Hairline Crack in Head 96 Nissan Sentra

Hi,

I found a hairline crack going from front to back down the middle
of the head on this car a month ago. It has 177K on it. I don't know
how long the crack has been there.

When cold, I could see a tiny trickle of green antifreeze oozing out
of one part of the crack
.. When hot, the crack has some oil clinging to it, but no evidence of
antifreeze. I assume it only leaks when cold.

The car currently has very low oil pressure, and goes down to zero
when hot and idling.

The car was consuming about a pint of coolant every 50 miles for
about a year. Must have been burning it. I put a cooling system sealer
in, and the coolant consumption has dropped to a pint every 300 miles.
Never any smoke or steam from the exhaust. Pressure test of cooling
system when warm revealed no leak. Didn't test it cold.


The oil has never exhibited the clasic "white slime" look of oil/
af mixing. But over years could this trickle of antifreeze into the
oil when cold ruin an engine, with regular 5k to 7k oil changes???

Thanks

the best sealer I have ever used is a product called Alumaseal (sp) for
stopping coolant leaks in automobile radiators / blocks / etc..

I think it says on the pkg. it is also a w p lubricant. very good stuff,
I think, when used according to directions..

it comes in a cylindrical shape pkg.(powder), and also in liquid form, I
like the powder type best.

Caprice85 > wrote:
>
> The oil has never exhibited the clasic "white slime" look of oil/
>af mixing. But over years could this trickle of antifreeze into the
>oil when cold ruin an engine, with regular 5k to 7k oil changes???

Probably not, as the small amount should boil off when the engine comes
up to temperature. But I'd JB Weld the crack anyway.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

The antifreeze that got in the oil likely burned off, but it leaves bad
deposits behind. These will wear out your bearings giving you very low
oil pressure as you noted.

Time to shop for an engine if the body is still good.

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's
Canadian Off Road Trips Photos: Non members can still view!
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Caprice85 wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> I found a hairline crack going from front to back down the middle
> of the head on this car a month ago. It has 177K on it. I don't know
> how long the crack has been there.
>
> When cold, I could see a tiny trickle of green antifreeze oozing out
> of one part of the crack
> . When hot, the crack has some oil clinging to it, but no evidence of
> antifreeze. I assume it only leaks when cold.
>
> The car currently has very low oil pressure, and goes down to zero
> when hot and idling.
>
> The car was consuming about a pint of coolant every 50 miles for
> about a year. Must have been burning it. I put a cooling system sealer
> in, and the coolant consumption has dropped to a pint every 300 miles.
> Never any smoke or steam from the exhaust. Pressure test of cooling
> system when warm revealed no leak. Didn't test it cold.
>
> The oil has never exhibited the clasic "white slime" look of oil/
> af mixing. But over years could this trickle of antifreeze into the
> oil when cold ruin an engine, with regular 5k to 7k oil changes???
>
> Thanks