Over the past month or two, I've had my low coolant light come on twice. Both times I added a relatively small amount of coolant and thought little of it. I had noticed a little wetness under the driver's side of the radiator on my garage floor, and it's too chilly right now to wrench unnecessarily.

Tonight, I was checking over the car before Christmas travel. When I checked the oil, it was definitely milky. That's not good.

The car has run fine, with no change in power or fuel economy, and no warning lights. Before I panicked, I checked the compression. I didn't remember to open the throttle, so these numbers are closed-throttle values. On a warm engine, cranking 3-4 times per cylinder, I recorded 160+/-2psi on all 5 cylinders.

I haven't found an official compression value, but these are certainly consistent. I'm a little stumped.

Here's my only thought: is the oil cooler integral to the radiator? I could see oil and coolant mixing there, and a cracked radiator might explain why I'm seeing coolant on the garage floor.

Any help here?

Thanks!

 

OK, in my anxiousness to get an answer, I naturally didn't read about this first. One thread I read with interest was one called Moisture on Dipstick posted by Indiana.

I live in Milwaukee where it's been under 20F for the past 2 weeks. I live 4 miles from work and drive almost exclusively on short trips. The milkyness I noticed was on the dipstick, and I can't speak for the drained oil yet, as I didn't have any fresh stuff available.

So, it is possible that I have a condensation issue, and a lose hose clamp on the radiator. I would still be *Really* interested to hear any opinions.

 

Condensation is probably what it is. I would recommend replacing the dipstick o-ring. usually this is the solution to keep moisture out of the engine.

I had this issue as well and it is common on these cars in cold weather.