Foamy tan coolant

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sal.monella

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Okay, I've searched all the forums and found nothing. Here are the symptoms.

04 LS Premium Sport with 3.9l V8

coolant if tan and foamy. (like a latte)
No coolant/water in oil. (nice and clean)
No water vapor in the exhaust
No codes
No misfires or running problems at all
No transmission problems. (assuming no cracks in tranny cooler)

I'm wondering if somebody put oil in the forward coolant tube. (yes, I let others play with my baby but only family)

Some of my family are brain dead but sadly I still love'em to death.

did a flush but they said they could not get all of the gunk out.

Any ideas?

I'll try to add photo later, or would that be latter.
 
I've never heard of a head gasket problem on the v8, but that sure sounds like one. I believe the coolant into oil symptom can also be the reverse (oil leaking into coolant). That's my guess. Unless some retard opened up the coolant fill cap and poured oil in.
 
pektel said:
I've never heard of a head gasket problem on the v8, but that sure sounds like one. I believe the coolant into oil symptom can also be the reverse (oil leaking into coolant). That's my guess. Unless some retard opened up the coolant fill cap and poured oil in.
Click to expand...
We wondered about that as well, but with the intake stroke being what it is on that beastie you would think it would be showing in the exhaust as well. I'm going to pull the radiator, thermostat, and all the hoses and stuff the garden hose on each one. The way I figure it, if I push enough water through all the passages it should clear it out enough to see if it comes back on it's own. I was just hoping somebody had seen this before.
 
When the car is cold, open the coolant cap and reseal it(this will put the system to 0). Start the car, run it for a couple seconds and turn it off. Take the cap off and see if its pressurized itself.
If there's pressure after a couple of seconds of running, head gasket is most likely the culprite. IDK if I'm talking down to you by posting that, but just helpful advice.
 
sal.monella said:
We wondered about that as well, but with the intake stroke being what it is on that beastie you would think it would be showing in the exhaust as well. I'm going to pull the radiator, thermostat, and all the hoses and stuff the garden hose on each one. The way I figure it, if I push enough water through all the passages it should clear it out enough to see if it comes back on it's own. I was just hoping somebody had seen this before.
Click to expand...

You should drain the system, fill it with water and add an oil purge. I'm not sure where to get it for cars but, some truck shops usually carry it. Penray makes an oil purge that works great for removing fuel and oil from cooling systems. You add the water and purge, run it till the thermostat opens, drain it, then run it again as needed or just run it with water to flush it the last time.
Tan and foamy sounds like an oil product for sure. Take a sample of it and let it sit, eventually it should seperate, even if just a little.
 
alzimme said:
When the car is cold, open the coolant cap and reseal it(this will put the system to 0). Start the car, run it for a couple seconds and turn it off. Take the cap off and see if its pressurized itself.
If there's pressure after a couple of seconds of running, head gasket is most likely the culprite. IDK if I'm talking down to you by posting that, but just helpful advice.
Click to expand...
At this point I'd be willing to smash a peach on my head and sleep under the car with a salmon over my eyes if it would reveal the culprit. Any advice / ideas are greatly appreciated so thanks.
 
When we on the diesel side get oil into the coolant Simple Green is one of the best methods for washing the oil out. Also of course we can only drain about 1/2 the coolant out of the LS system at any one time so repeated flushes with clear water are needed to remove everything.

The water to oil cooler heat exchanger can also be a source of coolant contamination if this design has the oil side pressure higher then the coolant pressure.
 
TooManyToys said:
...The water to oil cooler heat exchanger can also be a source of coolant contamination if this design has the oil side pressure higher then the coolant pressure.
Click to expand...

It does [have higher oil pressure than coolant pressure.]
 
TooManyToys said:
When we on the diesel side get oil into the coolant Simple Green is one of the best methods for washing the oil out. Also of course we can only drain about 1/2 the coolant out of the LS system at any one time so repeated flushes with clear water are needed to remove everything.

The water to oil cooler heat exchanger can also be a source of coolant contamination if this design has the oil side pressure higher then the coolant pressure.
Click to expand...
Thanks, I'll give the soylent green a try this weekend. As for the oil cooler, it's external, sandwiched between the A/C evap and the radiator.
 
I would be careful with Simple Green. I know it does not play well with Aluminum.
 
sal.monella said:
sorry, the A/C condenser. I always say those backwards. Snorting too much freon I guess.
Click to expand...

Just to be clear...

The engine oil cooler is between the oil filter and the adapter on the engine.
The transmission oil cooler is in front of the radiator (behind the condenser if I remember correctly). There is no transmission cooler in the radiator, so you can rule that out as a source.

Cooling system pressure should max out at 15 or 16 PSI, engine on or off.
(Of course, oil pressure is 0 PSI with the engine off.)
It's also possible for oil to leak across at 50 PSI, but the leak be too small to let water back across at 16 PSI.
That said, oil cooler leaks are very rare, as are headgasket issues on the V8.
 
