Water in oil, not head gasket though...

[sxc_sound]

Hey guys, for the past like 2-3 months if have a VERY slow build up of pale brown gunk on the bottom of the radiator cap. Slow being, il wipe off the gunk stuff once every 3 weeks and its less then a teaspoon.

There is no gunk stuff building up under the engine oil cap and no steam coming out the exhaust and the car runs fine, although once in awhile when the car is idling it with shake for a split second like something is passing though the motor that shouldn't, aka a drop of coolant or oil somewhere it shouldn't be..

So what other possible places could oil/coolant leak into very slowly... i really want this fixed before it turns into a massive leak or something bad

[Ozzie]

I have the exact same symptoms man...

For me its the trans cooler line that was leaking inside the radiator

[social]

yep ozzie beat me to it id put my money on the exact same thing. Check the levels / colour of your transmission stick.

[sxc_sound]

my transmission fluid was down a fair but and my transmission started playing up, i added more fluid and it was fine again, the fluid looked bright red still though. How would i go about checking if it is the transmission cooler

[Kunu]

I had the same problem and my rear main seal had gone allowing oil to slowly drip into cooling lines., had brown gunge under cap and inside run-off box.

[Simonn]

rear main seal? if that had gone it would only allow engine oil into the bell housing.
it would either be a cracked trans cooler inside the radiator or like me a inlet manifold gasket is gone.

[stevesvx2001]

its your oil cooler bro its one of the seals where the coolant meets the oil and cooles it down, when you fix it make sure you take off the top of your radiator and give it a realllllllllly good clean cause the sludge will start to block off some of the fins you can do this easyly with a old dip stick. if you leave it long enough you will clog up you cooling system and you will find it over heating, but it might not show on gauge cause the sludge could be covering your coolant temp sender, also the coolant getting into your oil and can cause pressure that can start causing all sorts of problems

[Kunu]

rear main seal? if that had gone it would only allow engine oil into the bell housing.
it would either be a cracked trans cooler inside the radiator or like me a inlet manifold gasket is gone.

Well it hadnt gone completly ,it had a small crack in it which was allowing engine oil to leak through to the cooling lines, once i replaced it the problem was solved also needed a good flush out twice to make sure all the gunk was gone.In saying that its a process of elimination really.

Here's a pic
http://forums.justcommodores.com.au/...rear-main.html

[Ozzie]

If it was the rear main seal there would be coolant in the engine making the oil a creamy colour.

The trans cooler line has preasure in it allowing oil into the radiator without allowing coolant into the transmission.

Its fairly common if the car has been constantly in economy mode then driven in power mode then switched back to economy.

An easy temp fix is to use some transmission stopleak and/or radiator stopleak to seal the leak within.

[Simonn]

Well it hadnt gone completly ,it had a small crack in it which was allowing engine oil to leak through to the cooling lines, once i replaced it the problem was solved also needed a good flush out twice to make sure all the gunk was gone.In saying that its a process of elimination really.

Here's a pic
http://forums.justcommodores.com.au/...rear-main.html

ohok thanks for the heads up mate

[burnz]

sometime's the brown gunk is from the pellet's that go with the coolant!! (V6 only)

[Swordsy]

Generally id say you need to flush your cooling system.

[Happy]

If it was the rear main seal there would be coolant in the engine making the oil a creamy colour.

The trans cooler line has preasure in it allowing oil into the radiator without allowing coolant into the transmission.

Its fairly common if the car has been constantly in economy mode then driven in power mode then switched back to economy.

An easy temp fix is to use some transmission stopleak and/or radiator stopleak to seal the leak within.

Ozzie.....Does a session in power mode damage the pipe or just pressurise trans oil through an existing crack?

[86VL5spd]

It will more likely be valley cover gasket mate, slight creamy brown build up, trans cooler leaks r more pinkie sluge if trans oils not cookd, but the amount of valleys i do at work my moneys on your valley cover gaskets, not hard to do, valley off, you go buy a valley kit from a parts place slap back to get after a good clean and buzzed gasket surfaces up

[Ozzie]

Ozzie.....Does a session in power mode damage the pipe or just pressurise trans oil through an existing crack?

