Help!! water in oil?? negative liquid test

I was driving my truck when i smelled coolant and then there was smoke in the cab. I got off the freeway and got a tow. the repair shop said cracked radiator and the water pump is shot. HOWEVER, they found water in the oil. they did one of those tests with the liquid to check the engine block and gasket (i think that is what it does) and it came back negative. they are still trying to find the source of water in the oil before replacing the radiator and pump....as that could change my decision to fix the car. the mechanic said the water pump may have something to do with water in the oil, but hes not sure. they have been trying to figure it out all mornining and afternoon and again that liquid test thing they did came back negative. can anyone put my mind at ease....Oh its a 94 toyota pick up. there wasnt any smoke that i notiecd at the tail pipe. only from under the hood that smelled like coolant. the truck was also idling wierd as i pulled off the freeway. my temperature needle indicated HOT, but it wasnt in the red zone. Please help:uhoh:

I think they still can do a compression test. That should tell them about the integrity of the gaskets.

I hope this helps,

Sam

Thanks SAM!

Hi.... We are going to go ahead and fix the radiator and then see if the car overheats. Im wondering if a little water/coolant got in through the air intake will it be harmful to run the truck with the water in there? The problem is i brought it to the place closest to my house and they dont 'do engines'...so they cant really do a compression test or anything. I could move it to another mechanic, but im new to the area and dont really trust anyone. ive been to this place before and they are pretty nice and straight forward. so im willing to fix the radiator and if we find that there is further engine problems i can have another place fix that. Im just wondering if there IS water in there, can it harm the truck to run it like that?
OH and it wasnt a split radiator, just a crack. They also did the chemical test agian and it was a negative.

Moved to pick-up forum

Okay...so I got an estimate of 2300$ I was told my timing chain wore a hole in the timing cover, my radiator had a crack in it, the water pump was leaking and I had a blown head gasket. the guy told me the timing chain scenarioo probably caused coolant to leave the radiator which made it hot and it cracked/split, thus the rest of the car got hot and blew the had gasket. Is it possible taht i was driving around and there were NO problems what soever and then all of a sudden all this stuff?
Can someone PLEASE explain to me how all these things work together in conjunction to effect the other components that have failed. I want to make a judgement about whether my truck is worth saving or not. Is what the mechanic told me probably accurate?

It's possible, but that is a lot of things happening at once.

A worn TC wearing a hole thru the TC cover definetely happens when the TC isn't replaced a the proper interval.

22RE's are known for blowing Head Gaskets, even cracked heads (when the blown HG isn't addressd).

But there should be signs of problems before a catastrophic failure, if the owner is paying attention.

Check out the price of replacing it with a used engine with reasonable miles on it.

Im now going with a rebuild engine and replace radiator and water pump for 2900. kinda pricy, but its got a 2 year warranty and this place is top notch. I got refered to a guy who works in a junkyard...said he would do it for 2K and another place by my house for 2500, but they give me the creeps and only 1 year warranty. I hope it all works out. Do they turn back an odometer after they rebuild your engine?
BRIAN R? --are you really a chemist? im in that.

Got 'Trucky-Truck' back. Everything is fine. There
has been a wierd rattle twice that lasted about 10 seconds. I bring
him back after 500 miles, so I will mention it then. I dont think its
anything to worry about. The place I brought him to is awesome. I
made a joke about the estimate price when I gave them the Okay that
they could throw in a new windshield at that price (it was cracked).
The guy kinda laughed and said yeah, right. BUT HE DID! Got a free
windsheild, and they sort of fixed my A/C. It needs additional work
for a couple hundred, but that isnt too important. Im going to
bring 'Trucky-Truck' for all the check-ups when Im suppose to. I want
to keep him another 3+ years. Ive got this forum in my 'favorites',
so ill visit again. Thanks