oil in radiator

[gingerpickle]

traces of oil in radiator, no trace of water in engine oil and transmission oil. any ideas?

 

[Skeletorxu6]

hey mate i had the same problem was in the water but no where else we changed the Radiator and it did a couple of flushes and seems to have fixed it. But a few questions is it the V6 ecotec engine or a V8? if its the V6 cheapest thing u can do is a new radiator, but if it dosnt fix it then it looks like it may be a f@#ked manifold gasket really dont think its the head Gaskets because the oil and water jackets arnt really close so it may be the vally or manifold but do the radiator first b4 u jump straight in to pulling the motor apart and spending around $2000 that might not fix it also is it motor oil or Trans fluid?

Cheers, Daniel

 

[blacknight]

If you have access to a trained mechanic, take a look at the transmission cooling lines headed into the radiator. check your transmission oil as well. Usually doing a complete flush will solve the issue, and its an alternative instead of tearing up the engine

 

[Killr6]

its either a trans fluid leak, or a busted inlet manifold gasket.

 

[c2105026]

Contaminated coolant - the slightest drop of oil on the vessel that was used to fill up the radiator etc. will cause some specks. Had exact same issue on the VB; flushed coolant, filled it up, oil slick; remembered my hands were greasy from the just-done oil change. Monitor for any strange noises, billowing clouds of white smoke; check the radiator cap with the engine warm and running - no bubbles=ok head gasket.

 

[pablo]

Not 'rocket science', if it's a reddish colour it's auto trans oil. If it's grey/black, it's engine oil, more than likely leaking through the inlet manifold gasket into the water jacket,.......... common occurence unfortunately.

 

[gingerpickle]

its a v6 ecotec and thanks for your feedback ill keep you posted

 

[Craig T]

Yeah reading a few of the treads on here I think I'll start with a new radiator, flush, possibly a trans flush and replace the inlet manifold. I have the VT 2000 Commodore Sedan Ecotec V6 (non-s\charged) LN3 and have had 3 old-school and new mechanics look at it and all 3 had different answers, at last check I did a hydro-carbon test on it and the results show a small leak and I'm hoping it's only the inlet and not the head.

I'll post my results once I am oil free.

 

[Sam_100]

My car has been losing water over the last year. In particular, the overflow tank becomes empty after a long trip. After the last big trip I had to add about 1.5l into the radiator. After looking into over the past year could find a leak until this morning. My biggest fear was a busted heater core. I did a pressure test on the cooling system cranking it up to 130kPa and the pressure started dropping. No leaks from the hoses however did notice coolant leaking from the engine bay onto the ground. I removed the engine cover and found the water pooling in the valley. Looks like I need to change the inlet manifold gaskets. Have you done a pressure test on the cooling system?

 

[Craig T]

My car has been losing water over the last year. In particular, the overflow tank becomes empty after a long trip. After the last big trip I had to add about 1.5l into the radiator. After looking into over the past year could find a leak until this morning. My biggest fear was a busted heater core. I did a pressure test on the cooling system cranking it up to 130kPa and the pressure started dropping. No leaks from the hoses however did notice coolant leaking from the engine bay onto the ground. I removed the engine cover and found the water pooling in the valley. Looks like I need to change the inlet manifold gaskets. Have you done a pressure test on the cooling system?

Hi Sam_100 I have done the pressure test... sadly for me this revealed a hairline crack in my right hand side radiator tank so I have ordered a new radiator (last time I had the tank repaired) along with that I'm going to have the inlet manifold or valley seals replaced again (had them done about 2 years ago) but this time I will ask my main mechanic to inspect the contact surfaces for any pitting or sign of failure, I'm sure they probably do anyway but I'm pushing the point this time.

At the end of the day coolant escaping (as long as it's not an internal leak into the engine) is not a hard issue to track down and fix and is far better than having an internal oil leak which much harder to accurately track down and fix.