coolant leak

[fflipper]

I'm losing coolant to the oil. I don't see any coming from the tail pipe nor is there any visible steam or leak externally.... What gasket would be bad? Or... can this be indication of cracked head?

[NeonKnight]

Lower Intake Manifold gasket. these are problems with the 3.1 engines. and the 3.8 engines have an upper intake gasket problem if i remember right.

[fastlq1]

Coolant to the oil could be a head gasket or cracked head. No oil goes to the LIM. Worse yet, could be a cracked block, but I would bet on head gasket or a cracked head before I would even dream of a cracked block. Has the car been overheaded lately?

[fflipper]

Originally Posted by fastlq1

Coolant to the oil could be a head gasket or cracked head. No oil goes to the LIM. Worse yet, could be a cracked block, but I would bet on head gasket or a cracked head before I would even dream of a cracked block. Has the car been overheaded lately?

Ya... up in Michigan... Coolant did get low. Then I learned all about air lock. The engine heated up some then all of the sudden, the fluid started circulating. This brought in coolant all of the sudden from the radiator. Shock treatment for sure. So, I do feel its probably a cracked head.

[fastlq1]

I am not to far from you, I'm in northern Indiana and this cold weather sucks... I hope you don't have a cracked head. I have beein in the 60 degree v6 crowd for a while now, and rarely hear of a cracked head, but every once in a while. Good luck man

[fflipper]

Originally Posted by fastlq1

I am not to far from you, I'm in northern Indiana and this cold weather sucks... I hope you don't have a cracked head. I have beein in the 60 degree v6 crowd for a while now, and rarely hear of a cracked head, but every once in a while. Good luck man

I'm still looking into finding out if it is cracked or not. I understand that possibly the only way to find out is to throw a gasket in, fire it up, and see if it still leaks. I could take it to a shop to find out if it is cracked but that may cost as much as just trying a gasket set on it. SO, If it is cracked, do any of you have advice as to where you can get a decent price on a new or rebuilt head???? Thanks

[richtazz]

IF your car has a 3.1, it's most likely an intake gasket. They fail at the coolant transfer passage on the rear cylinder head, driver side. The coolant get's forced under the intake, into the lifter valley, causing the coolant to contaminate the oil. I've done many of these jobs, and that's where they all leak. Your first signs will be mysterious loss of coolant, followed by milky, sludge forming on the underside of the oil cap and pcv valve. Get if fixed ASAP, or you risk washing the lower end bearings and blowing your motor. If you put a pressure tester on the readiator where the cap mounts, and pressurize the system to around 20 psi, I'd bet you'll hear a hissing sound and may even see bubbles coming out the rear of the intake where I described. There is a small chance that you have a blown head gasket, and a compression test would determine that.