oil in the rad making the dexcool crap look like transmission fluid.. no
rad fluid in the crank or on the dipstick. Is this the prone intake manifold
gasket problem on 3.8's ? any help would be great.

In article <ZrFTg.135173$sS1.48156 (AT) read1 (DOT) cgocable.net>,
"Chevrolet" <lblower (AT) cogeco (DOT) ca> wrote:

Are you sure no one put sealer in the radiator?
May have been done at the dealer as part of a TSB.

no..the van sat for a year, I replaced the transmission and checked all
fluids..then 2 days later after a few drives I rechecked everything and it
looks like transmissio flid in my rad (oil and the orange dexcool crap) I am
reading the intake gasket is starting to go..


"aarcuda69062" <nonelson (AT) sbcglobal (DOT) net> wrote

In article <l4PTg.137669$sS1.1144 (AT) read1 (DOT) cgocable.net>,
"Chevrolet" <lblower (AT) cogeco (DOT) ca> wrote:

You know that there's a transmission oil cooler in the radiator
don't you?

The 3.8 didn't suffer as much from intake gasket leaks as it did
from the intake upper plenum melting where the EGR valve dumps
in, and your 95 may actually have the old style plastic plenum
which wasn't failure prone at all.
Old style = EGR valve mounted forward of the throttle body
Late style = EGR valve mounted behind the throttle body.

Chevrolet wrote:

Let's try to look at this logically, ok? You have what you think is
transmission fluid in your radiator fluid......it's far more likely that
you have a transmission cooler leak then an intake leak. Even if
the intake gasket is/was leaking, if you understand where the gasket
is located in relationship to engine oil, there is almost no chance of
getting engine oil into the coolant because of a leaking intake gasket.
I've probably done hundreds of intake manifold gasket repairs, and
I don't recall ever seeing one where engine oil got into the coolant
because of the intake gasket. But I have seen hundreds of examples
where the trans cooler inside the radiator leaks trans fluid into the
coolant.

Ian

then it must be a head gasket going.. I took the rad cap off... and it looks
like a strawberry milkshake .. I have an external transmission cooler that
bypasses the factory setup..so if the cooler in the rad was leaking,
wouldn't it leak rad fluid out on to the ground? The rad fluid and overflow
box were full of pink "milkshake almost " fluid. I flushed the sytem with
water and got almost al of it out. but it stil gets bubbles in it (old crap
I guess).. I thought maybe somebody poored tranny fluid in it at the garage
or some punk..I don't know.. all I know is that the fluid is almost like a
milkshake, and I thought motor oil would make it black and green not pink
like a strawberry milkshake.. Only thing that baffles me is the oil on the
dipstick is clena and the oil cap is clean..
"shiden_kai" <V-L-M (AT) hotma1l (DOT) com> wrote

Chevrolet wrote:

I suppose that if you are the one that installed the external trans
cooler, you would know if it bypasses the factory setup. Most
technicians would not bypass the factory one, but simply install
the external one in series with the factory one.

Ian

I think your right !. I bought the van.. dead tranny, the wreckers installed
a used one, but hooked the lines to the factory cooler to radiator..I never
checked the fluid after...I just brought it home tried to flush it but
nothing came out so I installed a aftermarket cooler bypassing the factory
junk..it goes through the cooler only, not the rad anymore.. BUT it could
have leaked in when the factory one was hooked up..I smelled the new fluid
and the stuff I got out of the rad and it smells like tranny fluid... really
diluted pink..I'll drive it and see
"shiden_kai" <V-L-M (AT) hotma1l (DOT) com> wrote

dex looks like oil when its old and give out.

http://www.minibite.com/america/malone.htm

I thought it took dexcool.. it takes the green flid.. I flused it and it is
fine now..
<ds549 (AT) webtv (DOT) net> wrote