I bought the car like that. I am an ex-mechanic (about 10 years ago) and know that the 3.8 is almost bullet proof and never really blow head gaskets. Is there something with the supercharger that could cause this? Is it something that happens to the 2001 models? Ive never owned a supercharged engine before. I bought the car for $2000 and its slick inside and out. Just has the water in the oil and needs a new key made. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Intake gaskets are shot, very common. Hopefully it isn't too late and the engine is savable...

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Ryan

2003 Bonneville SSEi - The Black Mirror SOLD!
2002 Bonneville SE - The Mutt Complete 2004 SLE interior, drivetrain, and body harness swap, ECC swap, HUD swap, black GXP wheels, GXP headlights and tinted tails - SOLD
2003 BMW 540i M Sport, 2001 BMW X5 4.4i, 2010 GMC Acadia, 2017 Grand Design Imagine 3150BH
1982 Cutlass Supreme - The fun one

Awesome. That doesnt look hard at all to do. I have to get a key made for it first then will put the gaskets on it and go from there. Thanks for the response. Cant wait to get it going. Its a beautiful burgundy with dark grey leather interior. Looks like is should have wings on it. LOL Thanks again..

Drain the oil and coolant ASAP if you haven't already. Put a new filter and cheap fresh oil in, run it for about 30 seconds, drain the oil again. Then take the time to swap the gaskets and refill the coolant and oil.

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WHITE WHINE - 1992 SSE Supercharged 236.26 ci (.040 Over) 15.090 at 90.2 MPH on old engine w/ slipping trans & melted O2 sensor - Gen 3 M62 and matching TB, Gen 2 Pully, Zillamotorsports Ported LIM, YT 1.72 Roller Rockers, SII FPR & Injectors, Hypertech Thermomaster chip w/ 160 Thermo, TransGo Shift Kit, Infinity/Pioneer Speakers & a 10" Alpine Type R Sub, all the watts, 140 amp Alternator, Ricepipe CAI w/ heatshield, Pilot Angel Eye Foglights, Clear Corners, '02 17" Chrome Bent 5's, Magnaflow F-Body Muffler and Hi-flo Cat, Ceramic Coated Ported Exhaust Manifolds, Fan Override, Monroe Reflex struts, red calipers
2009 G8 GT - Sport Red Metallic, loaded, SOLO Axlebacks, Rotofab Intake, Tuned, autodim mirror, removed intake manifold cover, HSV GTS triple gauge pod, two tone red-hot shifter and HSV SuperSport steering wheel, GXP rear sway bar and diffuser, 3.45 diff and various Camaro suspension bits, LED Taillights

Well, the car has sat for about 2 months now. Ive seen cars sit with water mixed in the oil for quite a while and not have a problem, but not on a 3.8 SC engine. Should I replace the bearings and clean up the crank? Or just pull the pan and inspect it? How many hours roughly is the intake set? Thanks for the advice.

With it sitting that long, there's a high risk the bottom end could be toast. It's different for every motor, but the odds aren't in your favor.

http://www.dex-cool.net is a very good source of information explaining why the gaskets leak. Get that Dex out of there asap! If you decide to rebuild the engine or have to put in a replacement, make sure you don't put that trash back in the car!


As far as the intake goes, (I did the one's on my L36, the L67 that you have isn't much different to do other than I don't have a supercharger) the job only took me about 6 hours or so and I've never done an intake before. Shop time says it's 3-4 hours, so if you know what you're doing it should be right around there.


Make sure to replace the LIM gaskets with the upgraded metal replacements. You can get them from the dealer for around $50, or from INTENSE racing and a few other vendors.


-Joseph

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Joseph

Current: 2013 Infiniti G37 Journey
1999 Infiniti G20T - Sold
1999 Buick Lesabre - Race Couch - gone but not forgotten

If it's small amounts of water, it could be fine to sit for a while, I guess.

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WHITE WHINE - 1992 SSE Supercharged 236.26 ci (.040 Over) 15.090 at 90.2 MPH on old engine w/ slipping trans & melted O2 sensor - Gen 3 M62 and matching TB, Gen 2 Pully, Zillamotorsports Ported LIM, YT 1.72 Roller Rockers, SII FPR & Injectors, Hypertech Thermomaster chip w/ 160 Thermo, TransGo Shift Kit, Infinity/Pioneer Speakers & a 10" Alpine Type R Sub, all the watts, 140 amp Alternator, Ricepipe CAI w/ heatshield, Pilot Angel Eye Foglights, Clear Corners, '02 17" Chrome Bent 5's, Magnaflow F-Body Muffler and Hi-flo Cat, Ceramic Coated Ported Exhaust Manifolds, Fan Override, Monroe Reflex struts, red calipers
2009 G8 GT - Sport Red Metallic, loaded, SOLO Axlebacks, Rotofab Intake, Tuned, autodim mirror, removed intake manifold cover, HSV GTS triple gauge pod, two tone red-hot shifter and HSV SuperSport steering wheel, GXP rear sway bar and diffuser, 3.45 diff and various Camaro suspension bits, LED Taillights

At the top of our forum is a link to the techinfo section. There are plenty of posts there to guide you along. Some are of the NA motor, but pretty much the same as the SC.

As stated above, do a cheap oil change once you get it started. A lot of good advice above and plenty more help here when needed.

I'd at least check the bearings if I were you. It really doesn't take much for coolant to start pitting the bearings in these cars. Unfortunately I know this from experience

What is there to check? You don't want to break the torque on the rod and main bearing caps just to inspect the bearings. You won't see much by just dropping the pan and also on the 2k you need to support the motor from the top due to the oil pan being a mounting point for the motor mount.

I agree with what was suggested above. Change the oil and drain any remaining coolant and run it for a few seconds and then drain the oil again. Then proceed with the gasket change.

another thing noone has asked, how much coolan is in the oil? Does it look like a milkshake when drained? What does the inside of the oil fill cap look like?