PF63 cut open, off 2011 Traverse, coolant leak???

[Rat407]

I just changed the oil on a friends 2011 Chevy Traverse and the oil looked OK when I drained it but when I pulled the fill cap off, this is what I found. This is also the filter off it with 7k miles on the filter and AMSOIL OE 5w-30 oil. The OLM was down to 32%. I sent a sample off to Blackstone. The residue on the back side of the filter where the oil enters looks nasty and I have never seen it like this before. I'm pretty sure there is a coolant leak into the engine. Going to get the report from Blackstone and have them head to the dealer to get this taken care of.

 

[95busa]

Something is going south quickly

 

[dlundblad]

2011? Ouch. Still under warranty? Is he the original owner? If not, maybe it was neglected by the PO on top of whatever else is happening.

I read here a while back that whatever engine they use in the traverse is slightly hard on oil, but this is terrible. Yes I agree.. Something is going south very quickly indeed.

 

[knerml]

Instead of a coolant leak, this might be condensation.

Do you take short trips without fully warming up engine?

Also, check PCV valve for clogging.

 

[webfors]

Originally Posted By: dlundblad
2011? Ouch. Still under warranty? Is he the original owner? If not, maybe it was neglected by the PO on top of whatever else is happening.

I read here a while back that whatever engine they use in the traverse is slightly hard on oil, but this is terrible. Yes I agree.. Something is going south very quickly indeed.


^ This. Looks like a neglected engine with some cleaning going on? Do we know the history?

These engines give me nightmares.

 

[ABerns]

I would guess this is condensation as well. I have the same engine, and it has a slight bit of this on the cap as well. It sees mostly long trips, though. I have had the oil tested twice and both times came back fine.

On the flip side, I've never had that level of gunk in my filter...

 

[Clevy]

If the oil drains out looking like and has the consistency of chocolate pudding instead of oil then that's a telltale sign of coolant/moisture intrusion.
I know the traverse is one of the vehicles that required the oil life monitor reprogrammed because the engine demolishes the oil very quickly.
A friends wife has one of these and I maintain it for them since he isn't mechanically inclined.
When I first started maintaining it they called me saying the oil life monitor went off and asked when I could come.
So they were using conventional and the olm ran the oil around 6000 miles/10000kms and immediately I saw thru the fill hole visible sludge. The entire valvetrain was covered in mud.
Upon draining the oil it was also mud. Very very thick and blobbish.
I immediately did a Seafoam vacuum line too end clean and a quart of MMO in the oil with a 15w-40(it was summertime)
Changed that out at 2000 miles/3000kms and the valvetrain was now clean thru the fill hole,and the drained oil was extremely black which I took as a good sign.
Since then I use a top quality/on sale synthetic and cut the interval off at 5000 miles.
These engines in this particular application is worked pretty hard from what I've seen. I started this regimen about 2.5 years ago. The valvetrain remains spotless at a 5000 mile interval using a synthetic.
I don't feel that these vehicle/engine combo qualify for extended drains.
You could run a longer interval with something like M1 EP or Amsoil SSO but how much longer I cannot say.
I know for sure that 5000 miles with m1/PP/QSUD is fine under their personal operating conditions so I am sticking with it.
When my example was still using conventional the owners claimed it was consuming 3-4 quarts per oci. Since I started maintaining it I've done a seafoam top end cleaning every oil change and consumption is now low enough that they don't have to add anything in 5000 miles.
It sort of reminds of something dermapaint wrote. Iirc he stated the 3.8 he inherited from his dad had 3000 mile intervals on conventional and still it ended up with deposit issues but switching to synthetic rectified the deposit accumulation.
I have the same experience with this particular traverse.
I do believe in extended intervals however some engines/operating conditions dictate that adjustments must be made sometimes,and I'm not so stubborn that I won't adjust my thought process to accommodate when a situation presents itself.

 

[Ram01]

That motor is shot nasty. Take to the dealer and demand a new motor your still under warranty. Or try to do a motor flush clean the vehicle up and trade it in .

 

[Rat407]

Some history on the vehicle. They live in the country and it is 9 miles to work. Plus they put a ton more miles in the next town with their kids and all the dance lessons and that is 30 miles away. Drive it a few times a week.

They bought the vehicle new and had the dealer change the oil per the OLM up till last summer when they started having me change it for them. More convenient since I pick it up from their work and drop it back off. Their OLM has not been calibrated to any TSB that I'm aware of. This time it came in had 7k on the oil change and OLM was at 32%. IIRC when I started to change the oil for them they had 58k miles on it at the time. I have been changing the oil for them at 5k but a few have gone longer till they where able to let me get it changed. So it has 96k miles on it and and has been on AMSOIL OE 5w-30 with either a Purolator, EaO, or AC/Delco filter. Depends on what I had in stock at the time.

 

[Droopy]

I've seen this before as well with many motors when I worked at Valvoline. It's definitely a sign of moisture in the system which could be from short trips.

 

[901Memphis]

Is there a baffle in the fill hole? If so it's not crazy unusual for it to get crusty because of the baffle. The filter looks OK to me. I don't know how anyone can judge the condition of the engine based off the small amount of information we have.

I will be interested to see the oil report. I'm guessing conventional oil at too long of intervals did this before the Amsoil?

 

[bullwinkle]

Is it losing coolant? I've only had 1 engine that really had an internal coolant leak & it looked a lot worse than that. It looked like mucus in the valve cover hole & on the dipstick, had a cracked cylinder head. Looks like the dealer was using junk bulk oil & pushing the OCI too long-has the OLM program been updated? Thought GM was reflashing ECMs to prevent pushing OCIs too long?

 

[Jimzz]

If they have 96k on it they need to take it to a dealer ASAP as the powertrain warranty is 5year/100k.

Even if the dealer does not find anything have it documented it was having issues before the 5/100k ran out. That way if it get worse right after the warranty goes out they might still get help.

http://www.gm.com/toolbar/faqs/warranty.html

 

[David1]

At least its not a E CORE... However some feel Duragaurd is better then E-Core.. Perhaps thats not the case....

 

[NHGUY]

GM and coolant leaks? Nawww,couldnt be.

 

[gregk24]

Originally Posted By: webfors
Originally Posted By: dlundblad
2011? Ouch. Still under warranty? Is he the original owner? If not, maybe it was neglected by the PO on top of whatever else is happening.

I read here a while back that whatever engine they use in the traverse is slightly hard on oil, but this is terrible. Yes I agree.. Something is going south very quickly indeed.


^ This. Looks like a neglected engine with some cleaning going on? Do we know the history?

These engines give me nightmares.


It certainly looks neglected. And these engines are not an engine that takes neglect well at all.

 

[CharlieJ]

Unless you are loosing a significant amount of coolant, it looks like condensation forming underneath the oil fill cap from short trips or a clogged PCV. Some Rx-7s form this when people remove the PCV system. Search for "Lung mustard" or "Lung butter" rx7.

 

[splinter]

You're a good BITOGer for changing a friend's oil!

 

[ZeeOSix]

The 3rd photo down looks like there is some crud down on top of the head area too. Would be interesting to pop a valve cover off and see what's going on.

 

[dlundblad]

Originally Posted By: ZeeOSix
Would be interesting to pop a valve cover off and see what's going on.


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