Hello YT... just had my 1st analysis done on my "new to me" 2000 SR5 4Runner, she has about 120k on the clock.

I put about 5000 miles on Mobil 1 5W-30 and sent it off to blackstone. The report had the following info:

Judging by the potassium, silicon, and sodium, 0.11% of this sample was anti-freeze. The good news is that wear still looks pretty good, so this is either a new problem or one that hasn't got out of hand yet. We suggest staying around 3,000-4,000 miles for the time being, and just checking back to monitor it. Often you can control an antifreeze problem with more frequent oil changes. No fuel or moisture found, and your 4Runner appears to be doing okay, despite the antifreeze. Check back to monitor and build wear trends.

.11% doesn't sound like much... but it's something I'd like to have looked at.

What are the likely culprits here?
Where can I start troubleshooting?

I just replaced all the spark plugs and they all looked good (cylinders 5&6 were a little brown... almost a rust color... didn't seem like they were too bad though, just figured the plugs were really old, the diodes were also white-ish in color).

I've been working on getting this truck into shape for the past few months...
- oil looked good, didn't look milky or watery
- there aren't any obvious leaks etc...
- no issues with idling, engine runs great
- no issues with temp gauge or overheating

Any help is appreciated... I'm going to start to monitoring coolant use tomorrow.

-batsoff

 

if it's an automatic, the culprit is likely to be the transmission cooler in the radiator.

Do a search for 'Strawberry Milkshake" for more info.

Good luck,
Paul

 

The milkshake is coolant in the tranny fluid, I think the question is coolant in the motor oil.
I'm no expert, but could it be a small head gasket leak?

 

which version of Mobil 1 is this? The regular version or the 15k mile version? Reason I ask is that I thought that the 15k version had some sodium and trace of potassium as part of the additive package.

 

Oops, my bad. Long day at work. X2 on head gasket.

 

First thing to pop in my mind was head gasket.

 

It's a 5-Speed...

I was afraid you guys were going to say head gasket. From the reading I did last nite, seems most folks with HG issues had oil in their coolant.

Dumb question on my part... if there is coolant in my oil... does that also mean that there is now oil in my coolant?

-batsoff

 

I would recommend driving the truck 3000 miles and retest, make sure you get a mid sump oil sample, not off the bottom of the pan. In the marine field we do tons of oil samples on the big diesels. Many Many times were get back confusing readings that are not there second time around. Monitor your anti freeze level closely or do a pressure test and let it sit. If you are burning anti freeze you will smell that sweet maple syrup smell and one of the plugs will be steam cleaned....

 

probably. but not always. coolant pressure is higher than oil pressure
when the engine is off....pushing coolant past the gasket for an hour
while the engine is off

 

... another piece to my puzzle...

When I cleaned my IAC valve, I remember that I accidentally hooked up 2 hoses backwards and tried several times to start the truck.

Just saw this in Jamie's write up for cleaning the IAC...

2) Next you'll need to remove the throttle body from the intake. There are 2 coolant hoses, an IAC air supply hose, the connector for the TPS & IAC and finally the 4 bolts holding the throttle body to the intake.

I wonder if swapping the hoses around would have caused coolant to mix with oil.. not entirely sure what those hoses do?

When I finally found my mistake and made the corrections, the truck started right up (although it did create a smoke screen from the exahaust that lasted for about 40 seconds).



-batsoff

 

Sounds like you ran coolant into the intake from that mistake, your next UOA sample will probably be fine, or at least much less coolant in the oil.

 

Thanks Mt Goat... Yeah, I think I may have caused my own issues here, gonna try to get a better idea of exactly what I did with switching those hoses around. Still learning my way around the 5VZ-FE.

Also started monitoring coolant this morning, have a better idea of where the level is at the current moment.

-batsoff

 

check the coolant overflow tank with a flashlight when engine is stone cold.

any oil/crud would make a bathtub ring around that overflow tank

 

You do realize that .11% is not even 1% right? That is such a small amount I dont think you should worry.

 

agreed... it is a very small amount. I wasn't a worrier until I started hanging out in internet forums... you guys have the worst luck! j/k

 

lol...I have bad luck driving in snow

 

That would be steam not smoke. Maybe you did a bit of de-carboning too !
Sounds like you are fine now.

 

Another good reason to get a UOA. Just more proof you cant just look at oil and tell its working. Do another test in a few k and see what differences you get to see if it is getting worse. You may have just caught an expensive repair in the early stages. good luck