96 Buick Regal coolant issue

[CJM]

This is stumping me. My brother has a 96 regal with the 3.1L in it, tells me car is overheating.

-I check the overflow tank, it looks nasty and kinda milky but not thick like a shake. It was also almost empty.

-Check the oil, perfectly fine and full.

-Pulled the rad cap, rad is empty about a good quart or two and the filler neck is coated with milky sludge.

So I filled with water and topped it off. Fast forward to today, I checked it again. Again rad is low, sludge isnt as bad and coolant level is low. Zero puddles, oil and trans fluid looks fine, where is it going?

The headgasket was done about a year ago, since then no issues.

[Lee]

did you have the cooling system pressure tested? imo, thats the next step.. figure out where the leak is, it is somewhere!

[CJM]

Yea,gonna pressure test it myself when I get some time.

What baffles me is although it maybe leaking, why on earth would it become milky sludge like a head gasket if there is no coolant in the oil (check via dipstick) and it would be pink if it was tranny fluid.

Also the aux fan isnt not kicking on..thats bad.

[YotaFun]

I had the same issue on the my 97 olds cutlass supreme with the same exact motor.
the head gasket and Intake manifold gasket both went.
Check all the rad hoses, there is a leak for sure somewhere, mine did it and I didn't notice till I smelled coolant and the car slowly started to over heat.
as for the sludge, maybe time to flush the coolant system...

[CJM]

Yea, I need to figure out where the leak is Avy. I just dont get it tbh, as usually its either in the oil or trans fluid.

[corax]

could be leaking to the cylinder. look for white smoke when you start it or just after starting and spark plugs that look way too clean (steam cleaned from coolant)

[CJM]

YEa, ill check for white smoke. I dont see any leaks.. This is whats baffling me.

[4runnerchevy]

could be leaking to the cylinder. look for white smoke when you start it or just after starting and spark plugs that look way too clean (steam cleaned from coolant)


x2 on it getting burned up in the exhaust.

[YotaFun]

YEa, ill check for white smoke. I dont see any leaks.. This is whats baffling me.


I didn't see any leaks when I first started losing coolant cause it would come out of the hose and land right on the block and essentially just evaporate away.
I only figure out that it was leaking out that particulat hose when i was stuck in a parking lot on a hot day waiting for mom to get outof work, saw steam coming from under the hood, got out, open the hood and saw where the hose had been shooting fluid.



could be leaking to the cylinder. look for white smoke when you start it or just after starting and spark plugs that look way too clean (steam cleaned from coolant)


Head gaskets gone?
But they were just replaced...

How many miles are on the engine now and how many where on the engine before the gaskets where changed?

[CJM]

Well ill check for the smoke, but my brother says nada. So far again rad is low, i filled the overflow tank and rad up and now the overflow is way low.

Im going with it burning it, but smoke should show..well we shall see. Gonna pressure test it and check everything else out in a day or so.

HG wasd done a year or so again. See whats getting me is the coolant is milky sludge in the filler neck of the rad andf kinda milky (no sludge/paritcles) in the overflow. I think its leaking and burning tbh.

[corax]

If this is what is going on:
coolant would only really leak into the cylinders when you shut the engine down - pressure still present in the cooling system, not in the cylinders - you might also try filling the radiator, taking the cap off, and seeing if there is a somewhat steady stream of bubbles showing up in the filler neck (indicating compression leaking into the cooling system) - you might also find a leak like that with a compression test, maybe

[CJM]

Thanks guys.