What happens if the mechanic says you have oil in your radiator?

my truck started acting funny, we then stopped and it wouldnt crank back up. Well we had it towed to the shop and they said that they think there is oil in the radiator and that could mean we would have to replace the engine. Is that true? why can't i just replace the radiator? What happens if the mechanic says you have oil in your radiator?
you have a bad head gasket.What happens if the mechanic says you have oil in your radiator?
Brad, I'd want to test the transmission cooler tank which is inside one of the radiator expansion tanks with air pressure to see if transmission fluid is leaking inside the radiator and cooling system. Possibly he already did that. Occasionally an intake manifold leak will cause motor oil to leak in the water cross-over passages inside the intake manifold. A simple cooling system pressure test will find the real problem in minutes. He may have based his opinion on this test. I would also think coolant would be mixing with the crankcase oil is there was a cracked block or cracked cylinder head near an oil return to the pan.





I wish you'd have included the year make and model of the truck. American made truck blocks usually have a high nickel and zinc content which makes them tough as nails. Off-shore aluminum blocks have steel sleeves which are known to leak at the bottom and top.





Hope you resolve the problem.
I had the same problem with my car. You more than likely have a cracked or blown headgasket. The PART is cheap but the labor is EXPENSIVE. You can't just replace the radiator because your radiator is fine, the headgasgets in the engine are messed up. A quick and temporary fix is to get some stop leak from an auto zone or something like that. In the process of doing this you have to drain the radiator anyway. That's only going to last so long. Depending on how old your tuck is it might be cheaper in the long run to get a new (different) vehicle, rather than to replace the engine. Good luck
HI


I have issues with a mechanic that says


';I THINK THERE IS OIL IN THE RADIATOR AND YOU MAY NEED TO REPLACE THE ENGINE??';


There should be NO I THINK... it should be clear ... if there was oil in the radiator the fluid would look like chocolate milk. If it is then there is two causes one the cheapest is a head gasket. which would mean all that needs to be done is replace the head gasket and fluids. The worse would be a cracked block and a rebuild would not fix that you would need a new block.


Good luck


Tim
Your problem is oil getting into the cooling system, normally this is due to a failed cylinder head gasket although there may be other causes. If your engine has done a lot of miles it might be cheaper in the long run to replace it rather than repair it.


Without knowing what engine your truck has or its mileage I can't help any further.


Good luck!.
The radiator isn't the problem, but your oil control is...





You may not need a ';new'; engine, but you will need a rebuild, which may be your best bet in the long run.





You are having oil pass by your rings AND the head and into a coolant port.
more importantly, have you got coolant in your engine oil? just pull the dipstick and see if it looks milky. if it won't crank, and is related, it probably is. could be repairable may not be... can't tell until it's torn down
It sounds as if you have either a blown head gasket or bad head. It's not going to be cheap.





If you just replaced the radiator you'd only get more oil in the new one.
it probably mean the transmission fluid is leaking into where the anti-freeze is at in the radiator.
The oil came from the engine, which means you have either a blown head gasket or a cracked block. New engine or at least a teardown time.
Bad head or head gasket. You don't need to replace the whole engine. Have the head(s) turned and replace head gasket(s). Flush cooling system.
because you have a cracked block which means that oil from the engine is getting into cooling system which it should never do
blown head gasket (the part in between the top of the engine and the bottom)


hope this helps