2003 Chevy Malibu Oil in coolant reservoir

SCOTTBS56

MEMBER
2003 CHEVROLET MALIBU
6 CYL
FWD
AUTOMATIC
108,000 MILES

I have a considerable amount of oil in my coolant reservoir, where and how is it getting there?

Follow up- Intake manifold gasket has already been replaced when the problem first surfaced. Minimal oil in reservoir was present and prompted me to have it checked. One year later there is significant more oil in reservoir and being told a minimum $ 1,500 just to see if head gasket is only bad. Mechanic says GM aware of gasket problem but won't do anything about it. No more GM crap for me EVER!

4 Replies

MERLIN2021

MECHANIC
17,250 POSTS

You have either a cracked water jacket, or badly blown head gasket.

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Sunday, February 10th, 2008 AT 12:22 PM

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Have the same problem, headgasket is poping up all over the place. I flushed the radiator and there is a plastic plug on the side of the plastic radiator that is crumbled up and no longer functional.

Now I need a new radiator, which must be removed from below on a lift, after the AC is discharged and many other wonderful joys.

This will probrably surpass the "value" of the vehicle.

This will be the last Cheverolet or GM product I buy. Been driving and working on GM products for 30 years. I can't belive how cheaply this car was built. A VEGA was far superior to this car. I had a Pinto and it was much better too. What were the engineers at GM thinking?

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Sunday, February 10th, 2008 AT 12:49 PM

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Correction: It was the intake manifold gasket! I just got mine fixed. The mechanic said his father and his mother have the same engine in their car. He has done both (and quite a few others) the OEM gasket is el cheapo plastic gives out after a few years. It is around a $500 job. After this you have smooth sailing with your engine as long as there in no water in the oil, that will kill your bearings. Get FELPRO.

A lot cheaper than I thought!

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+2

Tuesday, February 12th, 2008 AT 2:27 PM

MERLIN2021

MECHANIC
17,250 POSTS

Yep there is a TSB on 3.1 and 3.4 engines. The new gasket set should include new bolts with pre applied thread locking compounds. Tighten the verticle bolts first then the angled ones, or a new leak can develop! I am not saying this is your problem. If you already have excessive amounts of mixing of the fluids. GM says it should leak out and drip on the ground, if yours is mixing, further investigation is needed!

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Tuesday, February 12th, 2008 AT 6:08 PM