Oil cooler failure? HG?

My antifreeze level slightly dropped and my engine oil dipstick is a little higher than when I changed the oil about a month back. How can I 100% determine whether I do have a blown HG or the oil cooler has failed?

 

2010 i doubt its a blown HG.

Is the overflow reservoir dry?

 

if enough water was leaking into the pan for you to detect a level change, the oil would be all milky looking from the mixing when running

 

No sir, just lost a little bit. Engine bay also smells a bit like coolant. Also discovered this yesterday

 

Normal there especially with lots of short drives and engine oil temp not coming up tall enough to evaporate off all moisture.


Fully cold (sitting overnight) on a level surface, add coolant to the overflow reservoir on the back of the fan shroud, not the radiator itself, to the full line of the reservoir.

Drive normally for a week, park in the same level spot and let sit overnight, check again for coolant loss.

 

Got

Gotcha. Thanks man.. the oil filler tube doesn’t seem to smell right to me, I just really don’t want that stuff mixing in there like crazy if it’s just the cooler that is bad

 

Have you ever replaced your radiator cap? The spring in those can get 'tired' over time and you can slowly boil it off.
How does the oil look on the dipstick?

 

I actually replaced the radiator about a month ago and replaced the cap with it yes. The oil looks completely normal but has definitely risen since I changed it

 

Dude you are way overthinking it with paranoia. If it is really bugging you drain the oil again and look at it in a drain pan. Does it look like the image below?

If you had coolant in the oil or oil in coolant it would be obvious.

 

You could always send out an oil sample for analysis if you are concerned. Be aware that Blackstone has been taking a loooong time to process samples lately.