i've got a 84 camaro with the lovely 2.8 v6 and i've got anti freeze that looks like choclate milk. i'm thinking that it could be a bad set of head gaskets any help would be apreciated.

 

How does the oil look? If it has a chocolatey texture....I would say, definately a blown head (99% sure)

 

yup yup, i just had one go on me on xmas nite!

Its not that hard to replace them IF its worth it.

If i remember correctly it cost me $80 start to finish, that includes buying a tq wrench.

BUT how did the oil get like this? Was the car overheated? Did you just buy it like this?

You gotta think about the condition of the motor also,.Is it worth the work or is a motor swap a better choice.

 

you both had good points! Heres a little history bout the car I bought it in november of 03 from an indian at a gas station in pa for $250. at this point in time the car had set for at least a year that I know of. He said it ran so we statred it up it appeared to run well no knocks or pings except for a mild valve tap. the exhaust was normal with no uncommon smells or colors. the cooling system was low and we added water to it at this point i think it was just straight water with no antifreeze. At this point in time the water had a rusty color that i noticed in the resivoir. but there was no evidence of a leak of any kind whether it was oil water or tranny fluid. So i drove the car home. i didn't get a chance to change the water out for the proper 50/50 mix of antifreeze for a while probably in jan 04 is when i did this. everything appeared to be working well untill the thermostat would open up this is when i realized that the new antifreeze i put in wasn't green it looked like it was mixed with oil. (the choclate milk apperanance) I then drained the fresh oil to see if it was mixed with antifreeze and it was not it was blacker than night though and it had only about 2 hours on it of driving time. what i dont understand is how the antifreeze is mixed in the cooling system and the oil in the oiling system is just normal black oil. My plans for the car are to get it up to Dover De where i live under the 2.8's power so i can run it for the time being in stead of my 10 mpg truckand eventually work my 350 in to it. I just want to run that 2.8 untill it dies or my 350's ready to be swaped in whichever comes first. hope this helps describe my dilema. Thanks again for any help guys!

 

Well im by no means a expert, in fact i just bought my first gm, also my first 3rd gen. When i got it i didnt know crap about chevy motors because in the past i owned fords. But sitting here thinking about what you desribed about the car it may be a bigger problem then just a head gasket job. The 350 swap may need to be done sooner than you expected or are ready to do.
Water in the motor does horrible things.

Again im not an expert so lets see what some others think. This board has alot of helpful people on here, im sure you'll get more replies.

 

I am not sure, but you may be seeing the rust in the system and be thinking it is oil. Since the car has set for a while, this would be my best guess.

The engine oil doesn't usually get mixed in with the antifreeze, but the other way around, the coolant in the oil, giving it a milkshakey look.

You may want to see just how much trans fluid you have if the car has an auto trans. The fluid from the trans is cooled by a smaller radiator hidden inside the engine coolant radiator. These like to leak...

Don't forget to give the entire car a good examination since it has set for a while. Look for anything that can be potentially hazardous. Give the ENTIRE CAR a tune up (change the trans fluid and filter if an auto, and the rearend oil, check/replace brake shoes/pads, etc, TomP tune up for the engine will help a lot).