I have an '02 Buick Regal V6 with 128,000 mostly highway miles. The oil has been changed religiously and it runs like a top. Unfortunately I have oil in the coolant, (no smoke from tailpipe). It also needs brake work estimated at just under a grand, (new rotors callipers etc). My question is should I scrap this car or is it worth trying to get a diagnosis. I’m told it could be anything from a blown head gasket to a jughead putting oil in there by mistake with my last oil change.
Check the transmission fluid. If the transmission cooler in the radiator has sprung a leak, it will allow tranny fluid to contaminate the coolant. And may allow coolant to contaminate the tranny fluid.
Tester
It is worth a diagnosis. What you do then depends on the findings.
The issues that throws up a red flag in this entire situation is your statement about needing a $1000.00 brake job,this is way out of line and makes me question all that this mechanic has come up with.
Thanks for the input. Actually had 3 brake estimates that include new rotors, new callipers and pads. Ranged from 850.00 to 1,100.00. None of the mechanics alerted me to the oil in tne coolant. So my delemna is how much I want to spend on this car.
It’s odd that a 7 y.o. car needs caliper replacement. And if it really needs calipers I would also replace the master cylinder, since whatever corroded the one surely has affected the other.
Thanks for the tip. It’s definately oil in the coolant, not tranny fluid. I was hoping that it is indeed transmission fluid as this is probably less expensive to fix.
Thanks, still considering this option. But fear that it’s diagonosed as one thing which leads to another as I’ve often read about.
Checked around and have found many people who have needed callipers. I wonder if the salt in winter is the culprit. Anyway, some have put an additional 50,000 miles on their car with no master cylinder problems, and 50,000 is about all I would put on this vehicle anyway.
We have people that post about 400k on their Dodge Dart and you want to dump a 50K Regal?
With an additional 50K this car will have nearly 200,000 miles. I have tried to sell a couple of my vehicles in the past, anything over 100K and nobody’s interested, even with excellent maintenance records and a steal of a price. Hence I own this car. I also think once the repairs are greater than the value of the car itself it’s time to hang it up. That’s my quandry. I like this car but don’t care to pay for the mechanic’s kids to go to college.
I read in my “Should I Buy Lease or Steal My Next Car?” that most cars have a life span of 100-150K. With that, I decided to bring the Buick to it’s final resting place at the scrap yard. It runs so terrific (and has given me zero problems that) I hoped someone would give me a tip that would result in a minor repair. Anyway, just wanted to thank all for their advice and time.