I would try for a compression test and/or leak down test. You may have a warped head or blown head gasket causing that milk. If you're losing coolant, its going somewhere, and it can leak externally through a gasket or hose, burned through the exhaust, into the oil, or any combination of the above. Any leaks and you should pull the head & fix it. Otherwise you are ruining your engine.

 

Wasn't thinking about those since he said he still had 40-60 psi. If the mains and rod bearings still looked decent then the cam bearings should still be good. Usually the rod and mains wear out much faster than the cam bearings since they have a lot more force put on them. If it was bad enough to need cam bearings, then it should probably be pulled and tanked for a full overhaul.

 

Thanks md21722. Hate to put it all back together just to pull it all apart again, but oh well. Looks like I'll have to take it to a shop to have the leakdown test performed, so might as well have them do both.

 

If you're interested and already have an air compressor, you can buy a compression tester & leak down tester for less than $100. The compressor is only needed for the leak down test.

 

I don't have a compressor, wish I did.

I just did a compression test with a loaner tool and got 120+/- 2 on every cylinder. When I did a compression test a year and half ago I got had readings more like 135-150 with no greater than 10psi difference between neighboring cylinders. Both tests were dry. I don't have a squirter.

Not sure if I even trust my current results.

With a new oil pan gasket and RMS everything is pretty clean. But I noticed this:





Is that the gasket failing? I don't think I've cleaned that surface in at least a year. If it's seeping and burning off quickly that might explain things.

 

They are known to leak oil on the passenger side there though I have heard of it more on earlier years. Yours appears to be one of the later models, 2000-2001. Just inside the block and head are where the pushrods are. There are no coolant passages right there. Your compression is very close cylinder to cylinder which is surprising. I've typically found by this mileage that they start to stray more than that. You might find another gauge to test with. Also keep in mind the Rocky Mountain states are high in altitude so you have to do some math to normalize your compression numbers to sea level (they will go up). The key point here is that you are getting coolant into the oil and its probably either the head or head gasket. 0331 heads tend to crack. Even if its not cracked, and it is only the head gasket, the head should be replaced. This repair will cost you about $750 with the head and gaskets. By this mileage the engine tends to benefit from a valve job anyway which would increase your compression.