Ford Aspire oil mixing in with coolant

[blazinjames]

my friend has a Ford Aspire(early 90s i think) that has oil mixing in with the coolant.

I did a compression test to see if it was head gasket, it was 180 across so figured its not that.

also with the car running no air bubbles were coming out of the radiator with the cap off.

checked oil dipstick and under crankcase cap for signs of coolant. there isnt any signs. I also checked the transmission dipstick to see if there were signs of coolant.

so what else can i check? do i do a coolant leak test?

any ideas would be great

Thanks

 

[old_man]

Pretty much only two things that can cause that; a bad head gasket or a cracked block/head.

 

[Jeepdog85]

Or a bad radiator

 

[bails85]

wrong! having a bad radiator wont put oil in you coolant. old man is on point. try a cylinder leak down test. i would put my money on the head gasket. it may not be a sever leak but any leak is a bad one.

 

[blazinjames]

so for a leak down test I just get one of those testers use air and listen for a leak?

look at the rad cap to see if air comes up

 

[blazinjames]

wrong! having a bad radiator wont put oil in you coolant. old man is on point. try a cylinder leak down test. i would put my money on the head gasket. it may not be a sever leak but any leak is a bad one.

if the transmission cooler was bad could oil get into rest of raditor?

 

[bails85]

were talking motor oil not trans fluid. a leak down test is done just like a compression test. just a different guage. you can get them cheap at harbor freight. i have used a craftsman before but i dont think there is much difference. i could be wrong though.

 

[bails85]

actually i apologize. yes if the trans fluid tank goes bad or gets a leak you can get trans fluid in the radiator. can you tell if its motor oil or trans fluid? that will help you determine the problem a lot easier. i would much rather buy a new radiator then change a head gasket. have you tried doing a dye test to check the head gasket? its cheap i belive napa carrys an unexpensive kit there. or at least they used to. do your best to try and figure out if its trans fluid or m.o. that will lead you in a better direction. right now its a hard call. it will atleast narrow the list of possible problems.

 

[blazinjames]

ok thanks