kp Posted February 15, 2004 Report Share Posted February 15, 2004 Last weekend, I was driving my 92-Lumina 3.1L and suddenly lost heat. Seconds later, the temp gauge went up. I immediately shut it down and after a few minutes discovered the coolant is mixed with the oil. I changed the oil 3 times to clean the engine and am ready to fix it. The problem is I'm not sure which gasket(s) to replace. I'm thinking intake, but I'm wondering if anyone can suggest how to diagnose which gasket failed. Thanks in advance!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted February 15, 2004 Report Share Posted February 15, 2004 I would say head gaskets. Even if it is the intake gasket, you're gonna be down to the heads anyway so change the head gaskets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robby1870 Posted February 15, 2004 Report Share Posted February 15, 2004 Yeah, usually when the intake gasket goes, the temp doesnt shoot up that much. I bet its the head gaskets Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musthavemuzk Posted February 15, 2004 Report Share Posted February 15, 2004 did someone say they want to do mine? no? oh well Monty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89oldscutlass Posted February 16, 2004 Report Share Posted February 16, 2004 They make a headgasket test. The way it works is you put this fluid in a little pump and you open up your radiator cap and place the end of the pump on the cap opening and pump it, If the fluid turns yellow then you have a blown headgasket. You should be able to pick up the kit at any parts store. From what your saying its blown though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Posted February 16, 2004 Report Share Posted February 16, 2004 All the blown 60* head gaskets I've seen have leaked externally, although I have heard of one leaking coolant into the oil. I'd bet it's your intake, but once you're that far in, why not do the head gaskets and valve seals at the same time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thabulldog Posted February 18, 2004 Report Share Posted February 18, 2004 The head gaskets will leak internally if you let them go for too long. Last year I let them go all the way through from leaking externally, you could really tell when they went all the way through from the billowing white smoke and the car was running like shit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfewtrail Posted February 19, 2004 Report Share Posted February 19, 2004 The most common place for an intake gasket leak would be at the corners of the valley pan(lower intake gasket), the end of the gasket around the coolant passage was wore down pretty badly on mine on the drivers side(passenger side had a little wear as well, the rest of the gasket looked awesome @210,000 miles). Anyways, make sure to seal up the corners of the valley pan w/ some RTV(silicone) if it does turn out to be an intake or headgasket leak. By the way, you should be able to seel oil/coolant puddling right under the throttle body if the car is leaking where I mentioned and the coolant/oil is actually leaking out instead of just mixing. You'll probably have to pull your stock airbox to see the area that I'm speaking of. Hope this wasn't confusing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.