1994-2002 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
Sorry to hear the story, Charlie. My own leak story may not yet have ended too.
Mocha colored oil? Do you mean mocha with cream added? That is not good, as that is the color of oil with coolant in it. When I have seen oil in the coolant tank, it looked like globs of oil. In cars with a radiator cap, one can see coffee and/or dark colored oil floating on top of the coolant. In a Saab, we have to look in the overflow tank. If so, do not drive it at all. Do not run the engine. Consider towing the car to repair place if you can.
Coolant is a lousy lubricant.
Buying the head gasket may be something to hold off on for a moment. You need to have the compression checked and to check oil pressure. There is a serious question as to whether the engine is ruined by the possibility of coolant in the oil. Check out the extent of damage to the engine before buying the gasket repair. If compression is good, and oil pressure is good, then the gasket is something to consider and likely to do.
In my own case, I still have clean looking coolant and clean looking dipstick. I am still losing coolant. Still no drips, no visible leaks in visible parts of engine compartment, and no visible water vapor out the tail pipe. I have been charting the coolant loss, and it happens more on short trips, where the engine does not heat up as thoroughly (thermostat not yet opened perhaps) and where coolant system pressure is not yet at its highest. On long trips, the coolant goes down very slowly. My bet is head gasket, with a very small leak of coolant into one cylinder, but without mixing with the oil. Or, a small exhaust leak into the coolant. Have not yet done the exhaust probe into the coolant tank to determine that possibility either.
Good luck.
posted by 74.65.7...
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