Economy mode preasurises the pipe causing it to split. It will let oil out but wont let coolant in.

I drive in power mode 100% of the time now. If I put it into economy mode not only will i lose alot of power but i will get oil in the radiator. And I never get coolant in the transmission.

[whstatesman2000]

hey guys ive got the same sort of problem. i have some sludge built up under the cap and in the overflow bottle dipstick there is a ring of oil on it. the oil looks like enging oil. no water or coolant in the engine though.
any ideas where it could be coming from?
cheers

[86VL5spd]

hey guys ive got the same sort of problem. i have some sludge built up under the cap and in the overflow bottle dipstick there is a ring of oil on it. the oil looks like enging oil. no water or coolant in the engine though.
any ideas where it could be coming from?
cheers

Itl be your valley cover gaskets are gone, common Ecotech problem, what doesnt leak on em!

overflow bottle dip sticks are always covered in brown muddy crap, its what holdens use to use stupid anit leak brown tablets, nothnig to worrie bout there, just coom as dog sh*t valley cover gaskey leak, oil makes its way in coolant galls under inlet manfold.

not to hard to replace the gasket kits, i do em all tha time as homies at home, easy quick $$$

[JST-23Z]

transmission oil leaking into the radiator from the oil cooler

[whstatesman2000]

under the radiatior cap there is brown muddy crap like sludge. but in the overflow bottle on the end of the dipstick there is a ring on eng oil on it?

[banga]

is it an easy job to change the valley cover gaskets? there seems to be a shit load of stuff in the way , i reckon ill put something on in the wrong way ?

[86VL5spd]

is it an easy job to change the valley cover gaskets? there seems to be a shit load of stuff in the way , i reckon ill put something on in the wrong way ?

Nar easy as, if u like in adel, up north way il do it for ya cheap!

[whstatesman2000]

hey guys how hard is it to change a inlet manifold gasket/ valley gasket are these the same? on a supercharged v6 on my stato?
how many hours work would be involved?
cheers

[pedrod59]

Itl be your valley cover gaskets are gone, common Ecotech problem, what doesnt leak on em!

overflow bottle dip sticks are always covered in brown muddy crap, its what holdens use to use stupid anit leak brown tablets, nothnig to worrie bout there, just coom as dog sh*t valley cover gaskey leak, oil makes its way in coolant galls under inlet manfold.

not to hard to replace the gasket kits, i do em all tha time as homies at home, easy quick $$$

Hi I have a similar problem with my Supercharged VY Series II Calais. I have posted a thread in the VY group.

I already had a new radiator fitted 6 months ago after I was told it was the trans oil cooler.

I took my car to the local holden dealer and spoke to the head mechanic there about the valley cover gaskets. The problem is he said he has never seen or heard of this problem. He thinks, maybe ???? a head gasket but is not that sure as there are no leaking head gasket symptoms with my car.
He did a pressure test, everything is OK. He did a test on exhaust gases, still no problems.
The car is not overheating, not using water, no water in the eng oil etc. The car doesn't have any external oil leaks.
I asked him to ring around other mechanics to see if any one has heard of the problem before, He said he contacted a Holden network mechanic with no positive results.
He is reluctant to do the valley cover gasket on my say-so, because he has never heard of it before.
If he spoke to another qualified mechanic who has had experience with this issue before he would try it.

I am back to square 1.

I don't want to spend $$$ on head gaskets if it is only a guess.

And I have seen a number of threads here saying Valley Cover gaskets are a known problem.
Basicly I am stuck with what I have got until something serious goes wrong with this leak.
What would likely happen to my Calais if I don't do anything, assuming it is a valley cover gasket?
What other symptoms may turn up, to indicate a valley cover leak? Is there another test that could be done to show up a valley cover leak?
I also noticed in this thread or a similar one, a mention of a rear main seal leaking that would cause a similar problem.
While my "pride & joy" is still running "sweet" I am starting to get concerned as I like my car to run perfectly.

Hope you can help.

Thanks

Cheers
Peter

[whstatesman2000]

anyone know mow many hours would be involved on a supercharged 6 engine?
cheers

[Simonn]

depends on the mechnic really but on an estimate it would take about 6 hours.