xColdFyrex

around easter this year my low coolant ligh was on, i added coolant. mid july same thing.1 week ago same thing. 2 days ago same thing. in the crankcase i have notced an ever so small amount of sludge in there and on the pcv valve. i have NO white smoke, antifreeze, or steam coming out my exhaust. engine SEEMS to run ok. there has never been an issue with the car running too hot. i was told these cars (94 grand prix 3.1L 132k) have had issues with intake gaskets, but im not sure. today i flushed the cooling sysytem completely, and added 1/2 can of that block sealant which claims to stop those leaks. after i did this i was told this was a bad move. can anyone shed some light on what may the issue at hand before i screw something really bad?

regalfriend

Block sealant isnt a good idea, especially in older cars...they are designed to travel through the system and adhere to where the loss of pressure is. In many cases it does work. Problem is , it will also bond to the passages in your radiator, and other parts of the cooling system, and reduce the percentage of flow. Check the radiator completely, top to bottom, for any kind of stains.Double check all of the hose clamps and make sure the hoses are not soft on the ends. You did mention sludge.Check your oil. In the last 5 or 6 monthes you kept adding coolant, if it did leak into the oil, your oil level would be alot higher. It also would get foamy or frothy. Good Luck

BIGPROFITT

I had the same problem with low coolant levels. Mine turned out to be the radiator cap. Here is why. Liquids under pressure have a higher boiling point. The caps maintain 16 psi. If the cap is bad the boiling pressure is lower and that causes evaporation. I got a new cap and no more low coolant warnings. Another thing, hope you have not mixed the green and orange (garbage) antifreeze. If so, flush the system until water runs clean from the little valve on top of the engine. Then put only green back into the system. My car actually runs cooler with the green than it did the orange. Hope this helps.