We have discussed this vehicle before it is an 88 eldo that my son bought for 400.00. nice ride but his water level was nonexistant with an earlier problem.

We refilled the system and did tuneup and oil change (no water in oil!) Now last night he said the system was empty again and when he got home I pulled the dip stick and sure enough it looked awfull!! tan with green antifreeze mixed in.

I am wondering if the intake gaskets could be problem or are we looking at head?

What test can be performed at home to diagnose the problems?

And with a service manual is it possible to do at home?

Please help as I am now once again (TAXI DAD!!)

Thanks,

Ed and MIchael

We have discussed this vehicle before it is an 88 eldo that my son bought for 400.00. nice ride but his water level was nonexistant with an earlier problem.

We refilled the system and did tuneup and oil change (no water in oil!) Now last night he said the system was empty again and when he got home I pulled the dip stick and sure enough it looked awfull!! tan with green antifreeze mixed in.

I am wondering if the intake gaskets could be problem or are we looking at head?

What test can be performed at home to diagnose the problems?

And with a service manual is it possible to do at home?

Please help as I am now once again (TAXI DAD!!)

Thanks,

Ed and MIchael


Likely an intake manifold gasket.

But before you go and change everything, I would look into a compression test to ensure that the head gaskets are in good order.

Likely an intake manifold gasket.

But before you go and change everything, I would look into a compression test to ensure that the head gaskets are in good order.

:yeah:
It's also possible that there's a crack in the block but let's hope not.

:yeah:
It's also possible that there's a crack in the block but let's hope not.

Geez man, I hope not!

Yeah, I would just check the basics first. Like I said, it is likely an intake gasket. If it were a head gasket, you might see some back-wash (bubbling) in the coolant overflow tank and water would not appear in the oil.

That or it could be real simple: when you poured the coolant into the radiator cap, you may have confused it with the crankcase fill cap...:p :drinker But I doubt it.

thanks illumina,

I consider myself a decent backyard repair guy (brakes, tune ups valve covers ect.) so no water in oil fill but funny thought though:histeric:. Not to be taken as an insult.

Never worked on a caddy before but I am learning that it is a very interesting piece of work.

If it is just the intake manifold I will buy the serv manual and attempt to do the repair ourselves.

Got a quote in this little hick town of 2200-2600 for head gasket change that is if anyone will touch it with no warranty.

There was no oil in the rad or overfill so I will try to figure out how to test the intake for leaks.

Thanks for the input.

a couple ideas ive got .....if she blew the headgasket at a oil/coolant area im not sure she would show a drop in compression ....how does it run ? does it start and run fine ? any smoke from the exaust ?

id remove the forward valve cover and pressureize the cooling system with a pressure tester and see if i can hear anything and locate its wherabouts id think if the intake gasket was shot i would think i would be able to hear gurugleing or hissing coming from the area where the drains back to the valley maybe even cut a 2 foot peice of hose to stuff it down there (if possible) to the valley to listen a bit easier ....

have you tried to add the GM cooltant suppliment pellets? might be a little too late but it might be worth the 8 dollar shot

You might want to replace the intake gasket and see what happens. If that does not cure the problem then you should consider a crate engine. Replacing head gaskets will not eliminate the chance that the O rings at the bottom of the wet sleeves have never been cooked during a previous overheat.

The usual cause for coolant in the oil is an intake gasket with that engine. Could be the head gasket I guess but not likely. If it was using coolant and it was getting burned in a combustion chamber then it would more likely be head gasket but simply gettting coolant in the oil sounds like an intake gasket.

One way to check this is to drain the oil. Let it drain completely until no more oil is dripping from the drain plug. Leave the drain plug out and put a fresh pan under the drain port. Pressurize the cooling system to 15 PSI with a pressure checker. Let it sit with the pressure in the system for awhile. Watch the drain port for any sign of coolant flowing from the drain port. If coolant is being forced into the oil it will enter the crankcase and drain out the oil drain port.

Changing the intake gasket is pretty simple. The main thing to remember dissassembling the engine is to take all the rocker arms off together as an assembly. Remove the 5 large nuts securing the rocker arm support bar to the head bolt studs in sequence to remove the entire bar and rocker arms and reinstall the same way. Otherwise it is just a teardown and reassembly.

The guy already knows there's coolant in the oil so you know there's a cooling system leak. Pressurizing the cooling system WILL push coolant into the sump. If not, where would it be coming from? Problem is, this procedure still doesn't tell you where it's coming from.
And as for replacing the intake gasket, why would he be removing the heads? I can't remember ever removing heads when doing a manifold gasket. :hmm:

The pushrods go through the intake manifold just like an old FE Ford big block.

The guy already knows there's coolant in the oil so you know there's a cooling system leak. Pressurizing the cooling system WILL push coolant into the sump. If not, where would it be coming from? Problem is, this procedure still doesn't tell you where it's coming from.
And as for replacing the intake gasket, why would he be removing the heads? I can't remember ever removing heads when doing a manifold gasket. :hmm:

Who said anything about removing the heads?? If you have had a 4.1/4.5/4.9 apart you would know that the pushrods go thru the holes in the intake manifold so the rocker arms and pushrods have to be removed. I take it you have never done an intake on a 4.1/4.5/4.9.....???

Typically, head gaskets fail at the most highly stressed area...the fire ring around the combustion chamber.

True, pressurizing the coolant system and checking for coolant seeping into the system will not precisely pinpoint the leak path but it will confirm that it is leaking and will leave fresh coolant tracks on top of any oil coating internal parts of the engine so that you can visually see where the leak was happening when the intake is off. If the person was to take the intake off and not find any evidence of coolant leakage at the coolant crossover ports/intake gasket interface then it would be logical to pursue the head gasket while the intake was off.....