Whiskey River Posted March 15, 2004 Report Share Posted March 15, 2004 Hey guys, my neighbor came over and asked me to look at his car. He says that on his way home, it began to overheat. He shut it down, let it cool off and then drove the rest of the way home, no problem. When I got over there, I removed the radiator cap and there was oil floating on the top of the coolant, LOTS of oil. I figured it had clogged his thermostat and the thermostat wasn't opening when he had the problem. Here is where I need help, is this an intake gasket problem or a head gasket problem? Also, there is a small coolant leak, coming from the engine, leaking down on the starter. It is a very small leak, if the coolant hadn't pooled in one of the started bolt holes, I wouldn't have noticed it. Just so you know what I am looking at, it's a 95 base GP. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sl3196 Posted March 15, 2004 Report Share Posted March 15, 2004 Uh Oh probaly a head gasket!!! Intake gaskets just leak coolant I believe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robby1870 Posted March 15, 2004 Report Share Posted March 15, 2004 I would guess intake gasket since oil is in the radiator. If coolant was in the oil Id say head gasket Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whiskey River Posted March 15, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2004 I would guess intake gasket since oil is in the radiator. If coolant was in the oil Id say head gasket That's what I would guess, the dipstick comes up clean (oil only), and there is no foaming on the oil cap. I'll let him know that is what it is, has anybody changed an intake gasket on a 3100 and can give me any hints as to the type of job it would be? I haven't agreed to tackle this for him yet but I'm sure it would be quite pricey at a garage to have the gasket changed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sl3196 Posted March 15, 2004 Report Share Posted March 15, 2004 Yep the intake gasket is damn expensive for labor. Forgot exact price of mine but like $600-$700, not sure. When my intake gaskets went I didnt find oil in the radiator. But i got it fixed quickly once it was leaking. I'm sure you could probaly do it yourself it would just take a while. Lots of things to remove. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4spdz34 Posted March 15, 2004 Report Share Posted March 15, 2004 haha intake gaskets on a 3100 hard......hell no. thats easy shit, shouldn't take more than 2 hours and depending where u get the gaskets no more than 40 for the set Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrandPrix34 Posted March 15, 2004 Report Share Posted March 15, 2004 wow, that is alot of money! maybe i should be come a engine-specific mechanic kinda like those specialist doctors....hmm (3.4L Twin Dual Cam Clinic) I managed to change the upper and lwer intake gaskets on my DOHC in about 2 1/2 hrs. 1st time for the lower though, takes awhile getting several bolts on the corners. Upper intake i can take off in 5 minutes clean! If i were you, buy a factory manual off of EBay and give it hell! Charge him like $100 or less if beer is included and do it for him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whiskey River Posted March 15, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2004 That's what I'm thinking, about the only tool I'll need to buy is a torque wrench. Thanks for all the info guys, maybe when I'm tearing into it I'll snap pics along the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intimidatorz34 Posted March 15, 2004 Report Share Posted March 15, 2004 20 dollars for the 3.4 felpro kit, and a couple hours of youre time for the intake Before you jump to conclusions about the head gasket and oil.......and you positive it isnt tranny fluid in the radiator? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whiskey River Posted March 15, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2004 20 dollars for the 3.4 felpro kit, and a couple hours of youre time for the intake Before you jump to conclusions about the head gasket and oil.......and you positive it isnt tranny fluid in the radiator? Pretty sure, trans fluid level is fine, hasn't fluctuated. The oil consumption on the other hand, he told me it was going through a quart every 1500 miles now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intimidatorz34 Posted March 15, 2004 Report Share Posted March 15, 2004 Pretty sure, trans fluid level is fine, hasn't fluctuated. The oil consumption on the other hand, he told me it was going through a quart every 1500 miles now. Oh ok, not sure how it works, but the coolant does run around the oil filter to cool that area, maybe there is a possiblity of oil getting in that way. Either way I would think that there would be coolant in the oil, and if it were a headgasket you would see bubbles in the radiator/overflow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whiskey River Posted March 15, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2004 Pretty sure, trans fluid level is fine, hasn't fluctuated. The oil consumption on the other hand, he told me it was going through a quart every 1500 miles now. Oh ok, not sure how it works, but the coolant does run around the oil filter to cool that area, maybe there is a possiblity of oil getting in that way. Either way I would think that there would be coolant in the oil, and if it were a headgasket you would see bubbles in the radiator/overflow I didn't think that the 3100 had an oil cooler, could be, I would have to look. So does oil in the radiator mean it's a head gasket or intake gasket? There is no coolant in the oil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regalized Posted March 16, 2004 Report Share Posted March 16, 2004 how hard of a job would it be to replace an intake on a 3.1 mpfi? a shop told me 500 bucks, and i just cant spend that kind of money for a minor problem, thanks for the info guys....Regalized Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whiskey River Posted March 16, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2004 Anybody got the torque specs for the intake handy? I'm going to tackle it this weekend. