96 Lumina engine blown after transmission flush

[zboys]

I had the transmission fluid flushed /replaced on my 96 lumina at a Valvoline. The next day my son was driving home and the Service Engine Soon light came on and the car was misfiring badly. Had it towed to the shop. They found coolant in the oil pan and the engine was locked up. I am now replacing the engine with one from the salvage yard. I can't see that changing the transmission fluid would have been the cause. Any ideas before I drop in the replacement engine?

[Jonn]

Originally Posted by zboys

I had the transmission fluid flushed /replaced on my 96 lumina at a Valvoline. The next day my son was driving home and the Service Engine Soon light came on and the car was misfiring badly. Had it towed to the shop. They found coolant in the oil pan and the engine was locked up. I am now replacing the engine with one from the salvage yard. I can't see that changing the transmission fluid would have been the cause. Any ideas before I drop in the replacement engine?

Yes, No.1 Just coincidence
No.2 tranny place did something shady.
Not much else it can be, but i would bank on No.1

[cadgear]

Doubt the trans place would have intentionally thrown a monkey wrench into the engine because afaik they wouldn't benefit from having a replacement engine put in (unless they do that line of work as well). Probably just coin sea dinks.

Just for kicks, what kinda mileage is on the car?

[zboys]

Originally Posted by cadgear

Doubt the trans place would have intentionally thrown a monkey wrench into the engine because afaik they wouldn't benefit from having a replacement engine put in (unless they do that line of work as well). Probably just coin sea dinks.

Just for kicks, what kinda mileage is on the car?

Well, it did have 120k on the engine. I just expect more out of a chevy!

[zboys]

Well I got the new (junk yard) engine in the car today. Found one with 83K on it, listened to it run, looked at the exhaust while it was running, left it run for 10 minutes, looked and sounded like a good one. Well I started it up in the Lumina today and it looked like a steam machine out the exhaust. I guess I'm back to square one or am looking to put in new head gaskets. How can I determine which cylinder is the one with the leak?

[Kooterskkar]

What color smoke is it? If it was fine at the yard I kinda doubt it would all of a sudden be bad once you got it into your car. There was a vacuum regulator of some sort on the older TH-125 transmissions they wold go bad and they engine would suck transmission fluid up through the vacum line and burn it off. Im thinking it could be something like that, but I dont think the 4t60 had any thing like tha on it. Pretty sure they were all electronic.

[cadgear]

I dunno, my 1999 4T60E has a vac mod on it, I think the 65E is the one without the modulator.

[zboys]

The smoke is white and water is dripping from the exhaust pipe. It was parked in the driveway with the front end slightly down hill after I started it up from the engine swap. I pulled it out onto the street and ran it up and down the street twice. When I backed it into the driveway again there was a steady path of water drops on the street where I stopped and backed into the driveway. Other than the white smoke the engine sounds really good.

[jeffcoslacker]

Originally Posted by zboys

Well I got the new (junk yard) engine in the car today. Found one with 83K on it, listened to it run, looked at the exhaust while it was running, left it run for 10 minutes, looked and sounded like a good one. Well I started it up in the Lumina today and it looked like a steam machine out the exhaust. I guess I'm back to square one or am looking to put in new head gaskets. How can I determine which cylinder is the one with the leak?

Maybe it didn't have any coolant in it when you ran it at the j'yard?

Pull the plugs out, the one burning water will be white.

[zboys]

Originally Posted by jeffcoslacker

Maybe it didn't have any coolant in it when you ran it at the j'yard?

Pull the plugs out, the one burning water will be white.

I only let the 'new' engine run 20 - 30 minutes and the car was parked slightly downhill in the driveway. Would it be possible that when the old engine blew it filled the exhaust up with water and I have not heated the exhaust up enough to clear it out? Will running it longer with the front end up the hill help?

[zboys]

Originally Posted by jeffcoslacker

Maybe it didn't have any coolant in it when you ran it at the j'yard?

Pull the plugs out, the one burning water will be white.

I called the j'yard today about the steam in the exhaust. He said the car had coolant in it when we started it at the yard. He said since the last engine in my car got coolant into the engine it might have filled the exhaust up with water and to let it run for a long time to get everything good and hot. He said he has seen this many times before. I started the car tonight and let it run in the driveway until both radiator lines were hot. Kept reving it and still had white exhaust. Took it up and down the street a few times and it started getting better. I took it for a couple longer drives through the neighborhood and after about an hour of running there was no more steam coming from the exhaust. I pulled it back into the drivway and had my son rev it up a few times and there was nothing coming out of the exhaust anymore. I guess the j'yard was right.

What are your thoughts Jeffcoslacker?

[jeffcoslacker]

Originally Posted by zboys

I called the j'yard today about the steam in the exhaust. He said the car had coolant in it when we started it at the yard. He said since the last engine in my car got coolant into the engine it might have filled the exhaust up with water and to let it run for a long time to get everything good and hot. He said he has seen this many times before. I started the car tonight and let it run in the driveway until both radiator lines were hot. Kept reving it and still had white exhaust. Took it up and down the street a few times and it started getting better. I took it for a couple longer drives through the neighborhood and after about an hour of running there was no more steam coming from the exhaust. I pulled it back into the drivway and had my son rev it up a few times and there was nothing coming out of the exhaust anymore. I guess the j'yard was right.

What are your thoughts Jeffcoslacker?

Sounds good to me. He's probably right. You might wanna change your o2 sensor(s), theye don't last long after having a lot of burnt coolant blown on them, unless you are sure it was Dex-Cool (silicate-free). The silicates hog up the sensor tip and you'll start seeing problems and codes.

[icecreamman33]

Originally Posted by zboys

Well I got the new (junk yard) engine in the car today. Found one with 83K on it, listened to it run, looked at the exhaust while it was running, left it run for 10 minutes, looked and sounded like a good one. Well I started it up in the Lumina today and it looked like a steam machine out the exhaust. I guess I'm back to square one or am looking to put in new head gaskets. How can I determine which cylinder is the one with the leak?

Mine did the same thing.95 gp,that is.After exchanging engine with a cracked block,It took a while to burn up all the moisture and coolant that had blown through the exaust system,i.e.cat converter,muffler.It steamed pretty good for about 2 days

[richtazz]

make sure you changed the intake gaskets on the new engine as well. It's a known problem with the 96 up engines and you'll be doing it anyway soon. The steam you are seeing is more than likely crap in the converter from the first engine letting go. It will take time to burn off, just keep a close eye on your fluids and make sure you bled the cooling system properly, or an air bubble in the upper end of the engine will cause the "new" engine to grenade also