I'm posting this question for a family member that has a '89 2wd pickup with a 22R that has around 235k miles.

Never had a problem with it, and went to change drain his oil tonight, after emptying the crank case, he noticed that the oil has a small amount of lighter milkshake on top. From what he said, its a real small amount, but it is a light brown color, and a little frothy.

I'm wondering if he should change his oil as usual, then keep an eye on it...

or, don't bother blowing the money on new oil and filter, just get started on the head gasket?

 

If you are worried about the head gasket, you should do a compression test.
I prefer to do this test with oil in the motor.

 

has there been any coolant loss.. either way any water in the oil at all is bad for bearings cams and piston rings.. if it was me i would go ahead and replace the headgasket and timing cover gasket.. with new chain and guides

 

Like I said, there doesn't seem to be any loss of water.

Also, can't there be a bad head gasket without a broken seal around the rings? Meaning, that the break in the gasket is between a coolant and an oil passage?

If this is the case, a compression check would not show the bad HG.

If he goes ahead and chanes the oil as usual, can he just keep an eye on the condition of the oil and see that it doesn't get real bad?

 

yes you are correct.. but i dont want to say yes or no about driving it because i dont have the experience of most of the guys on here.. someone will chime in with a safe bet

 

the head gasket can be bad and still look just fine. that's exactly how the one i removed last weekend looked. i had the full milkshake edition with no obvious damage to the gasket.