A friend of mine has a '97 Chevy Lumina 3.1 V6 that has leaking intake manifold gaskets (possibly head gasket, but I think its the intake). It's loosing coolant, overheats, and it's got chocolate milk in the crankcase, but the car still runs and drives. We're trying to figure out how to temporarily stop the leakage to keep it running until he buys a new car within a week or two. Is there a way to "patch" the leaks by using radiator stopleak or some other coolant additive?

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1997 Camaro Z28: LT1 with a proper 6-speed gearbox, Centerforce clutch, Bilstein struts, Ground Control adjustable springs, LCAs, PHR, SFCs, EBC Yellow brake pads, K&N intake, Comp Cams 502 (duration 218/224 @.050, lift .495/.503), LS6 valve springs, Pacesetter long tube headers, 3 inch Magnaflow exhaust, custom PCM tune by Wong's Performance Engineering in Vancouver, WA.

2013 BMW 135i: 3.0 liter turbo I6, 7 speed Dual Clutch Transmission, M-Sport package, bone stock.

Sold, but missed: 1996 Bonneville SSEi, 3.4 pulley, Intense intake, Zilla Motorsports ported LIM.

There are lots of "coolant stop leaks" out there. None are perminent. Some don't work at all. If he wants it to last a little while with out repairing it, add some stop leak and change the oil and filter. That sludge in the engine is doing the most harm.

I just helped a co-worker with his gaskets on the 3.1, they were leaking on the drivers side right where the LIM meets the head. He didn't have coolant in the oil yet, but he went through a gallon of water just getting to work. It was actually running down the transmission to the ground.

From looking at the way they are set-up, I don't think there would be anything that would patch the leaks. If it is only a week or two, he may press his luck and just keep water in it and change the oil a couple of times.

I'm currently running off the shelf stop leak in my Aurora in both the transmission and the coolant. Both leaks have virtually sealed themselves up (some leak still, but very little compared to before). For the $15 for a can or two of the stuff, worth a shot IMO.

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Owner / Admin

1995 SSEi / 2002 SSEi / 2001 Sierra C3 DENALI

Its gonna depend on how bad that intake gasket is... On the 3100 V6's once they start going there isn't usually a lot that will seal them up enough to stop the leak even for a short while..

http://www.barsproducts.com/PLT11.htm

I've used this before...very good stuff. If you already have "chocolate milk" in the crankcase...that's really not good at all. We see failures on 3.8's due to this after fixing the gaskets a few hundred or thousand miles later... I'm telling you this because already driving it as much as he did is not good, and driving it more certainly won't help. You have to wait for this stuff to actually seal once the car gets heated up correctly, not to mention if it DOES actually seal. I'd stop driving this and fix it right away draining coolant and oil immediately if you want any hope of saving it...

When you do fix it and have it open, leave the oil pan drain open and throw a quart or two over the crankcase and let it drain out to flush whatever is left out (yes, fresh oil...so you should use cheap oil to not waste money)

Jrs right. They are the same crappy plastic frame construction with a different shape. Once they go, they are gone.

Alright, thanks for the input. I'm just gonna let my friend borrow one of my cars until he gets a new one. He'd rather not risk having a total engine failure and be stranded somewhere.

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1997 Camaro Z28: LT1 with a proper 6-speed gearbox, Centerforce clutch, Bilstein struts, Ground Control adjustable springs, LCAs, PHR, SFCs, EBC Yellow brake pads, K&N intake, Comp Cams 502 (duration 218/224 @.050, lift .495/.503), LS6 valve springs, Pacesetter long tube headers, 3 inch Magnaflow exhaust, custom PCM tune by Wong's Performance Engineering in Vancouver, WA.

2013 BMW 135i: 3.0 liter turbo I6, 7 speed Dual Clutch Transmission, M-Sport package, bone stock.

Sold, but missed: 1996 Bonneville SSEi, 3.4 pulley, Intense intake, Zilla Motorsports ported LIM.