Coolant in engine oil

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30316
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Post Mon Oct 02, 2017 9:14 am

I have an issue with coolant in engine oil in a m10 engine. The car does not have any running issue and it has never over heated. The coolant is in uneffected but do have to top up now and again. Am I looking at head gasket or possible cracked head?

The head has never been taken apart from the block since new, though some years back I did use OAT antifreeze for about 3 years which could have affected the head gasket. I haven't used the car for over a year since I noticed the problem. Just prior to noticing this issue I used to find I could see in my mirror on cold mornings white smoke on hard acceleration which could be coolant in combustion chamber and a slight oil leak around the distributor which was cured by rocker cover gasket replacement.

Before I dive into by taking the head off anything I should check?
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Brianmoooore
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Post Mon Oct 02, 2017 9:58 am

I only have experience of working on two M10 engines, and both of them had experienced simple head gasket failure with no other relevant problems.
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30316
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Post Mon Oct 02, 2017 1:00 pm

Thanks Brian for the quick reply. Let's hope it is just the head gasket.
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aimlessrock
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Post Mon Oct 02, 2017 1:38 pm

the M10 is a very hardy engine - my money would be on you gasket starting to fail.
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