Car guys....

[Penguinfan]

Drivng my "back and forth to work car" yesterday, a 90 Buick Regal the low coolant light came on, so made room in the garage and took a look this morning and the coolant level sees fine, but in the overflow bottle the seems to be something that looks like oil!?! This couldn't be oil could it? How would it get there? Otherwise the car is running fine and if this is a big problem I will jsut have to retire her as she has over 200,000 miles and enough is probably enough, damn shame as I have been driving this car paid off for over 8 years!

Any advice?

Penguinfan

 

[SixFive]

first thing I thought of was water pump. Shouldn't be too costly to get that fixed.

 

[Penguinfan]

Thanks SixFive, I thought about that, but really don't see any evidence of water in the oil, though it is nut-busting cold here and the oil is thick enough that it is hard to tell, my fear is that it's the head gasket causing the problem, in which case it is graveyard city for this runner.

Go figure, the check engine light is on in my wifes Caravan now as well, that one has to wait till Monday though, probably a sensor or something anyway, I hope.

Penguinfan

 

[Simply In The Red]

Oil in the coolant tank, you got more problems than a simple water pump. If you are just checking the dipstick for water residue, it might take a little while to notice since your light just came on. If you are almost due for an oil change, drain the oil into a clean container, let sit for a little while and see if you have any water floating around. If you have any friends with a compression and leakdown tester, you might want to call them and offer them a beer. Good luck.

 

[Penguinfan]

Thanks Simply In The Red, I took the coolant tank out and it is just a little bit of oil floating on the top, still it is obviously coming from somewhere. On Monday I am gonna have a friend look at it, but if this is the end of the line then thats OK too.

Thanks
Penguinfan

 

[bases]

i actaully had the same problem

i actaully had the same problem

few years back when i had a 96 mustang and their was oil in my coolant,,oil was leaking friom the head gasket,,,so with time it would wreck the engine so they had to put a new gasket where the head gasket it..$1700 job
that is my take