Checked the oil in my girlfriends car today and found this on the dipstick.
Car is a 2002 Saturn L200 2.2L
(http://i784.photobucket.com/albums/yy130/rappevan/CC574C15-49EB-414A-A8CA-35FEC10DF2D4-15565-00001CBB5EC90416_zps71700af4.jpg)
(http://i784.photobucket.com/albums/yy130/rappevan/53C74B64-8A3F-472B-B775-9742FD9B510B-15565-00001CBB5AB0FFB5_zps6079f95d.jpg)
If there's water in the oil you have likely have a cracked head or a blown head gasket.
Neither one is really cheap to fix, though it's not bad if you can do it yourself.
Quote from: MrIncredible on March 20, 2013, 10:43:34 AM
If there's water in the oil you have likely have a cracked head or a blown head gasket.
Neither one is really cheap to fix, though it's not bad if you can do it yourself.
yup
Climbing on the "have a cracked head or a blown head gasket." train... Sorry
Unless 'someone' followed good advice and made sure to top off coolant and/or viper fluid, but missed the container by a few inches....
:D
I'm inclined to say "fuhgeddabouddit!" Most likely atmospheric moisture found its way into the engine. My RX8 does that all winter long, and I'm in the desert southwest. Same deal as milky sightglasses on our Monsters.
Just my $0.02. [coffee]
I'd be inclined to agree with you if the moisture was on the underside of the oil fill, but the tip of the dipstick is submerged in oil, and there's no way that much atmospheric moisture would mix with oil and not vaporize when the engine got hot and end up in the crankcase ventilation system.
When a sight glass gets milky there isn't visible water mixed with the oil in the sump.
[popcorn]
Quote from: ducpainter on March 20, 2013, 03:24:13 PM
I'd be inclined to agree with you if the moisture was on the underside of the oil fill, but the tip of the dipstick is submerged in oil, and there's no way that much atmospheric moisture would mix with oil and not vaporize when the engine got hot and end up in the crankcase ventilation system.
When a sight glass gets milky there isn't visible water mixed with the oil in the sump.
Fair play, Ducpainter, I stand corrected. [beer] Now that I think about it, my dipstick usually has the goop just below the seal for the tube and in a few spots down the stick. Mazda did actually issue a service bulletin for that condensation problem though. Ended up installing insulated dipstick tubes and new dipsticks with modified seals.
lazylightnin717, was that on the initial pull or after a re-check? Cold engine, I assume, correct?
2nd picture was the initial pull.
1st picture was a third.
Engine was cold.
I stand by my diagnosis that it's had the weenie.
Time for a new car-an 11 year old saturn ain't worth rebuilding.
FWIW...
This car has lived it's life along coastal NJ.
And it only has 57k on the odo.
I say with that low of milage...fix it....can't be that expensive...2.2 four banger can't be that complicated to do a headgasket....and when the head is off, inspect the surfaces and maybe send the head out to have it decked if you see anything that doesn't look right...
Quote from: lazylightnin717 on March 21, 2013, 05:39:06 AM
FWIW...
This car has lived it's life along coastal NJ.
And it only has 57k on the odo.
Did it take on sea water from the hurricane?
Change the oil, then go for a drive, at least 2 hours at highway speeds.
If you still show water in the oil, it's time to do a coolant system leak check, they make a tool that replaces the radiator cap and allows you to pump up the system and watch the pressure gauge to see if it holds pressure.
Quote from: zooom on March 21, 2013, 05:46:05 AM
I say with that low of milage...fix it....can't be that expensive...2.2 four banger can't be that complicated to do a headgasket....and when the head is off, inspect the surfaces and maybe send the head out to have it decked if you see anything that doesn't look right...
The engine in this thing looks so simple. I'd be inclined to fix it since I owned a Saturn previously with 200k on it and the only reason it died was when tropical storm Ike flooded it a few years ago.
Quote from: ducpainter on March 21, 2013, 06:30:33 AM
Did it take on sea water from the hurricane?
Not 100% sure because we fled Ocean City but I do know that the oil was changed since then.
I'm pretty sure the car was on the mainland out of harms way.
So...
The car threw the timing chain yesterday [bang]
The mechanic that took a look at it today said he had no clue why the chain would have gone with only 57k on the clock
Turns out there was a recall for this model. Apparently the chain wasn't getting enough oil at low rpm which was causing premature chain failure.
Bingo
Ouch. Timing chains failures are usually expensive.
JM
Quote from: lazylightnin717 on April 16, 2013, 05:05:20 PM
So...
The car threw the timing chain yesterday [bang]
The mechanic that took a look at it today said he had no clue why the chain would have gone with only 57k on the clock
Turns out there was a recall for this model. Apparently the chain wasn't getting enough oil at low rpm which was causing premature chain failure.
Bingo
sooooooo....is it being covered under warranty due to the recall ???
Quote from: zooom on April 17, 2013, 07:07:35 AM
sooooooo....is it being covered under warranty due to the recall ???
Not sure yet. I've never dealt with anything like this so I am trying to figure out what my next step should be.
My fiancé's father contacted a friend that works for GM and he thinks we should be covered.
I'd say it is a long shot but it's worth trying