Catastrophic Failure!

[bill buttermore]

Coolant out the exhaust and a knock is probably bad news. The probable cause is failed LIM gaskets and a spun rod bearing. You could luck out and find the knock is caused by a bad harmonic balancer or loose flex plate bolts....What does the oil look like?

[Sacaledus]

How can I tell? Should I drain it or is it enough to check the dipstick?

[bobfather99]

Just a question....

When you found the coolant low originally and re-filled it, was the engine warm or cold??

Remember to let the engine cool off a little before topping off coolant.
You can burn yourself with the rad cap, or crack the block/rad in extreme cases if you add cold water to a hot engine.

[bill buttermore]

How can I tell? Should I drain it or is it enough to check the dipstick?

If the car has been recently driven, you can just look at the dipstick. Oil-coolant emulsion will be opaque, may look something like chocolate milk. But if it has been sitting a while, the coolant may have separated and fallen to the bottom of the pan if coolant is indeed mixed with the oil. In that case, just drain a quart out of the pan and take a look. If coolant is in the oil, it will be obvious.

[Sacaledus]

Haven't had a chance to drain the oil yet. I live in an apartment complex and right as I was gettin gunder the car here come sthe maintenance guy to remind me that workin on your car is not allowed especially when it's with fluids. I said whatever and decided to pull a plug instead. it was the middle plug on the back side and it was wet with antifreeze. What does that mean?

[bill buttermore]

It means that coolant has entered your combustion chamber either through a perforated upper intake manifold or through failed lower intake manifold gaskets.

You need to take immediate action to minimize bearing damage in your engine. Read this right now, especially the red text part about what to do if your UIM or LIM gaskets have failed:Change UIM/LIM Gaskets

[JBMark33]

I just got done replacing my Upper Intake Manifold because it failed where the egr stovepipe enters the UIM, I would be glad to answer any of your questions. My engine hydrolocked twice in the past 3 weeks but I got it up and running as strong as ever.

How many miles are on your car?

[Sacaledus]

The engine was replaced with a remanufactured on about 50,000 miles ago. Once this is completed what chance do I have that this will have me back up and running? I won't be able to perform this myself, I wish I could, so cost of repair is a factor here.

[bill buttermore]

It costs about $250 to do an APN UIM and aluminum frame LIM gaskets yourself. Figure on $750 and up for a shop to do it. If you have a shop do it for you, you should buy the parts for the fix. Not only will they cost less, but you will get a better repair. Read the article linked for you above to see what is involved.

But....that is just for the intake manifold work. If your engine has a knock, then you will probably need a crank kit installed. That would cost about $400 to do yourself, and a whole lot more to have a shop do as the engine has to come out for that work.

Cheapest fix is gonna be to install a good used engine. Needless to say, it would be a wise investment to do the intake repairs before the "new" engine is installed. That way, the replacement motor has a chance of running to the more typical 200k + miles these engines are known for.

If you cannot do your own work, it may be time to say goodbye. The cost of having a good used engine installed will be around $1500, which is probably about the value of your car if it is in nice shape.

[Sacaledus]

Thanks Bill! I'll have to sleep on it.

[bonnevillain]

It costs about $250 to do an APN UIM and aluminum frame LIM gaskets yourself.

shouldn't it be only about $150?

[bill buttermore]

It costs about $250 to do an APN UIM and aluminum frame LIM gaskets yourself.

shouldn't it be only about $150?

APN UIM kit.................$115
Aluminum LIM gaskets.....$65
Dorman "Help!" elbows.....$6
Tensioner seal (95-98).....$5
Oil and filter..................$15
RTV silicone...................$6
One gallon coolant...........$10
Brake parts cleaner (2)......$6
Throttle body cleaner.........$6
Penetrating oil...................$3
Loctite threadlocker...........$5
Anti-seize compound...........$1
Rags or shop towels............$4
Nitrile gloves......................$1
Silicone grease...................$1
Tax on local items...............$4
Subtotal..........................$253

If you have to flush coolant from the bearings and/or crankcase, add another $15 for a second oil and filter change, (maybe another $15 for a third "insurance" change) and if you don't own a torque wrench capable of reading 7.5 ft-lb accurately, add another $25 for an inexpensive but workable Craftsman 3/8" drive deflecting beam wrench. Not included is the cost of kerosene or mineral spirits and brushes for parts cleaning. That could be another $5

That would bring the total to $298.

So, $250 seems to be a reasonable estimate especially if you do not have supplies on hand. Out of pocket costs may be reduced by maybe $10 - $15 by using supplies and materials on-hand. But those were purchased and their replacement cost should not be ignored.

[bonnevillain]

LIM gaskets are only $40 from gmpartsdirect, and the UIM kit is only $90 (plus shipping, may be 115, i can't recall)
I had everything else on hand besides the coolant elbows so i guess i saved a lot there

[bill buttermore]

I just checked GMpartsdirect and the APN website. APN has reduced the price of the UIM kit by $10 and increased shipping by $1, so now instead of $115 shipped to your door, you can get the APN kit for only $106. That is great news! GMpartsdirect, which I have not dealt with owing to reports of notoriously slow shipping, have the aluminum frame gaskets for $42 plus $12 shipping for a total of $54. This is about $11 less than I have to pay at my local GM dealer - $65. On those two items, I am $20 high, so I need to adjust my "guesstimate" from $250 to $230 for people who are doing the work as preventive maintenance. For those who have ingested coolant, the estimate would be $245 due to the need to flush the bearings at least once.

For those who cannot wait the two to four days for the best fix APN UIM kit, and who buy their parts locally, the cost will be closer to $275. At O'Reilly auto parts in Ames, Ia, the cost of a Dorman kit is currently $129.99 plus 7% tax = $139.

So, thanks for the update, bonnevillain; I will revise my estimate:

APN UIM kit.................$106
Aluminum LIM gaskets.....$54
Dorman "Help!" elbows.....$6
Tensioner seal (95-98).....$5
Oil and filter..................$15
RTV silicone...................$6
One gallon coolant...........$10
Brake parts cleaner (2)......$6
Throttle body cleaner.........$6
Penetrating oil...................$3
Loctite threadlocker...........$5
Anti-seize compound...........$1
Rags or shop towels............$4
Nitrile gloves......................$1
Silicone grease...................$1
Tax on local items...............$4
Subtotal..........................$233

If you have to flush coolant from the bearings and/or crankcase, add another $15 for a second oil and filter change, (maybe another $15 for a third "insurance" change) and if you don't own a torque wrench capable of reading 7.5 ft-lb accurately, add another $25 for an inexpensive but workable Craftsman 3/8" drive deflecting beam wrench. Not included is the cost of kerosene or mineral spirits and brushes for parts cleaning. That could be another $5

That would bring the total to $278 - $293.

If you cannot wait for mail order for the best-fix APN UIM kit or Aluminum LIM gaskets, add another $44 to any of the above estimates.

[Sacaledus]

http://seattle.craigslist.org/oly/ctd/1045500090.html
the guy says it won't shift through the gears. I was thinking of takin a look at it and check the fluid and see if it's leaking. Where it's slippn an dhow it feels on the road. If need be how much would a tranny rebuild run or a swap with mine?