Help me weigh my options here.

[Arlucian]

Well if you didn't see in the What did you to/with your 2nd gen today thread i believe i have a cracked block. I guess first and foremost how do i test it? I'm not certain this is oil in my coolant its just black and my oil happened to be very low but after i refilled it i went probably 150 miles and didn't have any loss of oil not a drop ( i refilled right to the max line) i'm not perfect so im not going to say its not possible that the oil level i was reading before wasnt just from the dipstick tube rubbing oil on the dipstick. Also, ive put ~1500 miles on this thing since i got it and im assuming the problem was there when the ******* traded my old truck ( which had tires that were worth this truck alone). What about my oil PSI reading 50 at all times? even after topping off the oil it still didnt return to normal except now i realize it does stay normal for about 30 seconds after a cold/luke warm start so i'm leaning towards electrical/gauge there. As far as i see my options are 1. Rebuild with new block. 2. Crate/remanufactured motor. 3. Turn this thing into a rallymobile and get something new. I really dont like the idea of dropping a used motor in this thing but i guess im not completely opposed. If i do anything besides rebuild this im probably gonna opt for a 5.9 any complications there?

 

[rowdyram]

Is your trans fluid full? In this particular engine it is near impossible for oil to contaminate the coolant. You'd need a pressurized oil passage to leak into the coolant and if that where the case you'd have coolant in your oil also.
It is far more likely you have a trans cooler leak inside your radiator or just that the coolant is in poor condition and your oil being low was coincidence

 

[Arlucian]

Is your trans fluid full? In this particular engine it is near impossible for oil to contaminate the coolant. You'd need a pressurized oil passage to leak into the coolant and if that where the case you'd have coolant in your oil also.
It is far more likely you have a trans cooler leak inside your radiator or just that the coolant is in poor condition and your oil being low was coincidence

From what i was reading if this situation happened you'd only have oil in the coolant because the oil psi is 25-30 at idle while the water pump puts out about 15psi. But yes i do lose trans fluid slowly and that seems likely ( i've got a smile on my face since you said that btw) because there is not as much oil as id suspect if it was a cracked block because its just in the reservoir and i see none under my radiator cap. Now my smiles fading though because i might have ran this thing with about 2 quarts of oil for (potentially) a very long time. But also my engine is not noisy by any means slight tick on cold starts but thats it. So whats the test here? If the situation you described is happening i wouldn't think a combustion gas test would work for determining a cracked block.
edit: just thought the PO said he replaced the radiator when he got it because the PO's PO hit a pole and it cracked the radiator. So IDT im getting trans fluid in there. Im going to try and pull some coolant out and let it seperate in a clear bottle. But i still would have an oil consumption problem i think unless i'm just a complete idiot at checking oil but i dont think so. No leaks btw or if there are they are minute non dripping leaks.

 

[rowdyram]

I would pull your resevior out and clean it really good, drain the coolant and change the oil. Drive it and monitor your oil level and coolant condition.
Yes oil pressure is higher than coolant but every time you shut it of oil pressure goes away but cooling system pressure will remain for up to 2 hrs

 

[Arlucian]

I would pull your resevior out and clean it really good, drain the coolant and change the oil. Drive it and monitor your oil level and coolant condition.
Yes oil pressure is higher than coolant but every time you shut it of oil pressure goes away but cooling system pressure will remain for up to 2 hrs

I cant believe this might be as simple as cleaning out my reservoir.... Oil doesnt just dissappear. I will try these things though and keep going but this thing isn't going to leave town until i get this figured out. Luckily i already have an oil change sitting in my living room i was waiting for the weather to get better but ill probably do it tomorrow. What about my oil pressure what do you think there?

 

[rowdyram]

The factory guage can be very unreliable. A mechanical pressure test first to determine if its correct or not then go from there, as far as loosing oil... If your sure there's no leaks check your plenumn gasket first.

 

[dodge dude94]

I mirror everything Rowdy said. Drain that **** and start over fresh. Hell, if you've got a factory auxillary transmission cooler, bypass the one in the radiator and live without OD for the morning drive to work.

(Overdrive doesn't come on if the trans. doesn't warm up and it's cold outside.....oh well, this is a test)

 

[Arlucian]

I mirror everything Rowdy said. Drain that **** and start over fresh. Hell, if you've got a factory auxillary transmission cooler, bypass the one in the radiator and live without OD for the morning drive to work.

(Overdrive doesn't come on if the trans. doesn't warm up and it's cold outside.....oh well, this is a test)

Hehe there is no morning drive to work, if i work any given day it will probably be a 250+ mile day in which i will need OD. Maybe ill look aftermarket. Are you talking about a transcooler seperate of the one in the radiator?

 

[dodge dude94]

Hehe there is no morning drive to work, if i work any given day it will probably be a 250+ mile day in which i will need OD. Maybe ill look aftermarket. Are you talking about a transcooler seperate of the one in the radiator?

Well you can at least bypass it to test it...that's if it's even cold enough where you're at for OD to not kick in.

Yes. Trucks like mine with the HD service package had a auxiliary cooler between the A/C condenser and the radiator.

 

[Arlucian]

Well you can at least bypass it to test it...that's if it's even cold enough where you're at for OD to not kick in.

Yes. Trucks like mine with the HD service package had a auxiliary cooler between the A/C condenser and the radiator.

Its cold enough but i don't drive my truck without warming up ( in neutral) for at least 10 minutes. I did the same thing back home where the climate is a lot milder just to get the oil hot and the tranny warm makes me feel a lot better. I will do your guys suggestions when the weather gets better its windy right now and wind just sucks when its cold like this -10 isnt that bad until the wind kicks in.