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Old 06-03-2010, 11:14 PM
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Have some oil showing up in the rad. Where do I start to find the problem?

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Old 06-03-2010, 11:15 PM
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What car, year, engine?
Old 06-03-2010, 11:17 PM
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1989 chevy van. 350
Old 06-03-2010, 11:22 PM
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Could be a blown head gasket. Do you have any coolant in the oil?
Old 06-03-2010, 11:26 PM
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No. Been down that road before though. Not with this vehicle.
Old 06-03-2010, 11:47 PM
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Are you sure it'* oil and not tranny fluid?
Old 06-03-2010, 11:50 PM
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It'* a brown in colour. Looks like rust acutually. Just had a flush but there is still some there.
Old 06-03-2010, 11:54 PM
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Tranny fluid in the coolant looks like rusty scum. You may have a cracked radiator. Both the water and tranny fluid run through it in different passge ways. Pull your tranny dipstick and see if the fluid is "normal"
Old 06-03-2010, 11:58 PM
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I'll do that tomorrow. The rad is fairly new, about 2 years old.

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Old 06-04-2010, 06:55 AM
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If you don't have coolant in the oil then it'* unlikely you have oil in the coolant. Trans fluid is a bit more likely. Check the trans fluid and flush the radiator to see if it comes back. Could be rust. Was it filled with premixed?


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