Head Gasket time...what else to do while in there?

[g300d]

So it looks like the white stuff in my coolant tank is engine oil. Pulled down the trans oil cooler and it was fine. So the only place left to go is the head.

What else should I be looking at while in there?

I heard about upgrading VANOS seals in threads around here, should I be doing this while I'm in?

Any parts I can upgrade while I'm in?

Anything else to watch out for?

[davintosh]

I'd check compression before diving into the head.

[g300d]

Can you expound on your reasoning?

This is gonna be the first time I have to go into the guts of an engine of a car I own.

To recap, car runs fine, only discovered the oil in coolant when I was going to do the tank vent valve and decided to check oil and coolant while hood was open.

I then had the trans cooler removed, no sign of internal leaks there.

Pulled plugs, all normal and the same.

[upallnight]

You can buy a kit to test the radiator for combustion gas to determine if you have a head gasket problem. I would look into it some more before tearing the engine apart.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4FoUc6fRNs

[g300d]

Block test is one thing to check, will take a look at that. If it shows positive, whats next? What about if it turns negative?

So currently the car is on jackstands with the radiator and trans cooler out. What kind of diagnosis should I be doing on it? Could it be anything else but the head area and how do I find out for sure?