Overheated!

[Monte Speidel]

Good morning. I had a small radiator leak, was hesitant, but a mechanic talked me into Bars Stop Leak. A couple of days later while on the highway, I overheated. It is winter, vehicle cooled down, I added my traveling 50/50 mix and finished my trip. This morning I checked under the vehicle expecting to see green, but there was oil everywhere. Did I blow up my 200,000 mile vehicle?

 

[corkey]

First you have to find out where the oil is coming from,,

could have just slipped a gasket, , could be an easy fix,,

Welcome to the Forum,,

 

[Monte Speidel]

Thank you! I have crawled underneath and it appears that one of the sources is the oil cooling line going into or returning from the radiator. I also changed the oil and while it was low, it was black and not "milky", so I am hoping it is not the head gasket. All I can do now is keep a close eye on it until I get it into the shop.

 

[FR-425]

That line is transmission cooler, not oil cooler.

Repair the line immediately, Refill your transmission

I wouldn't drive it till this is fixed. You will kill your transmission.

 

[arco777]

Good morning. I had a small radiator leak, was hesitant, but a mechanic talked me into Bars Stop Leak. A couple of days later while on the highway, I overheated. It is winter, vehicle cooled down, I added my traveling 50/50 mix and finished my trip. This morning I checked under the vehicle expecting to see green, but there was oil everywhere. Did I blow up my 200,000 mile vehicle?

BARS Stop Leak may be a worthwhile option if you have a cracked head and can't afford new heads. But if you have a radiator leak, just put a new one in. They are not expensive (check RockAuto) and you can install it yourself in about an hour with basic tools and renting a fan clutch wrench from AutoZone.

There is a heat exchanger in the radiator for the automatic transmission. If that is leaking, you need to remedy that. There is a separate cooler for the transmission so technically you could bypass the radiator unit without damage, but it would be best to fix the leak or replace the radiator.

Check your transmission fluid. It should be red and not smell burnt. If it is black you need to remedy that with a fluid and filter change as soon as possible.