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Head Gasket? Or LIM ??

J

JAllegar

New member
Good Morning All. I have a 2001 Grand Prix GT (3.8 L Vin K) And have noticed oil residue in the coolant resevoir tank, for about a year now. My concerns are, the engine oil is being consumed quickly, and I need to add oil about every 2 weeks or so. And, the coolant level drops also. There are no signs of coolant in the oil. Just oil in the coolant.
 
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Re: Head Gasket? Or Radiator?

The intake gaskets would be my first guess since thoses are a promblem on the 3800, and 3400. sure headgasket could cause it but is less likly. I would replace the lim gaskets if they have never been replaced yet and get the revised aluminum ones. (they are hard to find locally) zzperformance.com has them if you cant get them locally.
If your doing this yourself You will need....

1. Upper intake manifold gasket
2. Throttle body gasket (normaly comes with UIM gasket). Also the throttle body doesnt have to come off.
3. Lower Intake manifold gasket (Need black RTV should come with the gasket set)
4. 10 quarts of oil. I like to change the oil right after replacing the gaskets. I let the car run for awhile untill i get air out of coolant system and if everything checks ok then i change it out once more just make sure no coolant/ dirt is in the oil. Spun bearings arnt fun
5. coolant. good time to change the thermostat (need gasket for thermostat) and change to the green or yellow coolant! if you still run the orange dexcol s**t.
6. somthing to clean the gasket surface with. scotch brite works good.

That should be about it... there maybe more though.
 
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Re: Head Gasket? Or Radiator?

i thought usually when the lim gaskets went, the coolant would drop into the valley, not the other way around?
 
Re: Head Gasket? Or Radiator?

anyways, ill post these pics for him that he sent me hope it helps...

IMG_1862.jpg

IMG_1863.jpg
 
Re: Head Gasket? Or Radiator?

well heres the thing how would the oil get into the radiator? theres no line that runs the oil through the raidiator, so it would have to come from inside the engine somewhere unless they put it in the coolant to begin with lol. more then likly it happens when the car is cold or at idle before the theremostat is open. I also have some oil in my coolant tank. motor has 130k with orginal gaskets so ill have to redo those sometime this year.

By the way how much oil and how much coolant are you loosing?
 


Re: Head Gasket? Or Radiator?

It could be. but without taking it down who knows. i would get all gaskets to replace the headgaskets just incase its not the lim ones.
 
Re: Head Gasket? Or Radiator?

By the way how much oil and how much coolant are you loosing?[/QUOTE]

Its about a half qt. to quart every month or so on oil. the coolant every 3-4 months, about 2 qts.
 
Re: Head Gasket? Or Radiator?

not even half of that. i havent used any coolant that i know of but it does leak some oil maybe a 1/4 of a quart every 1 1/2 months if that.
 
Re: Head Gasket? Or Radiator?

a couple of ways to find out for sure are perform a complete cooling system flush & replacing thermostat / then have it block tested for exhaust gas in coolant . then you can tell if you need to do more than just a head gasket job or full seal replacement or new engine.
 


Started a tear down on the motor. Have the intake manifold off... the gaskets were worn, could see where oil was mixing with the coolant, in the water jackets. Haven't reassembled yet; going to examine the block and heads for damage. I think I found the issue though. LIM gaskets. Along the odd bank of the motor, the front side was damaged... have photos - just not sure how to post.
 
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