I have a 2001 Buick Century with under 70k miles. Recently my mechanic noticed that coolant was draining down the transmission. He resealed the intake to stop that problem and in turn, the pressure caused oil to mix with coolant (looks like chocolate milk in the coolant tank). Is it worth repairing on a car that is 8 years old. I had to replace my transmission a year and a half ago. I may have a lemon.
I don’t believe in lemons. Some times it is just bad luck and luck changes. Other times, especially with cars it is poor maintenance. While there are differences with cars (some better some not) from car to car of the same type there is no reason to blame the car for unrelated problems. Maybe someone did not weld a muffler part properly and maybe a spark plug failed and maybe a bad paint job, but there is no connection between those.
Consider that you have invested a transmission repair into this car and if you now junk it, you loose that investment.
That said there is a possibility that there is a connection between these problems.
A seven year old car with 70,000 miles is still young.
Has the same shop done all this work? Did you get a second opinion for any expensive work?
What does the oil look like on the dipstick?
If it looks the same as it does in the coolant reservior there’s a very good chance that damage has occured to rod/crank bearings and crankshaft. If the oil appears to be fine, then a new set of lower intake manifold gaskets and upper intake plenum gaskets would fix the problem.
Tester
I have always taken my car to the Buick Dealership for scheduled maintenance (oil changes & 3000 mi checkups). It has never gone anywhere else and it has never been abused in terms of driving the car.
As a second opinion, I’m told that it will still be costly (over $1000) to repair but given the age of the car, i’ll be looking at suspension problems next which will be costly too. Since 2004, I have spend $5000 dollars in repairs to my so called “lemon” and it looks like every year there will be something new.
The oil on the dipstick doesn’t look dark, it is more of a mocha color. Also, the tubes that run under the hood are soft as a result. I have no clue what any of this means.
Thank you for your help!