I'm suspicious! I have 79,000 miles on my HHR and since I've owned it at 38,000 miles my oil level on the stick seems to end up slightly above the top level for full. It almost seems like when the anti-freeze level goes down the oil level goes up. But there doesn't seem to be any indication of antifreeze in the oil when I change it. I have noticed that the anti-freeze level goes down over time also. Maybe I'm over sensitive because I don't want any problems with the engine.

 

If it smells like fuel, you may have problems with piston rings or your ignition system. Incomplete combustion or lower compression from bad piston rings will allow fuel to pass into the crankcase and raise your oil level.

Usually when coolant gets into the oil, it will turn milky.

 

There definitely is no mistaking oil mixed with the antifreeze in the radiator, or antifreeze in the oil. One look will tell you that there is a serious problem.

The fact that the oil level goes up is weird. I've never seen that happen in a car. It sounds like coincidence regarding the levels of the two. If the antifreeze goes down, it is going somewhere without a doubt. I make it a habit once in a while to go through and tighten all of the water hose clamps. They can work lose a bit as the hoses age.

 

With age cars will lose a little anti freeze from time to time.

If it is in the oil the under side of you cap often will have a mikeshake kind of look to it as the moisture and oil will leave a deposit there.

How much is it up? sometimes oil will be a little up or down depending on how soon after you check it and shut the engine off. Drain back at times can make oil rise after shut down. Some engines drain back slower than others.

If there was gas in it you should be able to smell it.

 

After owning 8 Alfa Romeos, I know what oil and water mixing looks like. Alfas are notorious for head gasket leaks leading to oil in the water or water in the oil or water in the combustion chanmbers. Water in the oil, as already noted, makes the inside of the oil cap look like a chocolate milkshake. Oil in the water makes the radiator cap, inside of the radiator and overflow tank look slimy to oily. Water in the combustion chamber will eventually lead to hydraulic lock (making it not crank in the morning).

The results of water in the oil for a long period is that it doesn't take much coolant to kill the shear strength of the oil. While the bearings tend to be hydraulically suspended (thus not needing near as much shear strength) any gear drive will get messed up. Luckily the HHR doesn't have a distributor drive. A friend that had water mixing in the oil of his LS V-8 for quite a while due to a bad intake manifold gasket (a known issue with that engine) had to have the tach replaced when they finally fixed the gasket. The gear on the bottom (driven off a gear on the cam) had the gear teeth sharpened to knife blades due to the lack of shear strength in the oil.

 

Interesting. How would the chain drives (such as timing chain and water pump drive) be affected by insufficient shear lubrication?

 

Metal on metal. It would take more than a trace of bad oil and a lot of Revs. but in time it sould hurt them.

Note if the oil was really bad you most likely lose a cam, bearings, cam follower, rings, etc first.

Even so it happen to all types of engines but is not something that is real common. Many engines can have a small leak but it is often overlooked since it is small.

I have seen mositure in many older engines that just kepp on going and going. Often if it gets bad enough you will get a little white smoke out the tail pipe if it is getting into the cylinders.

 

Agreed, hyperV6. That old LS had a lot of wear on the gear on the distributor, but the gear on the cam was OK. So it will be the "weakest link" that takes it the hardest. Since that engine was in an older "beater" driver, they didn't tear into it any deeper.

I have seen old Alfas run with water in the oil for thousands of miles, but I wouldn't recommend it. Best to fix the issue rather than risk oil breakdown.

 

By what I've read here my problem is not likely anti-freeze in my oil as there is no indication of it in the crankcase or oil upon changing it. All I know is after changing the oil and filter and I put 5 quarts of oil in a few days latter I will notice that it is about a pint above the full line on the dipstick. The radiator fluid problem might be normal drop over time. The antifreeze level does go down maybe a pint to an oil change. Not a lot!! Now on the other hand I'm not sure about gas getting in the crankcase. I will have to look into that. Thanks for the input!!!!