View Single Post
Old 11-28-2005, 03:19 PM   #3
cdru
AF Enthusiast
 
cdru's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Fort Wayne, Indiana
Posts: 1,194
Thanks: 0
Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post
Re: Re: 2001 Montana thermostat problems

Quote:
Originally Posted by GTP Dad
The caramel looking substance indicates moisture in the crankcase but that may be a part of normal driving as some moisture naturally accumulates in the engine if you use it for short drives.
As many others here can attest, it can also be a sign of your intake manifold gasket leaking coolant in your oil. However with the colder temperatures starting to come about, it may just be plain moisture*. The only way to tell for sure if it is coolant or just moisture is to have it analyized by a lab. Blackstone Labs can do exactly this for about $20.

Do you notice any change in coolant levels?

As GTP Dad said, posting the code would shed some more light. A blown head gasket would usually have other signs.

*-I just fixed a coolant leak this weekend. I was POSITIVE it was going to be yet another intake gasket leak (I've had 2 in the past year) because I saw some of the gunk in my oil cap as well as several key areas along the intake manifold. It looks like it was just a coolant hose that had a small hole in it that was leaking coolant onto the head/intake/block, and the gunk in the oil cap was just moisture (not coolant). A longer drive allowing the engine to get up to operating temp for a while should drive off most of the moisture that may accumulate.
__________________
Vinyl adds horsepower, right?
cdru is offline   Reply With Quote