oil in my coolant

looks like i have a blown head gasket or warped head. i found oil in my
coolant. i like to do the work myself.looks like a big job and i have
never done any cylinder head removal or installation.my question is do i
have to remove the engine or just raise it a little and put a jack under
the oil pan than remove the cover and chain(and probaly the water pump
pulley).

 

Yes, you can do it with the engine in the car. to get the front cover off,
you'll need to raise & lower the engine on the jack a few times.

What model do you have? If it is a '95-'96 SOHC, you may have a cracked
head - there is a known casting flaw on those heads.

 

yes its a 95 sohc, head may be cracked . the car never overheated the
cracks they are talking about are perosity cracks during the casting
process.The engine has over 340,000 km so its doubtfull the head's
cracked. if it is cracked saturn should reinburse me for the cost because
they knew that a low percentage of the heads had casting flaws but
released them anyway

 

My friends head didn't crack until it had almost 150K miles on it, so
don't rule it out - had to do the job twice.

And they did extend the warranty to 100K miles or 6 years. They can't
extend it forever.

 

Same thing happened to me on my 95 SL1 fortunately it happened during
the warranty only charge was labor $300 factory head w/valves back
then was about $1500 they replaced it all new coolant tank,lines,
thermostat and flushing the heater system too!

 

After consulting a mechanic, I decided to replace the head gasket. So I
checked the head for cracks and warpage and everything checked out ok, so
I installed a head set and I took the car for a test drive and the exact
same thing happened again. Oil started bubbling out of the coolant
expansion tank and the dipstick showed I was down a quart. I am now
wondering if that the block is cracked (possibly an internal crack).
There is no antifreeze in the oil. I would appreciate hearing from anyone
who may have any ideas or suggestions on solving this problem. Thanks.

 

Did you check it, or did you take it somewhere and have it pressure tested?

 

Is this a '95-'96 SOHC? There is a known casting flaw that affects SOME of
these motors. I did the same thing on my friend's - replaced the head
gasket before having to replace the whole head. Good thing I had my spare
SOHC engine sitting around.

 

yes i had it checked out by the local machine shop