1997 Chevy Lumina water in radiator

BLONDIE42550

MEMBER
1997 CHEVROLET LUMINA
6 CYL
2WD
AUTOMATIC
80,000 MILES

I just got my oil changed, and was told that the mechanic is referring me to the dealer or a radiator shop. Said there is oil in the radiator. A couple of months ago I had to replace my water pump, it was spraying coolant all over the underneath of my hood. I also have been getting a check engine light that disappears for a while then comes back on for a while. This has been happening off and on for over a year. It first stared when I would drive when it was raining really hard and I drove through big puddles. My husband checked to code and it gave a Co2 error. The car runs great, gas mileage has dropped a bit, but I have been using my remote start to warm it up on cold days so I figured that is why it only got 15 mpg in city.
Could the oil have gotten in with the coolant when I had the water pump changed? From what I have been reading, it might be the head gasket (shudder) but it runs great! How does one tell when it IS the head gasket?

3 Replies

BLUELIGHTNIN6

MECHANIC
16,542 POSTS

Hello
Thanks for the donation.

Oil in the cooling system is never a good sign. Although you may not be experiencing any issues performance wise, yet. You will eventually if it is not fixed as it will start overheating.

The water pump failure and replacement would not cause oil to enter cooling system.

Either you have a blown head gasket or a blown intake manifold gasket. A dye test will tell you if your head is damaged in the event of a blown head gasket. It turns colors anywhere it is leaking on the head, hence where any cracks would be.

Hope this helps.
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Sunday, January 11th, 2009 AT 7:17 PM

BLONDIE42550

MEMBER
2 POSTS

I'm not all together sure it is oil. MY mechaninc said that the new orange antifreeze can get sludgy looking over a period of time.80,000 miles 12 yrs old and never had the radiator serviced, so we are going to start off with flushing the radiator and refilling and see where that takes us! I feel if there was oil leaking I would have to replace some between changes and I never loose oil. The only fluid I have had to add is antifreeze and windshield washer fluid! It NEVER overheats, and it purrs like a kitten. Hopefully the Sears tech's analysis is a false alarm. Thanks for your info!

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Monday, January 12th, 2009 AT 10:55 PM

BLUELIGHTNIN6

MECHANIC
16,542 POSTS

If your not leaking oil then you are probaby correct about the false alarm. Your vehicle would have multiple symptoms if it were a blown head gasket such as missing, smoking, loss of fluids etc.

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Tuesday, January 13th, 2009 AT 12:12 AM