It appears to be white smoke. I found the oil full of coolant befor I did all the work.

El caminoman:

I've been following your thread since the beginning. I did the same procedure on our '98 Bonneville, so I'm familiar with what you did and with some of the problems.

I'm desperately trying to think of scenarios where this is not a blown head gasket or a corrosion in the block between oil and coolant passages (both of which seem to be somewhat rare problems in the 3800 engine [in my limited forum readings] compared to intake manifold problems[which are almost inevitable]).

Is it possible that when you did your UIM/LIM work on Thursday, that you didn't drain the radiator sufficiently? The timing of the sudden drainage of your coolant reservoir and the overflow into your oil pan seems to coincide with your intake manifold work.

With that said, maybe this is what'* happened:

1. You bought the car recently and noticed the milky oil and the white exhaust smoke due to coolant getting into the combustion chamber(*) by some means. Let'* say this was due to a trashed uim/lim system in some way.
You had not experienced any significant coolant loss up to this point. (Wednesday the fourth) Nor any significant oil loss (or gain!)

2. On Thursday the fifth, you did the uim/lim procedure. You mentioned that you spilled some coolant into the area below the LIM when trying to pull it out. Suppose that you also were accidentally draining (unbeknownst to you) coolant from the radiator and coolant reservoir into your engine block at the same time. (I'm not trying to be critical, just trying to think up a happy ending for this story )(and we all[certainly me, anyway ] make mistakes during one of these procedures).

3. Ok, on Friday (I have to guess at the dates, but you would know better), you notice all of a sudden you've lost alot of coolant from the reservoir, your oil level is sky high and your exhaust is still expelling coolant. Let'* say you didn't change the oil after the manifold work. Now, the problem is different. It'* because of the accidental introduction of coolant into the block (and subsequently into the oil pan) during the manifold procedure.

Sounds zany? Think about it. I really hope I'm right (I sure like '98s ).

The cure would be one more oil change.

Ok, a lot of assumptions, but if there'* anything to what I've presented, it sure could save you a lot of work.


(edited by me a little later: Is there anything else you can think of that may have occurred during assembly? A pinched or defective gasket? Something loosened up? Any head scratching about gaskets not properly matching the manifold holes? Who knows -- maybe you've run into a corollary of the "Buttermore Principle" (like installing brand new, but defective plug cables and you don't catch it for days or weeks) -- you do the right thing, and somehow it (as well as all of your assumptions) comes out wrong :( )

You hit alot of it on the head. I was told to drain the oil when I did the procedure, which I did and yes I did spill coolant into the area benith the LIM and it poured to the oil pan and I left the drain plug off for this reason and it began to pour out of the oil pan hole. After I let it all drain out as much as possible, I repluged it when everything was reinstalled, and put cheap oil in it. and I planed to leave it in there for a couple of days and then do another oil change with the good stuff. So from what I have been told, this oil change coming up should take the smoke away?

Well, that'* my hopeful theory .

It just seems from what you said that you began to lose a lot of coolant right around the time you did your procedure. That makes me think it'* just a one-time event.

You certainly should change oil (and the cheapest bulk engine oil you can find is ok at this point), just to get the damaging coolant out of your oil and and away from your bearings and journal surfaces. Even non-Dex-cool coolants can rust your cylinder walls fairly quickly -- I've seen that myself :( .

The Big question is: are you continuing to lose coolant from your coolant reservoir?

Or was this episode just a one-time thing that happened last week? You have to think hard about these questions and look hard at your coolant reservoir level -- after you do your next oil change tomorrow.

If your oil stays clear, you stop the white smoke, and your coolant level stays up, that'* great!

However, if you're now losing coolant (whereas you weren't a week or two ago), then it would appear you have a brand new problem (such as those I alluded to in my previous post). And maybe you introduced it during the procedure. (like a pinched or defective gasket). I'm sure all the members following your thread hope that won't be the case.

So here'* the drill:

-change oil immediately

-watch coolant reservoir level critically as you start driving it again

-watch exhaust

-check oil for coolant and rising level

good luck!

Well I filled the car up with coolant when I did all my change, now the level went down, some what, I put a whole new bottle of coolant in it, I dont know if it was just making up for the collant that was not there and its just in the system or if she is drinking it again, I will keep an eye on it for the next couple of days and see if it goes down anymore. If the level continues to go down what should I do to start looking for this problem?

Did you drill a hole in the thermostat flange to facillitate getting coolant back into the block?

If not, you need to do this. It'* in the Techinfo section (your friend ) under mechanical/engine.

What does your oil look like right now? Is it milky? Has the level risen in the last two days (Sautrday and Sunday)? Please give a very specific answer on this -- your descriptions are confusing and it makes it hard to help.

Does anyone have any pictures of what im sapose to do about the drilling part? I have not had a chance to check the oil.

If you are losing a gallon of coolant, that motor needs to come back apart. Something is not right and it'* burning coolant in the cylinders.

You replaced the UIM correct, the new one is on the car?
You changed the LIM gaskets and things went well? The locating pins lined up? You can see the gaskets in the correct place at the moment?

Something very bad is happening. My other thought is the car got overheated enough to crack something..but that'* soooo remote.

I don't have a pic, but you don't need one. Just drill a hole in the middle of the horizontal flange of the thermostat the size specified in the Techinfo article. There'* nothing to it.

And as Boosty is saying, that'* the thought that keeps running through my mind, that you've somehow introduced a coolant leakage into the block as you put the manifolds back together. (and that'* a happy scenario, rather than something lower into the heads and block!). If it were mine and I only had the information you've given us, I'd be taking the manifolds apart today also.

But I still want to know what your oil looks like right now, and how high the level is.

(edited by me -- Boosty, if he got 2 or 3 quarts of coolant into the oil pan, would this burn out as white smoke, or just stay put?)

Im going to do the oil change today, I just got off work, so im letting it cool down, I just went out to check the coolant and it is still sitting at the level that it was at when I did the change so it does not seem to be drinking the coolant any more, I hope, so like I said im going to do the change in a little bit, so I will let you know what the oil looks like.