i have a 96 buick regal 3.8 seriesII has 130thousand miles. it has a new water pump and thermostat flushed the coolant about 3 months ago and it runs right at C on the coolant gauge. also i tried to see if maby i had a air pock and what should of been green coolant was like a diry yellow and had a little bit of specs of oil. im at my wits end on this please help
Do you know the history of the cooling system in terms of service? As a '96 GM it would have come with DexCool and had DexCool recommended. DexCool is orange.
If you flush DexCool out and replace it with a universal-type coolant there is a good chance that you will get dirty yellow.
Anyway, before you pull too many hairs out, get a read on the actual coolant temperature. Perhaps you just have a bad temp sensor/sender. Do you have heat? Is the check engine light on with any codes indicating anything about coolant temp or lack of closed loop operation?
i bearly have any heat i was suggested that maby my intake manifold my be leaking? but it was staying green since i checked it 2 weeks ago
The issue is small amount of coolant in oil? and the engine does not warm up correctly? you would be lucky if the entry point is via the intake manifold gasket, unlucky if it was via the head(s) or headgaskets(s). Myself I would, do a pressure test, perhaps nothing conclusive comes of it, go one more coolant flush and then if coolant is still getting in the oil (and you are sure you are not seeing things) Pull the manifold. I say one more coolant flush only because I want to make sure of what I am seeing. If you are sure now,do the manifold now.
I never viewed the 3.8 as an engine so prone to coolant entering the oil via the intake manifold gasket but it certainly can happen. Perhaps you just pull a valve cover and see if any signs of coolant in the oil shows on valve train gear, this would help you decide on a course of action.
For me to decide on the temp. issue I would want a coolant temp displayed on a scanner. I am the type of mechanic that seeks quite a bit of confirmation. This is a Tech II car so there is alot of data you can see through the Tech II. Perhaps another idea comes to me.
Oldschool is right about looking into the specs of oil, though a head gasket problem is normally associated with overheating. GM intake manifold gasket leaks on the 6 cyl engines are legendary but this also shouldn’t cause “under” heating.
Are you losing any coolant? Do check for signs of coolant mixing with oil.
Why were the water pump & thermostat replaced?
If the coolant just doesn’t get hot the most likely thing is the thermostat. Faulty replacement?