Belair56

[Belair56]

Have a 1996 Olds 3.1 Cutlass Surpreme that has oil in the radiator overflow container. What could be causing this. Dont think its a head gasket cause the engine oil has no water in it. Just changed oil about a month ago and it looks clean. Any thoughts folks?

Edited February 16, 2013 by Belair56

[Crazy K]

Since you have a 96, you have/had dexcool which might have left mucky residue. Clean it out and monitor it.

 

Clean it out and see if it occurs again. If in doubt, you could remove the inner seal on the radiator cap, which will make the system run without producing coolant pressure(fine in winter), which will prevent coolant from contaminating the transmission/oil/whatever, though it would allow oil to contaminate the radiator faster, but that's better than the opposite.

 

In the event you confirm a real ongoing issue, it is likely to be the transmission cooler leaking, as oil passages under pressure don't cross coolant passages in a 3100 (it's not a 3.1, which is the 90ish-93 motor)

 

Should you need a radiator, an LQ1 radiator (approx 1 1/4 inch core) is a great option as it offer more cooling capacity, and is a direct swap except for the passenger fan must be shimmed or swapped with an LQ1 donor's.

[Garrett Powered]

LIMG, no?

[jman093]

Are you sure it's currently getting oil in the coolant? All those coolant jugs seem to get really crappy shit built up inside after a few years. If so, I'd clean it out and recheck it.