I don't know if these are related, I do know that the intake gasket failed before I got the car because they never cleaned the return reservoir. what is happening is in loosing just a tad of oil say half a centimeter over 2000 miles, maybe just burning it a little I don't know whats happening with radiator is some funny dark green deposits were showing up in the neck and when the neck was wiped (new radiator and hoses) it was sooty black, however no bubbling in tank, no overheating even on hottest days. it was a small amount, and the deposits sunk to bottom of overflow and looked like dark sand. I drained the whole thing flushed the crap out of it again, this time with water jacket and term removed due to having to have room to replace the little hoses. then filled it with water and a little tiki torch oil as a mechanic friend said it would help flush, no I drove it for probably 30 miles that way and now the neck looks brown like poo, and stuff is floating in overflow (I had previously scrubbed the overflow to absolute clean)/ main main question is what is causing this? backed up crud in heater core and engine that I obviously didn't replace. its hard to think the oil leak caused this because I lost no noticeable oil during the process, however maybe it was building up before hand. but I always thought it would float, hence go into the neck and look like amber beads of oil, my oil is new, then eventually go to the overflow. could bad head gasket cause this, engine seems to run fine and never overheats? or is this just **** the mechanic never cleaned up after the intake job. note the car set up with dexcool in it for I don't know how long but its a 96 century wagon with 99k miles on it so I bet it sat for a long time on original coolant. I plan on flushing again and filling back with coolant this evening. and see where it goes, there is nothing in the oil at all its clean as can be
You mean a half-centimeter on the dipstick? Over 2000 miles? That's nothing! Most people wouldn't even notice a drop that small. All engines should have such low oil usage. All engines consume some oil, and the amount increases with age. Yours has 99,000 miles. You should thank your lucky stars that you aren't adding a quart of oil every 2000 miles!
yeah im thinking its ok as far as oil because its not mixing, im a good shade tree mechanic but not a veteran and have very little experience with head gaskets, I know when my alero blew the intake it quickly made mud out of the antifreeze and even more quickly turned oil into chocolate milk, but this ones disturbing me, ive flushed it a little before when I changed hoses and radiator, now this time with water im getting funny poo brown stuff in it, ill know more when I drain the whole thing because whatever it is floats, but doesn't look like beady oil, any idea on that? no internet search has shown exactly what im seeing, just a bunch of gummy coolant from what is a definite oil contamination
I agree that source of this contaminant is not oil. Post a photo of it so we can see for ourselves what it looks like. I don't know about putting tiki torch oil in with the flushing fluid no matter what your friend said. Go to an auto parts store and buy a good, name-brand flush kit and use that according to the directions on the bottle. This stuff is less than $3 at Wal-Mart.
Do yourself a favor. Take it somewhere and have the cooling system pressure checked to check for any leakdown over 5 or 10 minutes.
Aftermarket flush kits DO NOT work for reasons I have already previously stated. However, it is OK to use the chemical. Proper way to flush a contaminated system: 1. Remove thermostat while engine is cold. Reattach housing. 2. Install chemical flush and drive car at operating temperature for 20 miles. 3. Remove both heater hoses and backflush heater core. Reattach hoses. 4. Open radiator petcock and block plugs and drain system. 5. Insert hose into radiator until system is refilled. 6. Start car and run engine until everything runs clear (at least 5 minutes). Adjust water inflow to maintain full radiator while flushing. 7. Reinstall thermostat and refill system. All this should be done AFTER you have had the system pressure checked. Under normal flushing conditions, the thermostat never opens and floating contaminants are trapped in the manifold behind the thermostat.
no besides small oil loss no issues that are related to engine, I flushed with waterhose a few times then filled with water and a tad bit of tiki torch oil, that's then I noticed most crud dislodged, but I lost no oil in that short flush. im wondering what dexcool looks like after sitting for maybe years vs oil contamination, I wish I had a pic but it is light poo brown and floats, its like patches and not a substance trying to resist mixing, just wont disovle all the way. the overflow has patches and the radiator is poo brown now, if you wipe the neck its black , dark black like soot, new radiator
well engine crapped out, there was a crack in the intake manifold that spead to the temp sending unit eventually and popped it out and is blowing water all out so point is moot, engine has obviously been running hot for awhile, I know this because thinking back too when I got it, all grommets on engine were gummy, but all close were ok, original temp sender was not working properly, and I had to replace a couple pigtails, plus its probably why a hose that didn't look very bad blew a large split in the side, I don't trust any part of the engine, I am going to save up and have the entire assembly replaced by the shop, they quoted around 5 grand, even though that's high, they have been my go to guys for everything for 20 years and do excellent work, plus ill get a warranty with the motor, and ill get a new intake in the process obviously since motors rarely come without them. the difference between replacing intake and gasket and just gasket was only about 200 dollars, they did not diagnose the car I asked them for the quote specifically, and this will ultimate solve all engine related issues I have been talking about on here. the body is so excellent im not letting this wagon go since ill never find one this clean, paint looks new, carpet clean, dash still soft, headliner is not falling but is not plush anymore and visors have loose fabric, this is the only cosmetic issue at all besides a couple bent spots on the very underside about baseball sized.
Why not just get a junk yard intake, replace it and new gaskets, see how it runs. $5000 is a lot of money if the original engine runs decent. __________________ Why not just post these things in one place? :confused:
