Quote:
Originally Posted by blatant
Thanks for the thorough response, I appreciate it!
I will have to fill the X back up with oil and coolant to check it all out again. I will do that and report back.
As far as the trans fluid in the coolant, I'd assume that would go both ways. So I should be checking the trans fluid as well for coolant?
How can I tell if the oil in my coolant is burned/brown ATF or engine oil?
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Did the seller level with you about the issue? If you didn't or can't get a straight answer from the seller, I'd probably drain the oil, and the coolant. Flush the expansion tank and the rad of as much co-mingled crap as you can get out - open the tap on the bottom of the rad - little blue screw. Maybe yank the water pump and clean there too. Then start with a baseline of fresh fluids. You could drain the trans oil and have a look at that too; if it looks like chocolate milk, you've found your problem. Lots of opinions about which trans fluid to use/not to use. Be certain you know what you're going to refill with prior to draining. I'd replace the filter too, just because you never know when it was last changed. If you just want to test it, you can open the fill plug and suck some fluid out with a syringe/short hose.
If it's still not obvious, for a few bucks, add a UV dye like this to the engine oil:
NAPA AUTO PARTS
Run it for a while,
watching the temp gauge like a hawk, and then test the coolant for presence of oil+dye. If you have dye in the coolant, you're getting oil in the water jacket. No dye present in the coolant, the oil is from somewhere else, likely the trans. The dye is harmless, you need a UV flashlight to see it; another $10-15 at Amazon.
I wish I had a dollar for every thread where someone chimed in with a diagnosis of a bad head gasket. Unless it's overheated, they don't fail. Not saying that isn't your problem, but I like to be sure before I tear into things.
Good luck.