93 grand am oil in coolant

hey everyone any advice on this problem will be greatly appreciated. I have a 93 grand am 3.3 liter with 118,000 miles I checked my coolant reservoir and found a brown goopy mess. Checked the oil but no coolant in there. Is it possible that it may not be the head gasket and maybe just the LIM? Have not done compression check as of yet but after seeing the oil in the coolant I figured I did not have to do it. Oil level stays steady but coolant level keeps dropping. All plugs looked dry. All this started with a blown lower radiator hose and not being able to burp the system after replacing it. Ran car long enough to get home but did not get into red level for temp but got close. Once again thanks in advance for any and all advice and if anyone has suggestions on what to replace while I have the engine tore down if it is in fact the head gasket.

I would try flushing the cooling system and install some new coolant, and check the compression.

You could have just blown oil into the coolant when it overheated when it ran with the coolant low.

well i finallydid compression check and this is what i got pass/front to drivers side 180,175,158. rear 175,170, 171. Does this mean i have to begin the big tear down blown head gaskets:disappoin. what do you think? Still no coolant in oil but the reservoir is dry and yes the car has been parked and not driven.thanks in advance.

from your test it appears thier is a problem on 5 & 6 so its quite possibly your head gaskets are leaking.

Its not to bad to change these, a lot less to mess with dismantling the 3.3 compared to the newer 3.1 or 3.4's.

And we'll be here to help if you need it. :thumbsup:

tanks for the quick response just went out and did that one cylinder and got 160lbs. Head gasket is the problem? car was running good before i shut her down but when i did that last day it looked like the lim was leaking and the engine was smoking from both sides. car was running at 220 right in the middle of temp guage. is the head kit from autozone any good? its $118 and comes with all gaskets and new head bolts. if you think it is a head gasket any other things i should replace,look at,inspect,when i have the engine torn down. Thanks for any advice.

I replaced the thermostat, the engine coolant sensor and gauge sensor and the water pump and the serpentine belt while everything was apart.

back again, well i didint mention last time i did the compression check the car was cold,was trying to take all precautions, heated her up and got these results,passsenger side to drivers side front engine 185,173,180. back side pass to drive 185,180,185. i am going to heat it up and check that one cylinder again,173, but is this to low,showing a head gasket leak? would a pressure check be the difinitive test to show a head gasket leak? thans for any advice.

:grinno: well, i flushed the radiator, filled her up with 59/50 blend of coolant distilled water burped the heck out of her took about 2 hrs holding coolant now and running at 180 degrees and running as good as ever keep it simple stupid,i have to keep reminding myself, thanks for all the advise