Antifreeze running inside the motor
 

Yeap.

I own an old Nissan hardbody pickup which recently showed antifreeze mixed with oil in my last scheduled 3,000 miles oil change.

By searching online I know that the causes are several but might imply a bad head gasket or a cracked motor.

Also, it is recommended to stop using the vehicle until the problem is fixed because the damage inside the motor is imminent. The situation in my case is that the truck is needed, literally speaking, in almost a daily use. For this reason I can't check the cause of the antifreeze going inside the motor, the work schedule is tight and the truck can't rest by now.

The truck itself is dying slowly with other symptoms like noisy clutch, faulty speedometer, suspension problems, etc. I might send this truck to the dump one of these days anyway.

I have a question.

In order to make this truck lasting a little longer, I have decided to change the motor oil more often, and to increase the idle up a little bit. So far, I just changed the oil after 900 miles and it came out with a greenish color but not with the milkshake appearance as it came before.

I have no problem changing the oil and adding more antifreeze to the radiator more often.

Do you think that my truck might last a few more months with this short term oil changes?

First thing you do, change the antifreeze to straight water; the damage to the engine bearings caused by the ethylene glycol will kill the engine sooner than later at the concentrations you're talking about. If you live way north and still need antifreeze, then switch to a coolant based upon propylene glycol such as Sierra (from the Peak line of Antifreeze products).

• http: //images.peakauto DOT com/sierra_specs_.pdf

Yes, it's a Nissan, but since it's a technical question I'll move this over to General Tech.

You might try some coolant "stop leak". These products will occasionally work to reduce/eliminate coolant head gasket leaks. Not much downside to trying a bit. There are many types, but the aluminum powder material is as good as any.

good luck

YES YES YES...Alumaseal! she'll go another half million miles with it ;)

Thank you for your answers.

I will fill up the radiator with water only for a while, I might try to get an average of 75% water and 25% antifreeze because water alone might causes overheating of the motor in the middle of a long route.

About coolant stop leak products, they do work stopping leaks but also these products clog the several canals or tubes at the long run. Of course the truck is dying anyway because the damage has happened already, so I will use a minimal amount.

So far, the truck sounds and drives like no problems with it, only a sporadic idle going down when leaving it in neutral while driving. The car died once while driving it in neutral going down in a hill and had to use the hand brake to park in the shoulder and start the truck again, for this reason I increased the idle a little bit. I don't know if the idle problem is related with the antifreeze inside the motor but at this time is just to make adjustments to make it work a little longer.

Thanks again.

That doesn't make any sense; water is a superior heat transfer agent than antifreeze. If you are having overheating on a long trip with water, you'll have worse overheating with coolant.

:D Good product..we sell a load of it at the Parts Stores..Thanks DoC :D

If you are going to try a "sealer" for the HG.....Blue Devil

Thanks for the info, I thought these products also help for high temperatures. Warm and hot weather are arriving fast so I will use water alone for a while then.

I will try the sealer as well, but a smaller amount of what is recommended. A past experience of mine with a Chrysler that developed a crack in the radiator in a Winter season was fixed temporarily with this leak stop product. The leak indeed stop and I replaced the radiator a week later.

A guy in my job told me that I had killed my car already and laughed of me when I told him about the repair. And he was right, two years later the car showed some problems with the manifold and I removed the manifold, the EGR valve, etc to find out that tubes and canals were clogged with the sandy material of the stop leak product I used years before.

That is why I suggested the Blue Devil Head Gasket sealer......

I don't think I would run on only water as my coolant. Antifreeze has other additives that prevent corrosion in the radiator, water pump, and heater core.

I would think that water would corrode metal more than ethylene glycol.

I believe the OP stated he's already assuming the engine is a write-off, and while water may cause corrosion inside the motor, that would be the least of his worries compared to what will happen to the engine bearings if he runs ethylene glycol. At the concentrations he's talking about I seriously doubt the bearings will last even five thousand more miles if constantly subject to the corrosive effects of ethylene glycol.

Shipo, I understand that part of his post.

I think water would mess up the bearings as quick (if not quicker) than ethylene glycol.

Nope, lots of published science on the subject; water doesn't react with the bearing material, propylene glycol does to a certain degree, but ethylene glycol is a certain death sentence for bearing material.

As an update to what is going on with the truck, I flushed the coolant system and used a leak stop product that requires of water only inside the system.

After following the instructions, I decided not to fill up the coolant system with water mixed with coolant but I fill it up with water alone.

Even so, I continued changing the oil every one thousand miles. There were no sigs of mixing fluids, but the oil came out more clear each time. The machine runs much much better after these 1,000 miles replacements.

I have returned back to the old schedule, and very soon the truck will be ready for its 3,000 miles oil change. I will check the results, if the problem has been fixed. I'll hope it does, so I can add coolant to the radiator (50/50) before Winter.

Corrosion can occur very quickly w/ water alone. You should drain/add a coolant w/ corrosion inhibitors.

good luck

I was looking for an enviromentally friendly anti-freeze fluid and only one brand appears to carry it. But, funny, the company wants a subscription of the customer in order to sell the product.

Propylene Glycol Antifreeze - Buy Biodegradable Low Tox AMSOIL here.

Of course, I prefer the regular anti-freeze bought in a store paid with cash and have not to be forced to give my personal information to anyone.

The problem with the leak appears to be solved anyway and I think I can use any anti-freeze at this time. In case there is still a leak, well, I will continue changing the motor oil every thousand miles until the truck finally dies.

I was faced with the same dilemma as you; I refuse to buy Amsoil products as I abhor their business model and their marketing practices, and in my search I came across the propylene glycol based (the stuff which is far less toxic to engine internals, bearings especially, and they environment as well) Sierra product from the Peak antifreeze company. Here's a link to the Peak page for Sierra:

PEAK | SIERRA | Antifreeze / Coolants | Auto Products

And I've seen the Peak stuff in normal stores like Walmart etc.