Oil and coolant mess! 200k miles

Hi everyone

Amazed at all the info on these forums, so I created an account hoping for some advice!

TLDR at bottom.

About a month ago my first ever issue happened with my taco. The alternator gave out on me and left me on the side of the road. I got it towed home and replaced the alternator next day.
2 weeks later I noticed my heat stopped working when idling. Researched it and tracked it back to a coolant related issue. Popped the hood and the overflow was bone dry. Filled it back up, heat started working again, next day empty. Then I looked at little deeper down near the power steering pump and the whole engine bay was covered with about an inch thick of oil slime/build up and the skid plate had a puddle of antifreeze in there. I parked it and have been using a rental to this day.
With DIY videos and a lot of time, I've replaced the thermostat, the water pump and did a coolant flush with a fresh oil change. Cleaned the engine bay dry and put everything back together and cranked it this morning. Idled perfect for about 20min then I noticed the RPMs drop from the usual 800 to 500, temp Guage went to half and it started slinging coolant and oil just as before. No more or less than before or after the repairs.
Looking forward to answering any and all questions or hearing possible causes. Any comments would be appreciated. I have the tools and the time, it's just really hard to find some good instructions online when it comes to my suspicion that the oil leak is coming from a gasket or something. As for the coolant spraying as well, I'm lost. Hoses are dry and with both the oil and coolant seen only leaking when the engine is running, the fan sprays it before I have a chance to see where it's dripping from.

TLDR:
Oil leak, Coolant leak, noticed after changing my alternator. Happening for a while but just noticed how bad the leaks were recently. Replaced thermostat, water pump, fresh oil, and coolant flush. Still slinging coolant and oil when engine is warmed up. Hoping for advice on next things to check / fix. I don't have the money to take it to a mechanic but I have tools and time.

 

Head gasket?

 

Clean it up and take your fan off . Maybe you can see where your leaking from them.

 

Thanks! I was thinking head gasket as well. When I took the fan out, a few pulleys and loosened the thermostat housing to get the water pump out, I did some spot cleaning. But definitely going to have to do a deeper clean seems like. I'll upload another picture after I get it all out again and deep clean it. What do you recommend I use to clean all of this? Small pressure washer and some gunk/purple power? Here a picture just before water pump install

 

You should have degreased it before you took it apart. Stuff some rags in the coolant ports and get some good strong detergent based degreaser. A little scrubbing with a small, stiff bristle paint brush and rise it off.

 

I wouldn't use a pressure washer.... Some purple degreaser or simply green, a brush, and a standard gatden hose, making sure not spraying areas you don't want to get wet. I've heard some horror stories about pressure washers causing damage /electrical issues

 

What year Taco is this?

Maybe try putting some UV tracer dye into your next batch of oil, run it in a darkened garage or outside at night and use a UV flashlight to see where the leak is coming from.

With that volume of leakage I would think you could see the first glowing UV tracer after a short delay, certainly less than 5 minutes.

 

Thanks everyone this is very helpful! So fan out, with stiff bristle brush and detergent based degreaser, stuff coolant lines and get to work. Rinse and repeat with garden hose. I have to look into this tracer dye that sounds like a dream! It's a 2007.

 

With UV tracer dye & such a huge leak I don't think you need to spend a ton of time cleaning everything up.

Just mix some dye into new oil (stir/shake it so it's thoroughly mixed into the new oil,) then top up the oil (and coolant,) start up the engine & wait for the dye to reveal itself.

Once you know where the leak is coming from, then you can focus on cleaning where necessary to prepare for whatever repair(s) need to be done.

$17 ACDelco 1148963 GM Original Equipment 10-5045 Multi-Purpose Fluorescent Leak Detection Dye - 1 oz

https://www.amazon.com/ACDelco-10-5045-Multi-Purpose-Fluorescent-Detection/dp/B008I2VPC4/

$13 Vansky UV Flashlight Black Light, 51 LED Blacklight Pet Urine Detector for Dog/Cat Urine, Dry Stains, Bed Bug, Resin Curing, Scorpions Finder

https://www.amazon.com/Flashlight-Vansky-Ultraviolet-Blacklight-Eliminator/dp/B01A5KLUG2/

 

@GilbertOz just ordered both! Thanks man, hoping I can locate that flourescent leak before the fan starts slinging it but definitely worth a shot for just around $30.

 

Haven't there been issues with the crank shaft seal behind the harmonic balancer slinging oil that badly.

 

So, oil and coolant is slinging off the fan? When you drained the radiator, was the coolant oil free? No oil floating in coolant? Have you changed the oil, was it milky? Radiator look clean? No crusty coolant on it?

 

@Chuy the coolant was oil free but when I changed the oil, it was milky. Similar to chocolate milk! Since I changed it, I can barely see the oil on my dipstick it's so clean. I'm still deep cleaning/degreasing the engine bay while I wait for that UV tracer to come in the mail. But for the slinging of fluid, I can differentiate a coolant drop and an oil drop. I don't think the two were combined