antifreeze in the oil

[Joe47]

My recently purchased '89 2.2L was running rough. Car was running on 3 cyl the #4 was not firing. Check engine light was on . Did a fault code check with the ignition key . Code 26 came up, "injector current limit not achieved". Looked through the archives on our sight came upon the Knizefamily mopar papers and under possible causes found ....bad connection or wiring... and yes that was it. Removed the electrical connector to the # 4 fuel injector and the connection was green. Cleaned it up and the engine is running fine. Check engine light went out. Success Did a fuel pressure check at the rail and got 55psi. Followed up with a compression check and at 1,2,3 cyl 125 psi and about 110 at #4 cyl . Now here is the question..... can coolant get into the crankcase through the turbo? After doing all the checks for the rough idle I pulled the dip stick and noticed creamy color on the stick . Though it might be from gasoline washing down to the oil pan while cranking the engine doing the compression test. Drained the oil and it was milky and the radiator had to be topped off. About 1/2 gallon low. Seems like a cracked head or blown gasket . There was very little white smoke at the tail pipe. I cleaned out the oil filter put in new oil. Ran the car and it now seems fine. NO smoke, oil is clear. Can the antifreeze be passing through the turbo? And not the head? And only somtimes? How do you check this out? Joe47

[Guest TC Toad]

Hi Joe,

I doubt if the antifreeze is coming from the turbo charger. The antifreeze would probably burn off into the exhaust before getting back to the crankcase. I would be more inclined to suspect that you have a head gasket starting to fail. This is a pretty common occurrence on these engines. Hopefully others will join in this discussion.. But i'm betting on the head gasket.

[89TC-16V]

sounds like head gasket leaking and at least its a cheap easy job on the 2.2L 8v motor

[Guest StudeDude 01]

Joe----based on my personal experience, it's the head gasket. Though you did not mention the mileage of your car, they usually go in the 100K-150K mile range. Had your engine been running on all 4 cylinders, you may not have seen the milky color on the dipstick because the coolant would have burned it off through the exhaust. If you need to add coolant again within the next ~ 200 miles and the temperature gauge begins to perform some funny gyrations, I'd say it's a confirmed head gasket.

[Guest george w]

I agree with StudeDude, most likely the head gasket. Check the coolant reserve tank for bubbling. If you see any with the engine running then it's the gasket for sure. Just be sure to use the Mopar performance gasket and new head bolts when replacing it.

[Joe47]

Well it seems like the head gasket wins. The car has about 85k according to the original owner. The speedo stopped at 72+k. The clock has since been repaired. Problem with this car, it's not registered. I have not been driving it other than just outside the house. Looks like I have a fall project ahead. Thanks for the input. As always, everyone is helpfull. Joe47

[Guest Silverghost]

A very fast way to ruin any engine is to let water/antifeeze mix get into the sump and oil system.

This will ruin your bearings very quickly.

If it were me I would pull the cylinder head and have it checked for cracks & replace with a new high perforance head gasket .

I would not run the engine until doing this !

Good Luck~