intake gasket....I hope!

Hey guys, I recently noticed that my 94 GP was using more and more antifreeze. When I took the oil cap off the engine I noticed a creamy sludge which led me to believe that it may be the intake manifold gasket or a head gasket problem. My thermostat is constantly jumping on me as well. Didn't have any crank case contaminition until a couple of days ago, noticed that the level on the dip stick was increasing, went and changed the oil. From what I have mentioned does anyone know if it is the intake manifold or head gasket. Also when I crack open the intake manifold will I be able to remove that sludge. I'm going to do the intake manifold this weekend but thought I would through this out there anyway.

This sounds like an intake manifold gasket problem. You didn't say what size engine you have but the large amount of water in the oil suggests an intake manifold gasket problem to me. Once you remove the intake manifold you should be able to clean any sludge out of the lifter galley although I don't think you will find much since this problem just started. When you put everyting back together remember to torque the bolts properly and in sequence as you may have additional problems if you don't. Change the oil when you are done and you shouldn't have any more problems.

Thanks for the reply. It's a 3100 and after reading more posts last night I think I may have had this problem for quite some time but never paid it much mind. It was only after I noticed the sludge under the rocker cover that I knew I had a problem. Would fixing the intake gasket also fix the problem of the bouncing thermostat? I am replacing that as well as the serpintine belt, water pump, plugs and wires. Is there anything else that you recommend I change while I have it all apart.

Thanks again.

Make sure you label everything as you remove it if you don't you may have difficulty getting to run properly. If you are going to clean the lifter galley out then put towels in the intake ports to insure you don't get dirt in them. Remove them before you put the gaskets back on. Clean the gasket surfaces and follow the directions on the new gasket kit during installation. You may want to also clean the carbon out of the plenum while you have it apart. Use a can of carb. cleaner and spray liberally. Also clean the passageway for the egr valve. It usually has a lot of carbon and the car should run better once it goes back together. Let me know how it turns out.

A shop vac works great for cleaning out the lifter galley. It will pick up spilled antifreeze and pieces of scraped gasket etc. Even though you drain the rad. before disassembly you will still get some antifreeze when you pull the intake. Be sure to change your oil (as was noted above) before startup as some of the antifreeze will go down into the pan.

For the love of God, listen to the above posters, or you'll be posting a thread like mine in no time. I'd had the EGR valve replaced, and had horribly leaky intakes. Do it sooner than later, and don't keep driving on it without getting this done. It's only a matter of time.

http://www.automotivehelper.com/topic368117.htm

Beware, and let that be a warning to you.

Hey I had the same problem with my 95 GP 3100 and, It was empyting the rad like crazy, and the T-Stat was skyrocketing and bouncing around like crazy and I had to heat and bubbles in the coolant return tank, and it was a head gasket, Cylinder 1 on the back side of the motor, my GP has 150,000 Kms on it, so I would be more inclined to get it pressure tested to check if its the head gasket before you waste time doing the intake gasket, the pressure test is $50 at the dealer ship and tells you which cylinder, but when the head gaskets go its usually on the back. Also since there is contamination in the oil I would STOP driving immediatly because if you get antifreeze into the bearing surfaces of the engine your looking at a major rebuild. I hope this helps.