Bad intake gasket?

F250PHIL

MEMBER
2003 CHEVROLET MALIBU
6 CYL

Car listed above has a 3.1L. Oil is getting into the coolant, but the coolant is not getting into the oil. There's a lot of issues about this problem. How can I determine if it is the intake or head gasket? Most of the head gasket jobs I have done turned the oil supply into a chocolate shake! The oil is fine, but the coolant reservoir is full of oil. Thanks, Phil

3 Replies

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
109,700 POSTS

When the engine is cold, remove the radiator cap and start the engine. If you have a bad head gasket, coolant will shoot from the radiator because compression from a cylinder will build into the cooling system.

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Wednesday, April 13th, 2011 AT 6:46 PM

JAMES HANDLEY

MEMBER
1 POST

I'm getting oil in my reservoir.

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Wednesday, October 28th, 2020 AT 5:08 PM

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
109,700 POSTS

Hi,

If you are getting oil mixing with the coolant, chances are you have a bad head gasket. Take a look through this link and follow what it says for checking:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/head-gasket-blown-test

If possible, could you start a new thread specific to your vehicle? I would like to know if the technical info is the same, and we are trying to keep the threads specific to one topic. It appears you may have a different issue. I will watch for your net posting so I can help better. I hope you understand.

https://www.2carpros.com/questions/new

Take care,
Joe

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Wednesday, October 28th, 2020 AT 6:27 PM