Engine Coolant

[StockAlero00]

I have notice that the past few days, the engine coolant light will come on for a few seconds when I start my car. Let you know, that this has never happened before. After a few seconds it goes back off. I noticed it did this coming back from the Cheesehead Weekend in Wisconsin. I didnt pay any attention to it, cause it went away and no steam or smoke was coming from my engine.

Yesterday was Tuesday and on my way to work, it stayed on a little bit longer, but the warning light went away. So I figured i'd probably need more engine coolant in there. On my way home from work, I stopped at Pep boys, and picked up some Dex-cool, engine coolant. I haven't put any in it, cause i'm wondering should I just add more to what is already there, or do I have to flush out the whole system? When I took the cap of the engine coolant, there was some white/yellow gooey stuff at the cap. Not sure if this is normal or not, and the looks like there is deburis floating around in the resvoir, and the color is like a yellowish orange/brown. It says that the engine coolant doesnt need to be changed till 5yrs, but i'm on my 4th year. Will changing it early do any damage? Plus I wonder if any of those damn mechanics, at those oil change shops, flushed it out before and put another substance that just wasnt dex-cool.

I seriously hope its just i have to drain the coolant out and not have to spend money to get anything costly fixed. If so this will suck. Cause I'll have to wait till end of september, due to insurance, wedding, car payment, license plate renewal all due in september. Ever notice that things go wrong at the wrong time. And i am pissed cause i MIght have to miss out on a bacherolette party to a wdding i'm standing up. Pisser!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! issed:

[jamcllw]

I going out on a limb here and say that you have the V6 motor. If so you have been infected with the infamous lower intake manifold gasket leak and your oil is mixing with your coolant. Not good.

[ImSoBored]

K I thought I still had a pictures of the crud, mines more brown...like poop. Ive had mine replaced/fixed, and ive still got the crud, and losing coolant, just very slowly. So it may not just be your intake mani. Im not sure where im losing mine at yet.

IF it is your intake mai, then yes it will be a costly repair, unless covered by warranty. I think mine was around $600-800, I cant remember too well. If I can find the paperwork for it, I can tell you how much it cost me at a local place

I just had mine changed, it was a bloody brown color, ut i know it was because i had the green stuff and the orange stuff mixed together in there. Overheated in the middle of Montreal, and that's alli could get.

I'd get it flushed and keep an eye on it. Doesn't hurt to change it early.


N8

yea all the symptons sound like the LIM problem most go through some time, and yes its about a 600-800 dollar fix unless you have some kind of warranty left over.......

It's an intake gasket failure. Get it fixed ASAP or u can do some serious damage. Hope you have warrenty left.....

yea definately get it fixed asap......i let it run a lil too long and now I have a slight slight knock that goes away when the engine warms up......

i was lazy and waited way too long........

**smacks himself on the forehead**

^^^exactly.. It's bad enough having oil in the coolant....but coolant in the oil is a whole diffrent ball game.

[StockAlero00]

Oh NO, i hope its not that you guys> i have way too many bills to pay for this month. Darn It! Why does this poop have to happen now!!!! Better not be the intake whatever your talking about. How do I check to see if it's that?

It is that. I garontee.

If u wanna hear a tech tell u the same thing....bring it to the dealer, tell them u think u have an intake gasket leak and ask for them to check. They SHOULD check for free(it'l only take a min.) and they will tell you, yes, your lower intake manifold gasket is shot and needs to be replaced asap.

I had the exact same prob, except I was also leaking oil out of the engine very slowly. If you have less than 60K miles, GM will fix it on a Goodwill basis (they pay 50%) but you have to ask for it. Definitely get it fixed ASAP, and try not to drive too much.

you can really tell if you have a bunch of antifreeze on top of your tranny, and you keep blowing antifreeze out of your resovior.

if your mechaniclly inclined you can do this for about 100. thats what im going to do.. its not really that hard just time consuming.
i looked it up at the labor guide at work its a 11 hour job.

[StockAlero00]

Thanks guys, my mom is taking my car into work tomorrow, and they are going to check everything for me, and flush it out, and also getting my oil changed too. I'm keeping my fingers crossed here.

I think I have the same problem. But I have no residue or anything in the coolant tank. And my coolant light comes on while I am driving, not when I start the engine. Is this the same problem?

it could be. The gasket leak can go a few different ways. Mine leaked oil out of the engine and coolant into the engine. They didn't mix, and my coolant must have found it's way into the combustion chamber, cuz my engine oil wasn't contaminated. the leak can be any of these or a combination: coolant in/out and oil in/out. When the coolant leaks in it could burn off like me or contaminate the oil (white & foamy oil on the dipstick) and blow the engine. My coolant light only went on when I was driving, like you. Check your dipstick for deposits and look at your engine driver side just above the tranny, if you see gunk, have it checked. If you find crap on your dipstick, stop driving immediately. Tow it into GM.

[StockAlero00]

Ok, I got my car back today. I'm proud to say it wasn't anything major. The coolant just had to be flushed out, and new stuff added. No leaks or anything. Oil was change too. Also my mom's work, changed the light bulb by my back license plate, and turn signals are working correctly again. I'm happy I have turn signals now, and before they only worked here and there. :thumbsup:

Damn, Im a putz. lol. Well thats good it wasnt the gasket.