Spotting engine oil in the coolant is a big calamity that needs to be taken care of before the situation gets worse. You might never know what happens if coolant mix with engine oil unless carefully observe truck behavior.
While it results in the internal parts working slowly, making the engine stay at a bad temperature. After knowing all the bad sides, you're curious to find how to fix coolant mixing with engine oil, right?
Don't worry! I have planned to make this guide informative to describe the fixing procedure along with root causes and symptoms for better ideas. Let's Get Started!

Learn How To Fix Coolant Mixing With Engine Oil in Details:
Replacing the intake manifold gasket of the engine, oil cooler, radiator, cracked cylinder block, and transmission fluid will solve the issue of coolant and oil mixture. You need to see the symptoms and causes before making any changes.
Ignoring all signs that an engine show will be a big mistake for a driver. How to tell if coolant is mixing with oil?
If your engine actually facing a coolant-oil mixture issue, note down and observe the following indications as these will happen. Which are:
- Milky brown-like color fluid in the dipstick.
- The sweet scent when smelling the fluid.
- Antifreeze drops and coolant loss.
- Overheating.
All of the above will occur if your dipstick has an oil-coolant mixture for real. And, if one or 2 signs are matching with your coolant behaviors, it means something else is the trouble.

To fix the real trouble of coolant mixing with engine oil, it's essential to find out the causes at first. Based on that, you can take steps to solve the issues. And here are a few causes discussed briefly.
- Broken or burn out head gasket of the intake manifold.
- Failure of the oil cooler.
- Leakage of radiator coolant.
- Cracked cylinder block or head.
Again, it can possible that these causes are because of other problematic parts. Sometimes rust on engine components results in these issues. To avoid getting this kind of issue, it would be ideal to check how to clean aluminum engine parts.
In most cases, these are the causes that help determine if your coolant mixes with engine oil or not. After learning these, you are all prepared to take action based on the affected parts.
But hey, do you have the gears to fix coolant-oil mixture issues? Hope the tools are on your hand which got the quality and efficiency to repair the problematic part.
My Recommendations.
- Containing all the important parts such as oil seals, the SCITOO MLS Head Gasket Kits is ideal for sealing all the parts of the engine. This set is both strong and dependable.
- To shoot out rust and leaks as transmission fluid, the Valvoline Multi-Vehicle (ATF) does a great job. It carries 1 gallon which is enough for adding life and performance in the transmission.
Fix Coolant Mixing with the Engine Oil.
If your engine gets overheated and performs weakly, then the engine intake manifold or cylinder block is cracked. To fix them, follow the steps.
- Start by, seeing the fluid color and scent in the dipstick. If the color is milky brownish while the scent seems sweet, then the coolant-oil mixture has occurred.
- Check the intake manifold gaskets inside the intake manifold of the engine. If the gaskets are visibly cracked or broken, then take them out and insert a new set.
- Notice if the cylinder block or head is cracked or not. If yes, then change it by installing a new one.
What if your engine's radiator coolant is leaking? To solve this issue, you might need to wear gloves before getting started.
- First of all, take out the radiator cap and insert the pressure tool.
- Wait for up to 10-12 minutes. If the pressure is low, then it indicates leakage in the radiator coolant.
- Next, check if the leakage is occurring inside the hood or under your truck.
- After locating the spot, see if the fluid is milky brown or not. Then, replace the radiator oil coolant with a new flush to ensure a stable cooling system.
Again, your truck is still overheated after doing all the above. Then, the issue might be on the transmission fluid that is inside the radiator.
To fix the trouble, just change the fluid using any hydraulic cooler fluid to balance the temperature. I would suggest changing the radiator before putting the transmission fluid for leak-free application. Problem Solved!
Note: Be sure to grab a mechanic hand cleaner before starting the procedure. This way you won't catch grease or lubricant without damaging your hand.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Will a little coolant in oil damage engine?
Yes, but not severely! Even if the coolant leak in engine oil doesn't harm the motor, it will cause bad performance through overheating problems. That is not pleasant for a truck.
2. Is it bad if coolant gets into the engine?
Yup, for sure! Based on most users, the experience they go through when coolant mixes into the engine is pretty bad.
3. Can you drive with oil in coolant?
It is wise to not drive your truck if the coolant and oil get mixed. It is because the overheating and other damages in the truck will cause you to ride unstably which will lead to accidents.
In Conclusion
The mixture of coolant with oil is nothing but a tragedy for your engine system. But now you know how to fix coolant mixing with engine oil.
The coolant mixing with engine oil repair would be around $1000 ”“ $5000 based on problem types excluding the labor and other costs.
Hope this guide didn't let you down with all the explanations to solve the issue. Now, don't wait too long either repair yourself or seek service from an expert if necessary. Good Luck!