Anti-freeze in Oil

Have a '93 T-Bird 5.0L... 110K Miles... Noticed on cold starts there is a little excessive ticking noise on cold starts. Seems to quite down as the engine warms up. Other than that it run great & strong.

Tonight after work I thought I'd check the oil to see if it was low or something and it is all milky. My assumtion is I have a bad head gasket. Or are there other common problems with these 5.0L that would allow the anti-freeze get into the oil?

If it is head gaskets, my thought is to go ahead and replace the heads while I'm at it. Not looking to build a power house, but if a little extra horse is only a little x-tra than stock heads, sure.

Either way, any suggestions?


Thanks,
-jammen

well it sounds like head gasket time very rarely do these eng have probs but if i were you i wouldnt drive it anymore until you replace the gaskets due to antifreeze eats engine bearings and once you spin a bearing your taking a chance of throwing a rod just some advise from a ford tech hope this helps

Yeah, that's kinda what I feared. Thanks for the reply.

Last night I was looking around the net and ran across a similar problem with some guy who had a Ford truck with a 302. Someone in the thread mentioned 302 were notorious for the milky oil look especially in cold envirionments (I'm in Indiana here... 22 degrees right now).

It said the culprit is usually a bad PCV valve not allowing the air to escape the crankcase like it should thus creating condensation, in turn creating the watery, milky look on the dip stick. So I did what this guy advised the guy with the truck to do - pull the dipstick out a little and let the engine run 15 - 20 minutes. Then turn off engine and check oil.

I did this and the oil looked great! So I think what I'll do is change the oil anyway to see what it looks like. Have my cooling system pressure tested just in case. And replace the PCV valve anyway.

My understanding is the 5.0L don't usually have any head gasket problems unless you overheat the engine. By the way, my coolant level & color still look fine.

Has anyone experienced this milky white oil on the dipstick and it not be anti-freeze getting into the engine oil? I would be intrested in hearing about it!

Thanks,
-jammen

actually its not the exact same motor its the 3.8 V6 but Ive been told those are basically a 302 with the front chopped off. mine does that once in awhile. it isnt there everytime I check the oil. but once in awhile there is a milky looking stuff on the dipstick. the bad part about it is my PCV valve is brand new as of a couple months ago. the car has been in my posession around a year now. I have NEVER had to add any antifreeze to it what so ever. other then when changing the antifreeze and flushing the cooling system which is basic car care stuff. I still get that milky looking stuff. the only other thing I can think of is if you ever wash your engine at the car wash perhaps theres a gasket blown or something allowing water from that to get into the engine. I had a valve cover leaking and did that and I think that was the thing that done it because thats when I had the mily stuff in the oil was right after that. when I changed the oil there was no antifreeze in it or water for that matter. unless youve added an oil additive that caused the oil to turn out like that I cant think of anything other then the head gasket or possibly my far fetched theory about the car wash that would cause it.

Update:
I took my car to get the oil changed and asked to watch them drain it because I suspected something terribly wrong. I showed them the dipstick and oil cap and they immediately said the same thing I thought... "Looks like you may have some blown head gaskets".

Watching the oil drain I was relieved to see the oil looked fine. A very little bit of the milky white at the very end. <<<WHEW!!!>>> They even thought it was weird, but another guy spoke up and said he had seen the same thing before on Mustang 5.0's.

So I am a little more convinced I over-reacted a little when I saw a milky white dipstick, but it has been my experience that it was too late at that point.

The PCV Valve was fine, so I am not sure why or how enough condensation could get in the cranck case and milk-up the dipstick and oil cap???


Either way, I would be very curious to hear feedback from some of you in cold climates who have a 5.0L. When you get a chance after a short trip, say 15-20 minutes, turn off the engine and check your oil... see if you get the same milky oil on your dip stick or oil cap.


Guess I'll know the real truth after I get a cooling system pressure test... and/or when it warms up here!



-jammen

easiest way to check for head gasket problems is to do a compression test, milky white slop in the oil is good for one thing>ruining the rest of the engine.
it sounds to me like a pcv problem. or maybe just driving short distances in cold weather, either way i'd get do the compression test.

Ok first off. It is hard to get antifreez in the oil due to the fact that to get abtifreez in the oil it has to go through the combustion chamber. And that is not very likley due to the fac that you are compressing air/fuel in the cylinder. Which creats a high pressure that pushes oil out the head gasket, not antifreez through it.

And yes, it sounds like condensation in the oil. Thi can also be cause by short distance driving. If the engine does not reach proper running temperature then it cant burn off condensation in the crankcase.

Replace the PCV valve and go for a good long drive and or change the oil.

Good luck