Geoff97Cutlass Posted April 4, 2013 Report Share Posted April 4, 2013 (edited) If I remember correctly I thought I had read that this is a common thing for the 3.1's. Was it the intake gasket or head gasket that was usually the culprit? The only thing I've seen is a milky white thin sludge on the underside of the oil filler cap. It does not appear to have diluted the oil & it's level is right where it should be & the radiator is still full too. I've been driving it & kept an eye on this for the past six months & nothing has changed. Am I sitting on a time bomb that will destroy the engine or is it still safe to drive this way. The local shop gave me a ballpark figure of $750 if it is intake only & $950 to replace head gaskets too. I'm mechanically challenged & do not have the tools to take on this job so I will have to pay someone to do it. Edited April 4, 2013 by Geoff97Cutlass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertISaar Posted April 4, 2013 Report Share Posted April 4, 2013 if it happened in the winter, pretty good chance that it was just condensation mixing with the oil. fairly normal, just wipe the cap and all of the crap that you can see out of there and monitor it to see if it happens again. if it keeps happening, expect LIM gaskets. if upon disassembly they didn't appear to be leaking, expect headgaskets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2k2cse Posted April 4, 2013 Report Share Posted April 4, 2013 The sludge on the filler cam is common if your car only makes short trips. It's just a bit of condensation in the system that doesn't get ventilated out because the car isn't running for a long period of time. As long as it don't get worse, it's nothing to worry about. Edit: Saar beat me to it. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff97Cutlass Posted April 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2013 Whew, I feel a little better about this now and I'll do as you instructed. Thanks for the quick replies! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy K Posted April 4, 2013 Report Share Posted April 4, 2013 p.s. taste it, yes, taste it. if it taste's sweet, you do have some coolant seepage. if not, you are "ok" but I still do intake gaskets on any 3100 using the fel-pro metal set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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