Hello Gang !!

I bet you have heard this one before but I just noticed that there is oil in my coolant tank.I did a coolant flush a year ago.I also notice before the last oil change (3000 miles) that it was a half quart low on oil.
The current oil is clean as a whistle,level good,engine purrs like a kitten,no SEL,every thing else seems fine,.the radiator cap was a bit milky though,car is excellently maintained.
2002 Monte Carlo SS Dale Earnhardt with 53 K miles,.3.8 L
any suggestions?,.I heard this engine has a intake gasket history.

Thanks ahead of time !!

 

What kind of intake gasket history? Theyre known to get upper and lower intake gasket leaks which if fixed correctly, shouldnt have come back so soon. That and some replacement gaskets are metal core which would prevent this from happening again. Maybe bad application of RTV when the job was done? Actually, you didnt specify if they were replaced, only a history of the issue.

When the gaskets DO go bad they usually leak oil into coolant not coolant into oil however im sure some moisture gets transferred into the oil so the stuff on the cap is to be expected if thats the case. Ive also had moisture/milky stuff on my oil cap without any issue being present so that part could just be nothing but more than likely its from a gasket issue.

A half quart low after 3000 miles doesnt sound outrageous, is that unusual for the car?

Is there actual oil floating around in the coolant or did you scrape some gunk from the side of the radiator? Its almost impossible to fully flush that stuff out of the radiator after having one of these gaskets go bad.

If you have to replace the gaskets again, look into the metal core ones. I think the first step is to find out exactly what the gasket issue was in the beginning and what was done about it.

 

Thanks for responding,.
I bought the car with 43 K on it,.I did not have any service history with it when purchased,so unknown if the gaskets were ever replaced.
I gloop in the overflow appeared just recently,it was clean for months after the coolant was changed which I did just for maintenance.
as for the oil lost,that seems to be fairly new too,.there are no external leaks,no exhaust smoke,doesn't smell unusual either.
The coolant tank is a very dark brown on the surface,.I made a call to my local Tech to see if he wants to take a poke at it,.

 

Unfortunately sounds like you probably need new upper and lower intake gaskets. Actually a pretty easy job to do yourself if you have any experience. Usually there are no other signs like smoke or smell, thats more in line with a head gasket issue which it doesnt sound like.