Assuming it's not a head gasket, my question would be if someone tried adding green coolant instead of Gold/Yellow at some point. Is the coolant kind of thick feeling/slimy/sludge feeling? It'd be pretty easy to add to the degas bottle if you didn't know any better. I could easily see this happening.

FYI: Green + Yellow = Tan-ish color

At a minimum, I would give it a good flush. You can pick up some radiator flush additive designed to work with aluminum if you don't want to chance it with Simple Green. I'd also check the coolant for a while after that just to make sure it's staying the same color. If your autoparts store has a radiator pressure tester you can "rent" or just buy then I'd try that too after you flush it.

If the oil starts to turn colors after a few months or sooner, then you got a leak.

BTW, don't get the universal antifreeze crap they sell. It's garbage and can garbage up your engine. Go to Napa/Walmart and get Zerex G-05 or just buy VC-7 from a Ford dealer. The Zerex G-05 is the OEM VC-7a coolant used by Ford and Jaguar from what I understand. It's also not any more expensive then the universal garbage. Ford VC-7b will also work, it just has a bittering agent added so you (or your pets) won't drink the stuff.
 
Latte for coolant

I may have found a lead. The oil cooler looks like it took a hit. (no, it's not paisley. Wrong kind of hit) If there were a hairline fracture on a weld, the high pressure of the oil straight out of the pump could be enough to let oil into the coolant without letting coolant into the oil. I'll find out this weekend.

I'll let y'all know what happens and thanks for everybody's help so far. As for the Salmonella poisoning, this car "ain't no pansy" so salmonella shouldn't hurt it at all...
 
sal.monella said:
I may have found a lead. The oil cooler looks like it took a hit. (no, it's not paisley. Wrong kind of hit) If there were a hairline fracture on a weld, the high pressure of the oil straight out of the pump could be enough to let oil into the coolant without letting coolant into the oil. I'll find out this weekend.

I'll let y'all know what happens and thanks for everybody's help so far. As for the Salmonella poisoning, this car "ain't no pansy" so salmonella shouldn't hurt it at all...
Click to expand...

So, here's a diagnostic step for you. The oil cooler is not required. The non-sport versions didn't even have one. Disconnect the two coolant hoses from the cooler. Get a double ended hose barb of the right size so that you can now hook the two hoses together, bypassing the oil cooler. Flush out the coolant really well. If the oil cooler is the problem, the coolant will stay clean and you will have some oil leaking out of the hose fittings on the oil cooler. If so, replacing the oil cooler is fairly simple.
 
joegr said:
So, here's a diagnostic step for you. The oil cooler is not required. The non-sport versions didn't even have one. Disconnect the two coolant hoses from the cooler. Get a double ended hose barb of the right size so that you can now hook the two hoses together, bypassing the oil cooler. Flush out the coolant really well. If the oil cooler is the problem, the coolant will stay clean and you will have some oil leaking out of the hose fittings on the oil cooler. If so, replacing the oil cooler is fairly simple.
Click to expand...
I was thinking of going one better. I have a Derale oil cooler kit that was going to go on the fake snake. Since that project's in it's infancy I figured I'd install that cooler on the Lincoln. Seemed to make sense at the time anyway. You are right in that this test would verify that this is the problem so I should probably do it.
 
Removed oil cooler from loop and so far so good. I'll let it go a week and look again. There was a little gunk in the degas bottle that I could not remove but it is really nothing.

Does anybody know of any external oil cooler adapters for this engine? (Besides leaking valve cover gaskets that is) I have a spin on base for my 390 cid firetruck and it rocks.

Oh and thanks for everybody's input.
 
thanks kumba

Thanks
Kumba said:
Assuming it's not a head gasket, my question would be if someone tried adding green coolant instead of Gold/Yellow at some point. Is the coolant kind of thick feeling/slimy/sludge feeling? It'd be pretty easy to add to the degas bottle if you didn't know any better. I could easily see this happening.

FYI: Green + Yellow = Tan-ish color

At a minimum, I would give it a good flush. You can pick up some radiator flush additive designed to work with aluminum if you don't want to chance it with Simple Green. I'd also check the coolant for a while after that just to make sure it's staying the same color. If your autoparts store has a radiator pressure tester you can "rent" or just buy then I'd try that too after you flush it.

If the oil starts to turn colors after a few months or sooner, then you got a leak.

BTW, don't get the universal antifreeze crap they sell. It's garbage and can garbage up your engine. Go to Napa/Walmart and get Zerex G-05 or just buy VC-7 from a Ford dealer. The Zerex G-05 is the OEM VC-7a coolant used by Ford and Jaguar from what I understand. It's also not any more expensive then the universal garbage. Ford VC-7b will also work, it just has a bittering agent added so you (or your pets) won't drink the stuff.
Click to expand...
 
OMG I have the same exact problem with this 04 I purchased. Sorry if this is a dead thread but please if OP can chime in that would be fantastic!
 
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