Goin'Sideways

Ok, so about a week ago my 1999 Pontiac Trans Am WS6 started to leek coolant. I had some friends take a look at the coolant (I don't have a whole lot of experience with cars yet), and one of them stuck their finger down the fill tube for the coolant and found some brown stuff/oil in the fluid. This and the leek were the only symptoms, the engine oil was fine, and there wasn't any noticeable white smoke coming from the tail pipe.

So I took the car into a mechanic and they said that the coolant that was in the car was a type that would eventually turn brown, so it was hard to tell how much oil was in the coolant. So they flushed the radiator twice and fixed the leak on the hoses, and he said that hopefully the head gasket wasn't blown, but if oil showed up in the coolant...it was probably dead. So I just got the car back, and after driving it back to my house (15 minutes or so), I check the coolant dipstick and it had a bunch of black sludge on it. Sooooooooo, is this oil? Am i completely f'ed? Or is this some sort of sealant? Or did they not get all of the crap out of the radiator?

Thanks!

SOMbitch

iTrader: (8)

Does it run hot? That is a good indicater in this situation. Run a pressure test or better yet find a shop that runs the chemical test for exhaust gasses in the coolant. These cars stock are usually easy on HG's so don't assume the worst. NAPA sells the the chemical test kit BTW but it is not cheap if you think you will use it only once or twice.....

EDIT: If it does not run hot and the coolant is still dirty I would take it back to the shop who flushed it and tell them to TRY AGAIN!!!!

68 RS Convertible

iTrader: (1)

In your original post you said you were leaking coolant. Where from? If you had a blown head gasket you wouldn't necessarily see a coolant leak, rather you would see coolant lose from the coolant that is getting burnt in your combustion chamber. I'm not saying that a head gasket can't "leak". But most times when you see a blown head gasket your pushing water/coolant into your combustion chamber. You may also see your oil is a muddy brown color from the water/coolant mixing with the oil. If it is that bad you will probably see the steam in your exhaust, and smell the burnt coolant, hence the chemical test Sombitch was refering to would tell you if its a very small amount of coolant being burnt. If your radiator has never been flushed before your going to have quite a bit of shmeg in there, probably not a very pretty color either. As for your sludge looking oil, as I said your oil will be a muddy brown color, not a black sludge color as you described. Change your oil and see what id does after that. For piece of mind dump a quart or two in while your draining the oil. You may also get some condensation on your dipstick and tube but you will definitely know if your oil has been mixed with water or coolant. You don't want to run a motor that has coolant in the oil, if you do, kiss your bearings goodbye. Hope that helps.

Goin'Sideways

The leak was from one of the radiator tubes, towards the top by the ram air system. Actually, I don't think the leak was/is related to the crap in the radiator, it just brought my attention to it.

Also, wouldn't the oil turn milky if the coolant/water got mixed? And wouldn't I be able to tell just by looking at the oil dip stick?

WhiteRhino

iTrader: (6)

If the radiator is leaking, chances are it's sucking air into the cooling system. This can cause the color changes/sludge with the coolant as well. It doesn't like to be mixed with air.

Yes, you can tell by looking at the dipstick if coolant is mixing with the oil. Like already said, it will have a milky brown look to it.

novaflash2002

iTrader: (51)

this may sound weird, but does you exhaust have a almost sweet (like the taste) smell to it?