[leakyoilll]

I bought 1996 Firebird T-Top V6 (3800 Series II) a few years ago for 1700, and only have driven it for 100 miles. Here's the issues:

Radiator bubbling a brown liquid, darker than the milky oil.
Intermediate problems accelerating in a slight incline
Engine shakes terribly, feels like I'm in a discount massage chair.
Spitting oil from in between the upper engine and the radiator.
The coolant is mixing with oil, turning it a light brown with froth.
It does NOT smoke whatsoever.
There is NOTHING coming out of the bleeder screw, either.

I wasn't able to do a code read on it, but the SES light is on.

The previous owners sold it to me, saying he's sunk a lot of money into the motor and still couldn't fix the issue. Was told it had a new headgasket installed.

I had the new heads and gaskets quoted to me for around 900 dollars, but I've got a gut feeling it has something to do with either the intake manifold or the oil cooler.

If you guys have ANY experience with this, please let me know.

 

[1993TransAm]

What's the model year and engine of the vehicle?

 

[leakyoilll]

What's the model year and engine of the vehicle?

It's a 1996 Firebird T-Top with a 3800 Series II

 

[ZumpTA]

Given what's been done already to try to remedy the condition, I'm thinking maybe the block is cracked. I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think failure of the intake gasket involves oil leaking or mixing with coolant. I'm not familiar with the 3.8L, if the Oil cooler is connected with hoses, replace the hoses and bypass it temporarily to see what happens.

 

[leakyoilll]

Given what's been done already to try to remedy the condition, I'm thinking maybe the block is cracked. I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think failure of the intake gasket involves oil leaking or mixing with coolant. I'm not familiar with the 3.8L, if the Oil cooler is connected with hoses, replace the hoses and bypass it temporarily to see what happens.

Do you think they didn't torque the head gasket down correctly?

 

[1993TransAm]

The lower intake manifold failing in a 3800 V6 would definitely result in coolant and oil mixing. Is the coolant orange, by chance?

The fact that the original poster spoke of "bubbling" in the radiator leads me to believe that there may be a compression leak in the engine, which would be indicative of head gasket failure or a cracked block. Is the car overheating? If so, is the temperature spiking quickly when it does?

I'd have a block test performed on the engine to see if combustion gases are entering the water jacket.