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intimidatorz34 Posted March 16, 2004 Report Share Posted March 16, 2004 I didn't think that the 3100 had an oil cooler, could be, I would have to look. So does oil in the radiator mean it's a head gasket or intake gasket? There is no coolant in the oil. im not 100% sure about the 3.1, I was just assuming it was similar to the 3.4 with the oil cooler. But either way you shouldnt be getting oil in the coolant because of the intake gaskets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GnatGoSplat Posted March 16, 2004 Report Share Posted March 16, 2004 My 89 Cutlass has a slow oil leak into the cooling system also. I notice a layer of it in the reservoir which I dump and refill every now and then. The car runs great otherwise, and doesn't lose much oil between oil changes. Idles, runs, and drives perfectly. No coolant in the oil either. I assumed it was the intake gasket, but I don't know... I didn't think there was high oil pressure in the valley, and if there isn't, that would make it impossible for oil to get into coolant without coolant getting into oil. I don't know, it hasn't gotten bad enough for me to worry about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whiskey River Posted March 16, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2004 My 89 Cutlass has a slow oil leak into the cooling system also. I notice a layer of it in the reservoir which I dump and refill every now and then. The car runs great otherwise, and doesn't lose much oil between oil changes. Idles, runs, and drives perfectly. No coolant in the oil either. I assumed it was the intake gasket, but I don't know... I didn't think there was high oil pressure in the valley, and if there isn't, that would make it impossible for oil to get into coolant without coolant getting into oil. I don't know, it hasn't gotten bad enough for me to worry about. That does bring up an interesting point, I do have to wonder how the oil is getting into the coolant then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GnatGoSplat Posted March 16, 2004 Report Share Posted March 16, 2004 That does bring up an interesting point, I do have to wonder how the oil is getting into the coolant then? Beats me, but it has to be someplace that the oil pressure is greater than coolant pressure. I don't know where that could be. I thought it either had to be head gaskets or intake manifold gasket, because it started after I changed the head gaskets. I don't think it's in the valley, because oil just drains down the valley from the heads. So that would seem to rule out the intake manifold gasket. There are no pressurized oil passages in the heads, the oil in the tops of the heads is pumped through the lifters, through the pushrods and to the rockers... Cracked block is the only other thing I can think of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
95DropTop Posted March 17, 2004 Report Share Posted March 17, 2004 I think your problem is the head gasket. I had a Dodge 2.4L I4 and had the same problem. Not too much oil, just enough to coat the cap and notice it floating in the coolant. Mech said that it would not be a problem as long as coolant was not getting into oil. Drove it over 10,000 miles before it developed a coolant leak that absolutely had to be fixed - it was leaking down the back of the motor. When the head was pulled, it almost cost me a new head...the water was leaking into the combustion chamber and it was taking the aluminum of the head with it. luckily it was within the head gasket and did not require replacing the head. I do not remember the level of oil consumption, though. I seem to recall that it was no where near your level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whiskey River Posted March 22, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2004 Well, tore into the motor over the weekend and the lower intake gasket was bad. It was cracked around the water jackets. Once I got it replaced and everything tightened back down, the car ran like a champ. My neighbor said that it idled better than it did before, maybe some coolant was making it into the #6 combustion chamber. Anyway, if anyone decides to tackle this for the first time, watchout for the injectors. I had to use a persuasion device (rubber mallet) to get the injectors seated back into the manifold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robby1870 Posted March 22, 2004 Report Share Posted March 22, 2004 I would guess intake gasket since oil is in the radiator. If coolant was in the oil Id say head gasket Looks like I win again 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.