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03 Chevy Monte Carlo SS 3800 Series 2 non-supercharged, 146k miles. Have had the car for under 5 months now, it’s been a true joy. Except, until I noticed coolant running down the side of the my transmission onto the floor of my garage, which investigating was coming from the side of the lower intake manifold. I’ve owned enough of these cars to know that it was due for the famous intake manifold gaskets job that this engine get’s. Did not want to do it myself, so took it to my local mechanic who I’ve gone to for years, and trust. And he quoted me a very good price for the job, so he did it. When I went to get the car, he said the job went fine, and that he had changed the oil. Drove the car home (only a few miles, less than 10), and just decided for kicks to check the oil. What did I find? Coolant in my oil. Called mechanic, he said change the oil again. So I went to the local Walmart, got oil, changed it. 25 miles or less were put on the car with coolant in the oil. All was fine after. Did a couple more oil changes after that because I wanted to make sure any left-over coolant was out. Then, I noticed coolant leaking down on my floor again, in the same spot. This naturally made me infuriated, so I called the mechanic. Who said he’d back his work, and he’d re-do the job and pay for new gaskets. I had him purchase the new gaskets, but instead of him doing it again, I did it, in his shop, using his tools, and changed the oil this time. Have not noticed any coolant in oil since, and no leaks.
Question for all you guys is how badly do you think my engine is damaged from the coolant? It runs fine, oil pressure is normal, no odd sounds. It’s had I would say almost 2000 miles put on it since this bad experience, all seems to be fine. But I know that with coolant in the oil, all might not be fine.
Just looking for opinions on what you think the future may hold for this engine.
Thanks!
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You caught it fast enough that you’ll probably be fine. Just monitor your oil as I’m sure you already have until your next oil change. If you have any concerns about the oil in there now, just change it out when you can and move on with life.
Well glad to hear that. I did put a magnetic drain bolt in for the oil pan so if one of the bearings is shredding itself apart, that should show me. But, I’ve done so many oil changes on this car in the last few weeks that I’m frankly just tired of doing them, so I think I’m just gonna let it ride for now.
Thanks for your reply!The magnetic drain bolt won’t tell you much. The bearings are made of non-ferrous metals so particles will not stick to the magnet.
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