03 grand am gt: oil in coolant?

[Luminatorz34]

hey i am stumped on what could cause oil to get into the coolant of my wifes 2003 grand am gt with the 3400 v6...she took the car to get a simple oil change, and they checked all fluids for her, and found oil in the coolant reservoir...i asked if the car is acting up or what not, and she says the car runs a little hotter than normal, but nowhere near over heating. the service shop naturally wanted to charge her 100 for a coolant flush right there on the spot, but i told her to hold off until we get whats causing this to happen fixed. so any idfeas on what would cause the oil to leak into the coolant...thankfuly its oil in the coolant, instead of coolant in the oil...i made sure of that. but at this point any information, or things to look at would be helpful

[Domestic Disturbance]

I know the intake gaskets go out on those every other day, but I dont know if thats the issue.

[Deimos]

Bad radiator is my guess. Sometimes the cores break internally and mix the stuff. Intake is another possibility like Calvin said in which case call bowtie bubba he loves em. A coolant flush maybe a good bet because if you're wrong and you got dex cool or mixed coolant it maybe breaking down and not actually oil at all.

[derek072887]

typically its the intake gaskets :/ just like the 3100's, they are not fun to change but not really that bad either.. luckly its a grand am and not in a minivan lol... when i worked at a napa service/parts center in Kalona we did lower intake gasket on ATLEAST one 3100/3400 per week!

[snickerlicker]

Definitely intake gaskets, get them fixed before it takes out the bearings. Junk GM shit!!

[69gt4speed]

^ Lol damn Scott kinda like ford 3.8 v6 head gaskets?

[snickerlicker]

Yeah that too!! lol

[NewSpeedSteed]

Have a 2007 G6 (3.5L) that had coolant in the oil (other way around) heads were cracked on it and that's how it was getting in. Had to take it to the dealer where they put some dye in it and found out what the problem was. Thankfully GM covered it- hope your lucky and its not a big deal like mine was.

[DustinsDuster]

Bad radiator is my guess. Sometimes the cores break internally and mix the stuff. Intake is another possibility like Calvin said in which case call bowtie bubba he loves em. A coolant flush maybe a good bet because if you're wrong and you got dex cool or mixed coolant it maybe breaking down and not actually oil at all.

thats what happened on the girlfriend's 99 Grand Am- radiator core broke internally and was leaking trans fluid into the coolant. that was a costly job...

[sLoWnStEaDy]

100% sure it is oil and not trans fluid?

radiator or intake gasket would be my guess. Skye's Malibu had a 3400 with the same issue and it was the intake gasket. It's easy peasy lemon squeezy to do them. I took Skye's motor all the way down and put new head gaskets and everything else on while I was at it. Start to finish took me like 5-6 hours.

[Deimos]

The best way to tell is check under the oil fill cap for gunk and on the PCV valve very big tall tale signs that the intake is bad.

[Luminatorz34]

oil cap is clean, no gunk, or the common milk under the cap when oil/coolant mix pcv is also clean....this stuff is kinda redish/brown in color and has a greasy feel tyo it when you put your finger in it....

[Deimos]

Was it dex cool and did anyone mix coolant in the vehicle? Is it water pump grease?

[Luminatorz34]

the coolant was green to begin with....dont know bout if someone mixed the coolant, and i doubt its water pump greaes, as this is pretty thick, meaning what ever it is, theres alot of it

[Batwood]

If oil is in the coolant... shouldn't coolant also be in the oil?

If the oil is clean, I'd bet on the trans cooler leaking in the radiator.

But yeah, 3.4 intake gaskets are not so great. If it hasn't been replaced already, it should be.

[Luminatorz34]

yea tracked it down to be tranny fluid leaking into the coolant...core blew out...bought a new radiator, thermostat (cuz its gummed up) and a new tranny filter...gonna fix the car, then flush coolant, and tranny at the same time

[Deimos]

Jake FTW

[snickerlicker]

^ true, but the next thing that he will have to fix is the intake gaskets.....