oil in water

[FestYboy]

well i'll admit that having the leak one sided like that is more rare, the reasoning you state is bachward. normal oil pressure at idle should be 11-15psi (warm), and typical coolent pressure is 13psi (hot). so if there's gonna be a leak, it's gonna start with the oil on the intake side (cooler, but oil pressure ports are present) or the coolent on the exhaust side (hotter, and have the oil return ports present (no oil pressure)) of the head. personally, i've seen only one cracked block (mine), and it displayed the same symptoms (oil in coolent only).

As stated above though you CAN have just one or the other and it still be the head gasket.

[Festival]

engine replacement

I have two bad experiences with engine blocks. Two different engines from my old Honda Accord. Both leaked water into the combustion chamber. I did the head repair more than once in one engine, then I quit and tried another repaired engine. The same problem happened and I replace the head. Still water in the cylinders.
I got a used engine with warranty and that fix my problems. Too much money wasted on those two engines.
Now I have a situation where the block is in doubt, and since I don't want to have more bad experiences.Probably, I will replace the whole engine. I haven't spend money on it just my time.
The machine shop will keep the ported head, I will keep the block, buy a used engine, and once it breaks, I will use the old engine's internals to fix the new one.
I know that this problem is rare,but possible. I don't want to risk half of the price of a used engine in something that is in doubt(my block)
I'm glad that Brian and Festy shared their experiences about this situation. So, I can take a better decision.
Now I'm thinking on getting a cheap XR2 and play with it
If I change my mine I will let you know...lol
Thanks for your help Buddies