Serious Engine Problem

Hey guys. Lately i have been experiencing extremely horrible overheating. And Just today my Change Oil light came on. I thought that was rather odd do to the fact that i had it changed less than 3 weeks a go and have out only about 800 miles on it since. But tonight was the worst yet. When the change oil light came on i checked the Dipstick. The dipstick read about only one centimeter. So i had the oil changed and my car still continues to over heat despite pouring gallons of coolant in the radiator. After i had the oil changed i got about 10 miles down the road and the light comes on yet again. Once i got home i popped the hood. and noticed a rather large puddle of coolant in a crevace where the transmission mounts to the engine. Now i do not know if this crevace is supposed to be there or not. But for the past week and a half i have also not had an operational heater. So some one out there who knows about this motor please help me.


Jeremy

This could be a few things, I am leaning towards the god-blessed Lower Intake Manifold leak. Tell me this does your coolant light come on occassionally? If so, I am almost positive it is the LIM. If you have the time, do it yourself.

Search in the How To or Common Problems and you will get a complete how to on how to do this. It is about an eight hour job, and it helps if you have someone there who is very mechanically inclined. You definitely need a torque wrench though, I can't stress this enough.

This job isn't horribly hard, it is just time consuming. Be sure to label all of your wire harnesses, and while you are at it, replace your plugs and plug wires, it is quite simple to do when you have 1/3-1/2 of your engine off and laying on a table next to your car.

Anybody else?

Jon

Yes the light pretty much stays on constantly. It will go off but it usually comes on a minute or two later. Cought this also affect my loss of oil??? BTW i have had no power decrease that i am aware of as well..

Jeremy

[Fast Eddie]

The change oil light has nothing to do with the amount of oil \in your engine. It's based on an algo. that takes into account engine speed, distance traveled and several other variables and "guesses" when you oil should be changed. When you last chaned your oil did you reset the change oil light following the dir. in the manual? if not that is why the light is still on

The coolant leak sounds like the LIM to me as well.

you have the lower leak and guess what, i had that same problem and i just changed mine this weekend. i haven't checked to see if my heat is working because its hot here already but the top is simple to take off but after that it got a little harder but that may just be me and my inexperience. just remember how everything goes and do not drop bolts or the egr gasket. i did on mine and it set me back about two hours.

But can someone explain to me why i was nearly empy on oil after 3 weeks?????

its most likely the LIM gasket, when that seal is busted antifreeze and oil mix together and leak out of that seal. it evaporates quickly enough not to show up hardly anything on the ground inicating a leak. Take your oil cap off and look what the color of your oil is. Since you just replaced it it might not be that bad but if it looks like brown sluge get your gasket fixed asap. take a look at this post http://invision.aleromod.com/index.php?showtopic=10206
then look at your engine. goodluck

Ok i have an update. Today i got to look at it in daylight. Now snce i couldnt really make out what those pictures were supposed to be im going to tell you what i saw under my hood. First thing i looked at was the LIM it had a really nasty blackish brown sludge on both sides of the engine. So is this it??? Could this be the source of me loosing oil and coolant? Could this also be why my heater wont work either?

[jamcllw]

Yep sounds like your gaskets are bad and leaking fast. Get it fixed asap. Your heater wasn't working because there wasn't any hot coolant running through the heater core. It all was running out of the engine.

Yea i just went outside and looked again. Started up the motor... Let it warm up then revved it a bit
saw about 3 or 4 ounces of coolant come out.

Id say take it to get it fixed right away, you're gonna fry your engine.

Originally posted by jamcllw@Mar 30 2005, 10:36 AM
Your heater wasn't working because there wasn't any hot coolant running through the heater core.Â;-) It all was running out of the engine.

Quoted post

So that's what the hell that was? Two months ago i replaced my engine after it had overheated beyond repair. But like two or three months before that, I would have to drive for like half an hour before hot air would come out of the vents. And if i stopped at a light, the air would turn from hot to cold in seconds. People just kept telling me that the winter weather was just causing problems. I didn't know that coolant had anything to do with "heating" your car. I just figured the heater was shot and was willing to stick it out til it got warmer outside issed:

I had a LIM leak 3 months ago. Long story short I let it go for a day and it ended up costing me around 2900.00 to get the car on the road again. I only had 55,000 miles on the car when it went.

ouch

Man i have no clue how long its been this way. I seriously hope my engine isnt screwed. But if it is i do have a location on a used 3400... Problem is the swap wouldnt happen for another 2-3 weeks. whereas the pontiac dealer can officially diagnose the problem and fix it in a matter of a week.

That leak is pretty bad. I have yet to hear of anybody that has lost coolant and oil that fast. I have a very slight leak on the driver's side near the tranny. I'm not even going to worry about it because I'm only going to be driving the car for another month. Anyway, definitely get that fixed before you blow your head gaskets or do worse damage to the motor.

Originally posted by glowbot@Mar 30 2005, 02:11 PM
it ended up costing me around 2900.00

Quoted post

2400 on my end, but i got it used

Alright guys. I Really appreciate your help My car just went into the shop and is getting fixed as we speak!! only 800 for Manifold gasket, Valve cover Gasket, Serpentine belt, New spark plugs, wires, fuel filter, and engine diagnostics. The guy told me that the leak was dead on what i had told him over the phone. So i really appreciate your help.


Jeremy

[jamcllw]

Originally posted by Sportalero+Mar 30 2005, 01:35 PM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Sportalero @ Mar 30 2005, 01:35 PM)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteBegin-jamcllw@Mar 30 2005, 10:36 AM
Your heater wasn't working because there wasn't any hot coolant running through the heater core.Â;-) It all was running out of the engine.

Quoted post

So that's what the hell that was? Two months ago i replaced my engine after it had overheated beyond repair. But like two or three months before that, I would have to drive for like half an hour before hot air would come out of the vents. And if i stopped at a light, the air would turn from hot to cold in seconds. People just kept telling me that the winter weather was just causing problems. I didn't know that coolant had anything to do with "heating" your car. I just figured the heater was shot and was willing to stick it out til it got warmer outside issed:

Quoted post

[/b][/quote]

Yep coolant leaves you engine after it's heated up and goes into the heater core which is normally located on the firewall on the inside of the car. The heater core is shaped sorta like a small radiator and as the air moves around it when you turn on the heater it heats up and blows out of the vent. That's why your car has to warm up before the heater works.

[alero440]

Originally posted by glowbot@Mar 30 2005, 02:11 PM
I had a LIM leak 3 months ago. Long story short I let it go for a day and it ended up costing me around 2900.00 to get the car on the road again. I only had 55,000 miles on the car when it went.

Quoted post

I bought mine used with 56,000 and that was the first thing I had replaced. Thank God for warranty. At my dealership it would have been a fortune even with my discount.

[kwhauck]

Originally posted by Sportalero+Mar 30 2005, 02:49 PM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Sportalero @ Mar 30 2005, 02:49 PM)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteBegin-glowbot@Mar 30 2005, 02:11 PM
it ended up costing me around 2900.00

Quoted post

2400 on my end, but i got it used

Quoted post

[/b][/quote]

damn you guys got ripped, when mine went i picked up a 3400 with only 9k for $350 and did the install myself, although i was quoted $400 for the install by a local mechanic, still would have been under $1000