Getting alot of coolant in the oil on my Sub. so much that it broke the nose off the starter. Is their any way to make sure its not just the head gasket cause i read these motors tend to split a water jacket too??

pull the heads

If it broke the starter because of hydrolock, I'd bet that you have 1 or more bent connecting rods. You are probably in for a complete tear down and close inspection.

Don4life,

I had to put a new engine in my 98 because of a crack in the cylinder wall. My understanding is if you use the Dex Cool you won't see the coolant in the oil, it won't make the oil milky like the old days. I had my oil analyzed by Blackstone Labs to confirm.

After pulling my passenger side head and having it bench tested for cracks/leaks and it was fine I had to pull the oil pan and look at the bottom end. I would recommend looking at the tuna can first for a non invasive first strike. If it has a bunch of jelly like goo, kind of like Vaseline, then I have bad news for you. If it is clean, you may have hope. Secondly you can pull the oil pan and look for cracks in the main webs and up the base of the cylinder walls. I put dye in my coolant and used a black light and I could see drips of coolant on the bottom end of the rod bolts. I am including a few pictures of the goop and coolant on the bottom end for your reference.

Wish you luck.

rpm

i put new starter on then pulled drain plug and it started out almost all green then turned to a mixture of green and black and its at least twice as full as i ought to be, so im tryin to figure out if i can salvage with a head gasket swap or if it gonna be save for new motor :(

Having clunker bomb go through your engine does less damage than coolant. Hydro lock, ruined bearings, rusted parts...

You may need to check the timing water pump cover and in tank oil cooler on the radiator. Sounds like a lot more coolant than a head gasket alone can put in an engine.