I have a 1994 Pontiac Bonneville with a 3.8 liter 3800 V6 with 165,000 miles. I bought it "as is". With all the options and they all work. It DID NOT have water in the oil when I checked it the day I bought it. But I had to replace the water pump, thermostat and a plastic hose nipple that was broke between the water pump and the altenator. Not a good sign I know, I started it and now I have water in the oil. I didn't run it long. My husband changed the oil and again full of water.. pulled the spark plugs and turned it over. I don't seem to have coolant in any of the cylinders. From what I read on this forum, blown head gaskets are almost unheard of ?? Most of the problems are with 1995 and up with the intakes. Could this be my problem also?? My husband will do the work. But I'm sure I'll be asking a lot of questions.. Thanks for any help. Marge.

It'* very rare that the L27 (your motor) blows their gaskets. However, if the engine overheated for a sustained amount of time, it is possible to warp one or both heads (I have proof of that for the naysayers ).

Drain that oil again, and put some fresh in it. Have your husband perform a compression check on all the cylinders. Thats about the only advice I can give at the moment.

The likely cause is failed lower intake manifold gaskets. L27s usually go a long, long time without failures, but they are not unheard of. And failed LIM gaskets are much more likely than bad head gaskets. Fortunately, they are not too expensive or too difficult to fix.

As soon as possible get the coolant away from the bearings by draining the coolant. Then drain and flush the crankcase with cheap 5W-30 oil and a couple of cheap oil filters. Then, have a look at those LIM gaskets.

If what you mean by water in the oil, is actually coolant, remove it immediately as it could damage the lower bearings and ruin the engine.
You may have any one of a number of gasket failures including the LIM, timing cover, head etc although the head gasket is very rare.
A simple compression test will tell.
Does seem odd that there was no problem Before the water pump work was done. Was anything else taken apart?

Not that i know of? Will do a compression test on it, soon as I can find a compession tester. What should the compression be? Will drain all the coolant and oil out today and put in fresh oil and filter. I won't add any coolant for now. Thanks, Marge.

Your compression values will be low and not accurate because the engine will not be up to temperature. You won't be running without coolant! Maybe 110 psi or so. You are looking for a huge difference between the cylinders.

And, I am not sure but I think the LIM gaskets can develop a leak between the coolant passage and the crankcase without any coolant being introduced into a cylinder.

If my commpresion tester is OK and I'm not sure it is.. I only get 40 in the front and "0" on 2 cylinders on the back. But I have the old style that you have to hold on the spak plug hole. Not sure if it'* getting a good seal. But it will start up and run good on alll cylinders. Sounds like a head gasket maybe ? I guess this is going to be a big job? Going to get my husband a manual . He can do the intake, not sure about the heads? Thanks again, Marge.

id start by taking the upper and lower intake off. that will at least tell you if the gaskets are the culpret. and be sure to draain the coolant well below the height of the heater hoses. you dont want any more coolant in ur oil. i recently had to drop my oil pan because i skipped that step. DOH!

feel free to post pics.

this was 30k miles less than ur eng., so lim gaskets are very possible.