I can tell you what happened when ours was leaky - no water in the crankcase, brown crud floating in the coolant recovery tank. Hoses all deteriorated such that they were 'sweating' (little water droplets coating the outside). I replaced all, and the new upper radiator hose failed in a couple of weeks, leaving my wife roadside.

It took several Tide flushes after the gasket was replaced to keep more brown crud from showing up in the recovery tank. My advice would be to not delay repair.

Steve

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'91 MB 190E 2.3
'08 RAV4 Ltd 3.5
'83 Lazy Daze m'home 5.7