Well, my sister left for work this morning and apparently her car('98 SLE) had a pretty bad knock on startup. She assumed it was acting like our '02 Tahoe which knocks sometimes on startup due to the piston slap caused by carbon buildup on the piston. We never worry about the Tahoe as they all do it so she didn't worry about her car(although it sounds as though here car may have been louder/more severe). What she didn't know is that piston slap is not a problem with the 3800 and that it should not have been doing that. She let it warm up and says it sounded normal and drove to work. The CEL went on on the way to work. She called home and I ran up with my dad. We both know about the LIM failures. Her car had 50k miles with no external signs of a leaking gasket so he planned to do it but not immediately. We arrived at her work and checked the oil, 1 quart low, no obvious signs other than just dark and needed changed. The cap had condensation underneath it, a clear sign. Vapors slowly steamed out of the oil cap when opened. Definitely coolant in the oil, but how much. We then glanced over at the coolant reservoir... empty. The radiator cap was not very warm so we popped it open and found that there was no coolant visible. A tow truck was called and the car is now in our detached garage. We plan to do the LIM/UIM repair with the APN kit and the aluminum frame gaskets but it may be too late. If it is then those parts will go on my car. Wish us luck.
Grant

pm sent

Thanks TJ but I ordered the APN kit right after I posted this.
Grant

Good luck! Did you drain that oil yet???

The oil drain plug was pulled about an hour ago and it looked just like the dipstick as it was draining, fine oil just a bit dark and ready for a change. I will check on it again to see how much coolant is separating out from the oil. I do not see any caramel type sludge in the valvetrain, dipstick, or drain pan yet. The loud knocking does have me worried though. I am crossing my fingers that the bearings aren't spun.
Grant

Any sparkles in the pan of drained oil? Got a magnet handy?

Hopefully you're in the clear!!