2003 Malibu - Coolant Loss & Oil Leak

[ThirdeYe]

My mom's Malibu's coolant lamp has been coming on in her car periodically and I checked her coolant level and it was very low in the reservoir. We've also been noticing some oil spots on the driveway where she parks occasionally and found out that it's been coming from her car. We took it to a Chevy dealership today and they told us it was the oil pan gasket and there was nothing wrong with the random coolant disappearance. They just sloughed it off and said it was normal and there's nothing wrong with it.

Just recently (less than a year ago) we had the intake manifold gasket replaced and they added more coolant, etc. but I don't know if it's the manifold gasket again or a head gasket. I was leaning towards a head gasket issue because of not only the loss of coolant but also the oil leaks. I don't see how the oil pan could be leaking already, as the car only has 60,000 miles on it, not driven hard, and I've changed the oil personally every 3-4k miles... anyone have any experience with this 3.1 or might know a little bit more about the symptoms we've been having? I don't think coolant would ever just randomly disappear without something being wrong...

For more information, the car's not here at the moment (it's still at the dealership) but when I looked under the hood I noticed a dark wet oil spot on the driver's side of the motor, but I'm not sure if it's coming from the valve cover or something below it. I don't think it's coming from the oil pan gasket because of the fact that I saw a wet oil spot up higher than that.

Thanks a lot.

 

[SMB]

If it is not leaking coolant, then the engine could be burning the coolant.

Do you see any white smoke off the tail pipe?

 

[ThirdeYe]

There is some but I can't tell if it's fresh because it was white from when she was leaking coolant into the motor with the intake manifold gasket previously. I'd get the oil analyzed but I used Mobil Clean 5000/Valvoline in the last oil change and I think the added Sodium would mask the potential coolant leak... I told her to have another shop give it a second look over.

 

[ted s]

no coolant from last years repair is causing white smoke now, its burning coolant.

 

[SMB]

Take 2nd and 3rd opinions. Hopefully someone will know the exact problem.

 

[Merkava_4]

There's these COLD and HOT lines on the coolant reservoir tank; you've got to keep the coolant right on the cold line when checking the coolant level cold so that you can tell if it's using coolant or not. When I pop the hood on mine, that's the first thing I look at. By the way, on a GM V6, you've got to be checking that line on the tank at least 3 times a week.

 

[alanu]

If the intake gasket was replaced it should have solved the coolant consumption. Look at the ends of the intake manifold. The auto tech should have put a generous bead of silicon to seal the intake manifold. If the guy didn't clean it well the oil could be coming from the ends of the mating surface of the block and intake mani.

If you see oil higher up then its NOT THE oil pan.

I would imagine the stealership would have used the plastic/composite inferior intake gaskets as a warranty job. If you torque them incorrectly you can crack the gasket.

Alot of the times the chevs dribble coolant externally from the intake gasket.

I'd say its the intake gasket again.

Pull the spark plugs to see if they are "steam cleaned" that would indicate a headgasket problem.

I dont think chevs are that bad in the headgasket department. Even though ford and chevs use poor quality aluminum from 3rd world countries the chevs heads dont really concave (curve like a banana LOL!!! ) Ford 3.8's are famous for that and they stretch the headbolts too!!!

Look at the valve cover gasket aswell. I can see a tech replacing the front valvecover but leave the rear one and goop it with silicon to save time.

 

[ThirdeYe]

We had the car double checked today and they confirmed it is indeed the oil pan gasket -- which completely baffles me, I've used Maxlife in this engine for the last oil change and this oil change is part Maxlife so you wouldn't think it would be leaking, especially at only 60,000 miles and only 4 years old. Always changed at 3-4,000 miles too. Must've been some sort of defect/assembly error... or a poor quality part. I was quoted about $300 to have it replaced, but I might try Maxlife again one more time because she's tight on money at the moment. I showed him the spot I saw with the leak and he said it was only a very slight seepage that didn't make its way to the bottom (yet).