coolant in oil-what besides cavitation?

[kevskvk]

so i just got a truck on ebay...1988, 7.3l

it has coolant in the oil. i read about how to do a cavitation check, with compressed air, looking at glowplugs, looking for mist etc and i will start there if i have to

but of course i don't want it to be cavitation, so i hope it is something else

i am having difficulty finding out what else it may be besides cavitation, like a head gasket for instance? or a leak elswhere?

any links to a faq i missed?

thanks much!

[pafixitman]

It could be a HG, but I think you are looking at cavitation. Do a compression test. From what I have read, 7 or 8 are generally the ones to go if it is cavitation. Any other cylinder it would be a toss up.

[Mr_Roboto]

I disagree, I believe cavitation is the least likely cause. Your possibilities in the order of likelihood are: 1, oil cooler seal leak 2, head gasket leak 3, cavitation low in the cylinder (cavitation high would cause coollant burning / hydrolock).

I'll probably get flamed for this, so be it. Buy 2 bottles of Bar's (pelletized) stop leak, dump it in and change the oil and see if that stops the leak. If not, THEN start tearing things apart.

[cdnsarguy]

I have seen the head coolant holes in the area sealed off by the valley pan leak into the upper area of the engine. This was primarily due to the frost plugs (below the GPs) between the intake holes rusting out.