Good morning all,
My 84 Caprice Classic has an oil leak for sure. It also seems to have a coolant leak. When i finish driving, I smell the coolant like i did when my radiator busted a few months ago and it's wet alog the side where the connections are. It also seems like a lot of heat is under that hood when i finish driving. Is that part normal (the heat)? When i turn it on, i sometimes get white smoke out the tailpipe but not while i'm driving it. Everything on the car is pretty much still original as i'm only the 2nd owner and the car has low mileage. Could it just be time for usual maintanence/repairs? Is it a possibility that the 2 leaks are related or just different parts going bad at the same time? What is the suggestedplan for repar and what else shouls i fix/change in the process?

Good morning all,
My 84 Caprice Classic has an oil leak for sure. It also seems to have a coolant leak. When i finish driving, I smell the coolant like i did when my radiator busted a few months ago and it's wet alog the side where the connections are. It also seems like a lot of heat is under that hood when i finish driving. Is that part normal (the heat)? When i turn it on, i sometimes get white smoke out the tailpipe but not while i'm driving it. Everything on the car is pretty much still original as i'm only the 2nd owner and the car has low mileage. Could it just be time for usual maintanence/repairs? Is it a possibility that the 2 leaks are related or just different parts going bad at the same time? What is the suggestedplan for repar and what else shouls i fix/change in the process?

leaks creat a low pressure condition in the coolant system this causes the coolant to boil ...this the causes the water pump to fail to pump the air bubbles created....


carefully wash out coolant residue and then take a short ride park for a time and look for leaks with a good light.. sometimes doing this in a dark place gives your vision a better imspection with a strong light source..


on a vehicle this old the coolant system is still very very old and mileage means nothing....

hopefully your head gasket is not causing all these issues with the coolant/engine temp/leak......

Good morning all,
My 84 Caprice Classic has an oil leak for sure. It also seems to have a coolant leak. When i finish driving, I smell the coolant like i did when my radiator busted a few months ago and it's wet alog the side where the connections are. It also seems like a lot of heat is under that hood when i finish driving. Is that part normal (the heat)? When i turn it on, i sometimes get white smoke out the tailpipe but not while i'm driving it. Everything on the car is pretty much still original as i'm only the 2nd owner and the car has low mileage. Could it just be time for usual maintanence/repairs? Is it a possibility that the 2 leaks are related or just different parts going bad at the same time? What is the suggestedplan for repar and what else shouls i fix/change in the process?

The white smoke is nothing to be worried about ... it's just the puff of oil smoke that results from being turned off for a while. There are neoprene O-rings under the locks on each valve stem. These O-rings prevent oil from running down the valve stem, past the guide and into the cylinder. After a few years, these O-rings lose their elasticity and allow a small amount of oil to seep into the guide. This is that puff of smoke you see when you start it up. It's normal and will not increase oil consumption unless the guides themselves are worn out.

As for a coolant leak, did you replace your hoses when you replaced the radiator? As far as heat is concerned, is the radiator at least as large as the one it replaced?

Apparently, the last place i got my oil changed at didn't tighten the bolt and that's where the oil was leaking from. Now that it's tight, will the coolant leak stop?

That should not affect the coolant leak.

Clean the engine exterior, and follow the advice j cAT offered. External leakage should be readily apparent.