Brown chunky coolant !?!

boomina · 03-29-2006, 11:33 AM

I pulled my raddy cap off my '01 Lumina I just bought. I found a brown chunky crud had adhered itself to the bottom of the cap. The coolant was muddy brown as well.

Now I added some coolant to the res. the other day and it was a nice clear orangeish/pinkish color.

That coolant is still in the resevior. And it doesn't look anything like the muck in the raddy.

So would this potentially indicate the thermostat is not opening?

Probably a good idea to have the coolant flushed?

Thanks

jeffcoslacker · 03-29-2006, 11:46 AM

You're mixing coolant and oil. Probably lower intake gasket leak if you're not running hot, otherwise could be head gasket or other issue.

Occaisionally a cracked transcooler core in the radiator will do this too.

You need to have it taken care of, if you have oil in the coolant, you've also got coolant in your oil, the engine will begin to eat itself...

richtazz · 03-29-2006, 12:19 PM

check your pcv valve and oil cap for sludge which would indicate a bad intake gasket (or worse head gasket), very common issue on 3100's. Normally you will see evidence of external seepage on passenger side front and drivers side rear corners of the intake too.

Myxlplyxxx · 03-29-2006, 07:54 PM

My 97 lumi3.1 had that same crap on the cap when I Pulled it...at 137,970 miles... Its actually the DEXCOOL fluid... it will chunk up under the cap if it hasn't been changed in a L-O-N-G while...like 137,970...lol I did a complete flush and fill and actually used extended life fluid(looks yellow... not green or orange) and its all gone... never had a headgasket or intake problem on mine(thnk god) but Id bet a flush and fill will help... ALTHOUGH... Jeffco and Richtazz Both helped me alot with their advice and I wouldnt overlook the info they have given by any means... just my

on how I fixed it....oh BtW... Its now got 248,700 on it and still goin strong

MYX

boomina · 03-30-2006, 11:18 AM

Thanks Myxlplyxxx, I needed to hear something like that.

Like I said, I just bought the car like last month. So I'm completely oblivious if anything has ever been done to this thing. She has 113k on the ticker.

I haven't been going through coolant, and it was low when I got the car, so I topped it off.

There was some very minor seepage on the intake, but it didn't look fresh or like anything to be too concerned about.

I think I would like to try a flush.

Since I'm currently to broke to go to the repairman that wants $120.00 for a flush , would anyone be kind enough to help me with the flushing procedure.

Thank you

jeffcoslacker · 03-30-2006, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boomina

Thanks Myxlplyxxx, I needed to hear something like that.

Like I said, I just bought the car like last month. So I'm completely oblivious if anything has ever been done to this thing. She has 113k on the ticker.

I haven't been going through coolant, and it was low when I got the car, so I topped it off.

There was some very minor seepage on the intake, but it didn't look fresh or like anything to be too concerned about.

I think I would like to try a flush.

Since I'm currently to broke to go to the repairman that wants $120.00 for a flush , would anyone be kind enough to help me with the flushing procedure.

Thank you

Well that'd be one way to find out what the problem is. Backflushing will probably really get it leaking if it's the intake. No amount of seepage is acceptable there...

boomina · 03-30-2006, 12:07 PM

So if the intake needs a new gasket...could I do it myself?

I've done headgaskets on Hondas and Toyotas.

I understand the ways of the torque wrench.

Do you generally get anyting machined when doing an intake?

jeffcoslacker · 03-30-2006, 12:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boomina

So if the intake needs a new gasket...could I do it myself?

I've done headgaskets on Hondas and Toyotas.

I understand the ways of the torque wrench.

Do you generally get anyting machined when doing an intake?

You could do it easy then. No machining.

richtazz · 03-30-2006, 02:58 PM

I've done quite a few of these intake jobs, and I have it down to about 4 hours, and that includes taking the valve cover baffels out and cleaning the muck that gets in there. Keep everything clean and organized, make sure you have a good in/lbs calibrated torque wrench, and you can easily do it in a weekend. If you wait, coolant can contaminate your oil and waste the crank, lifters or cause it to overheat and blow a head gasket. If it's seeping at all from the ends of the intake, you need to get it done ASAP.

boomina · 03-30-2006, 08:34 PM

I just went and gave it a good lookin over and oil is seaping like crazy behind the throttle body.

i'm hoping to get a couple of weeks out of her before she gets parked for the summer, at that point I'll begin the tear down. Any suggestions on gaskets, etc.

Is there an online manual I can use for the procedure? I can't afford to buy a manual right now.

Thanks

kinito22 · 03-31-2006, 01:47 AM

online manuals are tough to come across...

best bet would be to head to your library and look for a 'haynes' or 'chilton' manual.

the wonders you'll find for free in the library's car section

richtazz · 03-31-2006, 08:33 AM

Fel-Pro makes an improved design intake kit that includes the Valve cover gaskets that will eliminate this issue. Part # is MS98003T (it only fits vin-J 3.1's and all vin-E 3.4's , not older vin-M 3.1's). The oil leak is from the oil pump drive shaft (it's essentially a distributor with the top cut off). There is an o-ring that gets hard and leaks. I also put a small block Chevy paper gasket between the top of the housing and the block to insure against future leaks. Fel-Pro part numbers are:
o-ring- 70800
SB Chevy paper gasket- 70194

jeffcoslacker · 03-31-2006, 08:48 AM

http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiBr...3d800ec9a4.jsp

Scroll down towards the bottom of the page for your engine/year

boomina · 04-02-2006, 12:34 PM

Thank you for the info. very helpful.

There is a harsh ticking that I beleive is the lifter. The other day when I started her up there was a metallic clunk in the engine. Could this be the piston hitting the valve?

Could this because my synthetic oil has been tainted by antifreeze and is loosing viscosity?

What should I torque the intake bolts down to? 115 in/lbs. like on the autozone sight? My Lumina is a 2001 3.1.

boomina · 04-02-2006, 10:58 PM

Ok, I'm now knee deep in the middle of this gasket job. It's taken me about two hours to get everything torn apart. I can't remove the fuel inj. lines as stated in another post. And if your reading this and you know how to get those puppies out of the feed/return lines...please give a brother a hint. I ripped the pwr. steering out once I figured out what was holding it.

Now on to the good stuff. I at least expected some resistance when loosening the intake bolts. There was nothing. We're talking the intake bolts, not the upper plenum bolts. In fact if those bolts were that loose on any other part of the car...you would want to tighten them. Loose as a goose. In danger of falling out, not really but you get my point.

So my thought is, what if I bought these things up to spec? Would the leak stop? I don't think I'm gonna find out since I'm this far. And it's no wonder the bolts weren't torqued correctly since you can't even get a dang wrench on em enough to move them. I gonna have to expand my tool crib just to work on this thing.

I think the torque spec on the intake bolts in 115 in lbs. I really need to know if this right or not. Now my torque wrench is in ft. lbs. I think I did the math right but I believe I need to torque the intake bolts down to 115 in lbs. which divided by 12 is 9.5 ft lbs. Am I right on this or did I miss the boat.

Many thanks for your help thus far. I couldn't have done it without your help. So please help me get her back together.

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