ford 3000 Oil pan full of antifreeze.

should'vestayedonthefarm · Dec 19, 2015

I'm thinking the worst here, I have a 1973 ford 3000 gas that last fall I checked the antifreeze and it was good to -25 deg, so then the next spring I needed to change the oil and rebuild the carb and change a tire but when I went to drain the oil for the oil change and antifreeze came pouring out when I removed the drain plug on the oil pan, the exterior of the block has no cracks and I was wondering if possibly a gasket could've caused this or if I have a cracked cylinder or head, I haven't tore into it yet and didn't know if anyone else had ever encountered this problem, it tested -25 but hadn't been started for about 3 or 4 months prior, Is there any hope for my motor or is it doomed, would like some insight before proceeding so I don't tear it all the way down unnecessarily. :?:

Steve@Advance · Dec 19, 2015

Since the antifreeze was checked good, you can rule out freeze damage.

A simple test would be to pull the plugs and crank the engine through, see if coolant blows out a cylinder.
If it does, pull the head and look for a blown gasket. If that's all that is wrong, the bottom end should
still be good.

A more involved test would be to pull the valve cover, fill the radiator and pressure it up. Look for leaks
down around the pushrod passages, indicating a gasket leak. If nothing, drop the oil pan, look for leaks
there.

MikeJM · Dec 20, 2015

Before you jump into tearing it apart. Check a few things like Steve suggested.

There's only a few places coolant can get into the oil. Check the simple ones first. Under the valve cover there are core plugs under the rocker arms, I've had first hand experience on a 6600 with this with one having a pin hole in it putting coolant into the oil.

It's also possible it's a cylinder pin holed through, that could let coolant directly into the pan or on top of a piston depending on its position.

Anonymous-0 · Dec 22, 2015

Engine blocks of of this vintage have been know to have casting issues. Many of the blocks start to leak coolant around the camshaft journals. With any luck this isn't the issue with your block. If it is a replacement block will be in order.

should'vestayedonthefarm · Apr 24, 2016

yeah I plan on pulling the thermostat out and replacing the housing and adding some used coolant just to see if that allows the coolant to get into the place where it is getting through to the pan, from there I will engage the process of elimination and start with removing the valve cover and checking those plugs for rot and so on and so forth, maybe I'll get lucky and it won't be anything serious, Thanks for all the tips, I was hoping the majority would say "Yeah no sweat its just a simple fix that happens all the time on these engines", but I guess maybe not, lol I will let everyone know what I find, keep your fingers crossed for me!

Destroked 450 · Apr 25, 2016

Water leaves a trail where it came from, I've always pulled the oil pan and followed the water trail back to the source of the leak. You can pull the plugs and check the cylinders for water but don't crank it to much because the rings will wipe off the cylinders making the leak hard to find if that's where it's coming from.
Had a pin hole in the bottom of the water jacket on a 233 block once, had it pinned and poured about a half inch of epoxy resin in the bottom of the water jacket. Engines still going today.

ford 3000 Oil pan full of antifreeze.

should'vestayedonthefarm

New User

Steve@Advance

Well-known Member

MikeJM

Member

Anonymous-0

Well-known Member

should'vestayedonthefarm

New User

Destroked 450

Well-known Member

Similar threads