so last week i had my radiator out of the car and i brought it over to the local rad. shop. they boiled it and pressure tested it up to 20 lbs. and said it was fine. so i hooked everything up all hoses and i put a new thermostat and gasket. and i decided to pressure test it. i pump it up to 16 lbs and the thing drops down slowly. any ideas. i borrowed the tester from my old high school shop teacher, its a snap on but its old. do these things go bad ever??? let me know what you guys think. oh also i checked the oil and it seems kid of thin. its not really high on the dip stick or anything. but it does seem thin. let me know what you guys think- thanks - Jon

 

Of course tests go back. Most of the time its the seal at the goose neck. Some of the tester come with a flat cap so you can check it. Just because you had the rad tested and new thermotate gaskey does not mean you have all the problems worked out. I think autozone will let you borrow a tester. If you want to check that way.

You could have an issue with the heater core,water pump Freeze plug or head gaskets. If you where getting oil in you anti-freeze it would change color to a milkshake look very quickly. Normally with a minor blow head gasket you do not get anti-freeze in the oil. The gasket blows between coolant duct and the cylinder which allows coolant out the exhaust. This normally shows as steam coming form the tail pipe.

Pull the plugs do the pressure test a few times then spin the motor over. See if you get coolant out. Remeber it does not take much fluid loss to drop pressure.

 

what problems are you having, that you had to go and get your radiatior tested and made you worry about your oil?

 

well i was not worried about the radiator persay. i was working on the car and i leaned it foward cause i droped my wrench and the thing got away from me and hit the alternater pully....really lame...so after that i poped it out of the car and took it over to my radiator shop and they said that it was fine from the "crash" and they tested it and boiled it out and so on. so that was my concern with the rad. my main concern is why is the oil so thin? because when i pull the dip stick out i wouldnt say its like water but its not as thick as normal oil. and its got a real cheap filter on it as well. ( i work at a parts store and this is the ****test brand of filters - (pronto)) i dont even carry them by me. also it had kind of like a burnt smell to it. like a worn oil smell. its not the best descripition haha im sorry, im sitting here wording it as best i can. and like gorn awnsered my queation the coolant pressure tester would drop down slowly after i pumped it up to the right pressure. so it made my mind wonder and i pulled the dip stick out and than my brain went hay wire. so thats my real concern. ive dumped the coolant once or twice on the car and never saw any oil. so that made me feel some what better.

p.s. sorry about this long post

 

also to day at work i bought new oil and a nice earl filter. that will be changed tonight

 

your cooling system is most likey fine. as far as oil in the coolant, you will never see that. if you had problems with anything major you would see the coolant in your oil, not the other way around.

as far as your oil being thin, what weight oil are you starting with? also, a long time ago I used to use Amalie oil and after I finally switched to Castrol, I realized how quick Amalie used to break down compared to Castrol.

when you say "it's not really that high on the dipstick", do you mean it was a little low? if that's the case, it probably just means it was overdue for an oilchange and that's why it was probably thinner than you would have liked also