if oil was milky he said no looked good, whether or not I believe him.
Where did my coolant go? No stains on the ground.
How common/possible is a blown head gasket?
I don’t even tow, never had any overheating.
What are chances are crud on dip stick is just mucked up coolant and all it needs is a topping off?
Have appointment Tuesday for diagnosis.
Standard is pressure testing the head and cooling system? Assuming I’m looking at $500 or less for diagnostics time?
Anyone have experience with our rams on issue like this.

 

[USMUSL]

Can you post a picture of the “crud” you think might be oil?

 

[sydthekid7]

 

[sydthekid7]

View attachment 200504

There was a considerable amount more that I regrettably wiped off. I caught myself and stoped before clean all the way. So that’s about 10% of what I originally witness on that dipstick.

 

[USMUSL]

Others will pipe in, but I’m not convinced that’s oil. Perhaps it is.

My bet is that there was no oil in it, and the tech who said your oil was fine was right.

But …. you still need to figure out if you have a coolant leak.

The pressure test is the first step. It should be easy and cheap.

 

[kapinallinen2]

Where did my coolant go?

Stellantis never gave it to you or me from the get-go.
Had to add around half of a gallon to my reservoir in order for it to register at the half point.
To me, that does not look like oil in the coolant.
Smell and/or taste the residue, is it sweet or oily, should give you an answer without getting too technical.

 

[mikeru82]

If that is oil in your coolant it stands to reason that there would be coolant in your oil. How does the oil look?

 

[theblet]

The red coolant can cause that color on the dipstick. It’s not necessarily oil

 

[ThatAirRideThough]

Wonder if this guy is really into something?

 

[1791]

If that is oil in your coolant it stands to reason that there would be coolant in your oil. How does the oil look?

no it don't have to go both ways. you can have a blown head gasket and not have oil in the water or water in the oil it's possible to have exhaust smell coming from the coolant. it happened to me bubbles in the coolant and clean oil. you can test for it. i would not recommend any form of head gasket repair in a bottle

 

[n8zcc]

So have a 22 5.7 with 63,000 miles, bought it with 55,000 miles
Take it in for my first oil change owning the truck and find possible oil on coolant dip stick.
Reservoir below the minimum to the point almost dry, but half way up the stick is a brownish crud built up on the stick.
I ask technician if oil was milky he said no looked good, whether or not I believe him.
Where did my coolant go? No stains on the ground.
How common/possible is a blown head gasket?
I don’t even tow, never had any overheating.
What are chances are crud on dip stick is just mucked up coolant and all it needs is a topping off?
Have appointment Tuesday for diagnosis.
Standard is pressure testing the head and cooling system? Assuming I’m looking at $500 or less for diagnostics time?
Anyone have experience with our rams on issue like this.

This looks normal to me. The real issue is the previous owner's lack of maintenance. Unexplained coolant loss isn't unheard of and is usually the result of an evaporated coolant loss. An evaporated loss is where the coolant, when at operating temperature, escapes through a small leak in the cooling system and evaporates. The telltale sign is a smell of coolant after operating the vehicle.

Evaporated leaks are challenging to locate. I know; I had one. After taking my vehicle into service while still under the original warranty and being told they couldn't find an issue, I picked up cooling system dye. After a couple of weeks, I went looking for the leak with a black light. Sure enough, there it was, a tell-tale sign around the thermostat housing. One of the two bolts holding the housing wasn't tight.

Before spending any money on this problem, I would ensure it is a problem. Top off your coolant (using the correct coolant type) and monitor the coolant level over the coming weeks. Also, sniff for the smell of coolant. If you notice a loss of coolant with no visible signs of coolant loss, you may have an evaporative loss.

 

[sydthekid7]

I was hoping you guys were all correct and it’s just this mysterious muck but I popped the radiator cap and I’m not feeling so confident anymore this isn’t worst case scenario. If this doesn’t look like coolant mixed with oil… then I’d be flabbergasted. Again I didn’t personally get to see the drained out oil and I’m not so sure I believe them when they said it was clean if the coolant looks like this…

 

[mikeru82]

no it don't have to go both ways. you can have a blown head gasket and not have oil in the water or water in the oil it's possible to have exhaust smell coming from the coolant. it happened to me bubbles in the coolant and clean oil. you can test for it. i would not recommend any form of head gasket repair in a bottle

We're talking about possible oil in the coolant not combustion gasses. That would be a different type of head gasket failure. Head gaskets can fail in several ways. My point was that if there is a break between a coolant passage and an oil passage, there should be cross contamination affecting both the coolant and the oil.

 

[1791]

We're talking about possible oil in the coolant not combustion gasses. That would be a different type of head gasket failure. Head gaskets can fail in several ways. My point was that if there is a break between a coolant passage and an oil passage, there should be cross contamination affecting both the coolant and the oil.

yeah you are correct and 90 something percent of people have no idea what you and I are talking about (types of failures). that same amount people just know the word head gasket but have no concept of how much labor it takes to repair one lol

 

[USMUSL]

I was hoping you guys were all correct and it’s just this mysterious muck but I popped the radiator cap and I’m not feeling so confident anymore this isn’t worst case scenario. If this doesn’t look like coolant mixed with oil… then I’d be flabbergasted. Again I didn’t personally get to see the drained out oil and I’m not so sure I believe them when they said it was clean if the coolant looks like this…

Yea, I was trying to not be like all the alarmist fools on the internet and instead think positively for you. But, that new picture changes the diagnosis for the worst; I think it likely you have a head gasket issue. Sorry.

In your tech's defense, it is very possible oil is getting into the coolant without coolant into the oil. That scenario would have to mean your coolant loss is unrelated. Possible, but I would assume at this point the coolant loss and the coolant condition are from the same issue.

 

[sydthekid7]

Is there a way to test if it’s the oil cooler?