GutlessSupreme Posted December 21, 2005 Report Posted December 21, 2005 ...and from what it looks like, it wasn't the headgaskets. There's no coolant in the oil either. How else could oil possibly be getting into the coolant? This is on the Cutlass, 3.1. Quote
PeNZ Posted December 21, 2005 Report Posted December 21, 2005 Did you just buy it? Maybe some put oil in the radiator when they accually wanted to fill the oil?? Quote
Prospeeder Posted December 21, 2005 Report Posted December 21, 2005 No hes had the thing forever, lol, its a 3.1 MPFI just so people dont think its the 3100, how many miles are on it? Sounds like LIM but thats ususally the oposite, hopefully some1 else knows Quote
z284pwr Posted December 21, 2005 Report Posted December 21, 2005 Can the oil cooler cause any problems like that? Quote
Crazy K Posted December 21, 2005 Report Posted December 21, 2005 I mistook tranny fluid in the coolant for oil.... The transcooler inside the radiator was leaking. I was scared that it was a head gasket, so I removed the inner seal from my radiator cap, effectively making a zero pressure system. Once I did that It was apparent that it was just tranny fluid because the color became evident. Meanwhile I had gone and bought another car Try that and see what you get. and came back and let us know p.s. it's better to have it leak that way than the other way after all... Also, would this be a decent way to get around a leaking LIM for a while, btw? Quote
Regal_GS_1989 Posted December 21, 2005 Report Posted December 21, 2005 p.s. it's better to have it leak that way than the other way after all... Ummm. Not always. If you get coolant in the tranny, it turns the fluid into like a strawberry milkshake, and it can cause the clutches to start peeling, thus the tranny needing a rebuild. Quote
Baddflash Posted December 22, 2005 Report Posted December 22, 2005 My '89 had tranny fluid getting in the coolant but no coolant got in the tranny, and it was just the rad. I would think the trans cooler would have a higher line pressure that would keep the coolant out. IMO Quote
Crazy K Posted December 22, 2005 Report Posted December 22, 2005 p.s. it's better to have it leak that way than the other way after all... Ummm. Not always. If you get coolant in the tranny, it turns the fluid into like a strawberry milkshake, and it can cause the clutches to start peeling, thus the tranny needing a rebuild. Sorry, You misunderstood, I meant that it's better to have stuff leak into the coolant and not the other way around. Coolant will destroy a tranny and can destroy an engine if it gets in there. Quote
terryk2003 Posted December 22, 2005 Report Posted December 22, 2005 yep, deffinatly check the trans fluid..i've had a few cars where the trans cooler broke and leaked into the coolant...if thats the case, make sure you flush the coolant REALLLY well, cause that oily mix could deffinatly mess some things up!... Quote
mihela816 Posted December 22, 2005 Report Posted December 22, 2005 It's not good either way. That tranny fluid destroys coolant hoses. Quote
Crazy K Posted December 22, 2005 Report Posted December 22, 2005 Better than a transmission though. I mean it to be short term till the problem is fixed! Quote
GutlessSupreme Posted December 22, 2005 Author Report Posted December 22, 2005 Sounds like LIM but thats ususally the oposite, hopefully some1 else knows I just changed the head gaskets yesterday so I'd think I'd notice if it was the LIM but thank you. Someone had mentioned the possibility of tranny fluid to me but the radiator looks to be in absolute mint shape... always a possibility I guess. I'll try to check that out this morning. Any other suggestions in the meantime? Quote
Crazy K Posted December 22, 2005 Report Posted December 22, 2005 It's caused by the leaking of left hand blinker fluid! Ummm I'm sitting here and thinking.... there aren't any oil feed lines that run through the head gasket itself, i think, as the upper engine gets all it's lub throught the pushrods.... the LIM doesn't have any oil lines running through it either. It wouldn't be leaking oil into the coolant, only the other way around. Has the engine been overheated? I think on this engine only a cracked block might be able to leak oil into the coolant... and it'd have to be cracked just right. meaning it must not be oil... Head gasket replaced? What was the problem? try removing the reservoir seal fron the radiator cap (The inner one) as this would increase the speed of the leak and make it more apparent... it's gotta be the trans cooler Quote
Regal_GS_1989 Posted December 22, 2005 Report Posted December 22, 2005 Well, you said that you changed your head gaskets yesterday. did you flush the cooling system while you were at it?? It is possible that there is nothing wrong at all, and that a little bit of oil got into one of the cooling jackets when the motor was appart, and after driving, it finally surfaced. Quote
GutlessSupreme Posted December 22, 2005 Author Report Posted December 22, 2005 No, the reason I changed the headgaskets was because I thought thats where the leak was. But it wasn't. Even the LIM gasket was fine. I haven't started/flushed it yet as the intake manifolds are still off at the moment. I just flushed/changed the coolant last summer. And it's not just a little bit of oil. I checked the tranny fluid, seemed fine and red on the dipstick. Didn't smell too bad either. The car overheated once about two years ago when one of the TB cooler hoses drained the whole system without me noticing. I did the TB bypass, put in new coolant and it's been fine since, besides a stuck thermostat. Then just last weekend I was driving it home at night, wasn't getting any heat and suddenly the temp gauge was in the red. Pulled over right away. I started it back up 10 minutes later and almost instantly it shot back down to normal operating temps. With heat. I didn't drive it long enough to see if it would climb back up, but it did the exact same thing three more times on the day following. Coolant level was fine, but very dark. Dipstick showed only oil, no milkyness. I can't be without a car for long so I just dove in and figured I'd try and fix the most logical problem first. I don't believe it's a cracked head, because like I said, it came on all of a sudden without any other reason to overheat that would've cracked the head. Car doesn't have an oil cooler, btw. So it's not there. Quote
Canada Posted December 23, 2005 Report Posted December 23, 2005 You could also have a cracked block. Quote
GutlessSupreme Posted December 24, 2005 Author Report Posted December 24, 2005 At this point I wouldn't even doubt it. With all the weird shit these cars give me, I just wouldn't doubt it. How the hell would I have cracked the block though? I'll tell you guys though.. besides the coolant problem, the inside of this motor looks mint. Even the cylinder walls looked pretty good, hardly any scratches. 140k miles. Quote
Prospeeder Posted December 24, 2005 Report Posted December 24, 2005 hmm thats crazy, how do you get cracked blocks, doesnt that happen if the coolant freezes? but its not THAT cold over there is it? Quote
GutlessSupreme Posted December 24, 2005 Author Report Posted December 24, 2005 hmm thats crazy, how do you get cracked blocks, doesnt that happen if the coolant freezes? but its not THAT cold over there is it? hell no. it's the proper concentration of antifreeze too, not like there's too much water or something. Quote
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