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There is oil in my coolant.


cutlasssupremepizza
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But no coolant in my oil? There was sludge on the radiator cap, and the tell tale "rainbow swirls" in the coolant. After performing a flush, there was a small amount of oil in the flush.

Edited by cutlasssupremepizza
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What engine?

 

Off the top of my head:

- Bad head gasket

- Cracked head

- Cracked block

- Cracked oil cooler (I know some W-bodies had oil coolers, not sure if any had water-cooling of oil or not).

- Cracked transmission fluid cooler (this is in one of the end tanks, though the oil in the coolant would be transmission fluid and not motoroil).

 

The 2.8L in my 89 has leaked a little oil into the coolant since 1999. Never got it analyzed to see if it's motor oil or trans fluid, though I think it's motor oil because it's brown and not red. I just clean out the reservoir now and then. Apparently they can keep going like that for quite some time if it's a tiny leak.

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I'm not sure it could be the LIM. I can't think of any place in the LIM where there is oil pressure passing through it which is greater than coolant. Coolant in the oil could be the LIM, but I'm coming up blank trying to think of places in the LIM with high oil pressure.

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Well there wasn't a huge amount in it. Not as much as when the w/p went bad on my 2.7 dodge and filled the whole engine with coolant in the oil. I'd say maybe a half cup tops. This probably hasn't been changed in at least 4 years.

 

Now on to another issue. I noticed after changing the oil and coolant, it sounded like some kid put a bunch of pebbles down my transmission fill tube, and the cooler line is rusted out, causing fluid to leak out.

 

I know power steering pumps make grinding noise when low on fluid, but I'm really scared I just f'ed my transmission.

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No coolant in tranny. The oil lines run through an integrated cooler in the radiator, one of the metal lines sprung a leak, I'd say the transmission is about 2-3 qts low on fluid. Since it's making a noise, I'm really worried it shit the bed.

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I'm not sure it could be the LIM. I can't think of any place in the LIM where there is oil pressure passing through it which is greater than coolant. Coolant in the oil could be the LIM, but I'm coming up blank trying to think of places in the LIM with high oil pressure.

 

Doesn't oil run through the intake manifold though? I always thought it did. I know it does on the 3800 since rainater flooded the oil out.

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[ATTACH=CONFIG]17907[/ATTACH]

 

 

Here is what the cap looked like, a big ball of "goop" I cleaned out from it. ONLY the neck had this, the upper rad hose, heater core hose, and water outlet did not have this goop at all, very clean actually.

 

Also, the overflow had some residue on the inside of it as well. It's liked this stuff formed at the top of the radiator, and went into the overflow, as no other hose/line/part has a smidge of "goop" on it.

Edited by cutlasssupremepizza
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Doesn't oil run through the intake manifold though? I always thought it did. I know it does on the 3800 since rainater flooded the oil out.

 

THROUGH the manifold? not that i'm aware of. depending on the engine, it can come into contact with the lower intake(since it forms the top of the oil gallery).

 

On a somewhat related note, what is the big vacuum line running to a coffee can shaped thing on the transmission, what would that be for?

 

sounds like the vacuum modulator. causes transmission line pressure to change in relation to engine manifold vacuum.

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I've done a ton of reading online, but all transmissions are different. I can't really find much in relation to a grinding noise on the account of fluid being low. Oddly enough it's not a constant noise, but a grinding noise of 2-3 seconds followed by 1-2 seconds of silence in a cycle.

 

The trans did not get super low, so I doubt damage was done, but I'm going to take the pan off tomorrow and check the magnets for any metal shavings.

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There exists a coolant passage inside the timing cover, and when the gasket breaks down around one of the two larger bolts towards the top of the cover an opportunity presents itself for the two fluids to tango. Of all the gaskets Ive changed n the 3100 this one gave me the most trouble because it hardened to the metal and had to be ground off. Not even head gaskets or anything above that gave me that much of a potential issue had I not power tools in the armory. 100-150 grit sandpaper would of been used if no power tools and that presents a slew of new problems because raw oil is exposed in the pan when this cover is removed. Careful not to damage the oil pan gasket as a part of this runs under the crankshaft area.

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I've done a ton of reading online, but all transmissions are different. I can't really find much in relation to a grinding noise on the account of fluid being low. Oddly enough it's not a constant noise, but a grinding noise of 2-3 seconds followed by 1-2 seconds of silence in a cycle.

 

The trans did not get super low, so I doubt damage was done, but I'm going to take the pan off tomorrow and check the magnets for any metal shavings.

 

Does it only do it when you're moving?

When mine has run low, I get a rather firm, delayed shift which seems worse when cornering as the fluid shifts to one side. No odd noises though. Although yours may have run much lower than mine has. I've read stories on this forum where the transmission will slip in certain gears as well with very low fluid level, but also no mention of odd noises.

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I haven't tried it while moving, my rear callipers are still on order, lol. But oddly enough driving this home, it was really low and it didn't act up or make any noise.

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