Help! Oil in Coolant Resevoir

Hello,

Can anyone help? Can you identify the problem and provide a solution to fix this? Is this a major job to fix? The Chevy dealer thought it may be the lower intake manifold leaking coolant. ((Is this a big job to fix? Quoted $900CDN to fix.))

Actually, I am not 100% sure that IT IS oil in the coolant, but there is a 2 inch obvious seperation on top of the coolant which is really brown/black and looks like oil.

Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

96 Lumina

To be honest with you, it sounds exactly like the problem I had with my 95 Lumina (lower intake manifold gasket). And the qoute you got is about right. I decided to go the cheaper route and do it myself, but it is a pretty big job. There are so many electrical connections and vacuum lines to disconnect, you need to have a good system of noting where everything plugs into when you put it back together.
If you decide to do it yourself, you can't get just the intake manifold gasket by itself, you'll have to by the entire top end kit (head gasket and up). That runs about $180. It'll obviously cost a bit more that that to complete the job since you have to change the oil, filter and flush and fill the radiator when your done, but it's a lot cheaper than having a mechanic do it.
I'm sure this isn't what you wanted to hear, but I hope it helps you in figuring out what to do. Good luck!

Caddman33

deeppink[/COLOR] century
You also have to remember that this job also takes 12 hours by the book and be ready to find other things wrong and also why did the gasket go was it because one of your pistons is bad.
I have low compression in one of my pistons which will be the cause of my head gasket going.:flash:

Nothing has to cause that gasket to fail on a Lumina; they are known for that problem all the way back to 1989.

It's not just a lumina problem...it's a 3.1L/3100 problem. One of the very few problems that they have. The lower intake gasket is not that big of a job either. A skilled person can accomplish it in as little as 2 hours. :)

Try one or preferably two bottles of BarsLeak or BarsLeak Gold first, and give it a couple of weeks and a couple of hundred miles to work before going the expensive route of intake gaskets. Chevy puts that stuff in at the factory, and it worked on my 3.1. By the way, my leak was at the timing chain cover on the front, not the intake as most are. Six dollars sure beats 900.

Try one or preferably two bottles of BarsLeak or BarsLeak Gold first, and give it a couple of weeks and a couple of hundred miles to work before going the expensive route of intake gaskets. Chevy puts that stuff in at the factory, and it worked on my 3.1. By the way, my leak was at the timing chain cover on the front, not the intake as most are. Six dollars sure beats 900.

Do not use this method..especially if you live somewhere where it gets cold. Fix it right the first time....don't pay for it later. :screwy:

$900 CD may seem like a lot. You can do it yourself for the cost of the gasket...IIRC $35 USD. It all depends on how mechanically inclined you are.

I have replaced my lower intake gasket with no problem just watch how you take it apart and plug all the sensor wires back in. Also when you replace the lower intake gasket you have to take out the pushrods and they are on a pedistal so all you have to do there is remove the pushrods so that you can put in a new intake gasket but watch how the came out and put them back in exactly the way they came out. Then torque the rocker arms to 18ft lbs when reinstalling the rocker arms. When I did mine It took about 3 hours to do.

if you get a silver paint marker, you can number the injector plugs so you don't screw them up when you put it back together. If you have some mechanical ability, get a HAynes/Chiltons for the proper torque sequence/spec, and you should be able to do the job in a few hours. $900 is a ludicrous amount for that job.