Oil In Reservoir, New Head, 97 SL2, HELP!!
 

Hi I have a 97 Saturn SC2 that is giving me one problem after another with oil leaking to the water! Hoping someone on here can give me some new ideas or suggestions...

Car Specs: 97 SC2, 4-cyl, dual cam, new head cylinder & gasket (5/23/13), 118675 miles

This car runs great, no stalling or shaking, idles great, but I have oil in my reservoir. I noticed this a while ago, and hoping for a bad gasket, sent it to the mechanic. Turns out there was a hairline fracture in the head after it was checked out so I have a new head that was just installed 5/23/13, that's right 4 days ago. The thermostat was also replaced (twice due to oil caked around it, just replaced 5/23). Well, it ran great for 2 days, then on a hunch, I checked the oil and reservoir and oil is empty, I mean bone dry, and there is THICK oil in the water...It seems like it was literally just draining...

The head & gasket that went on a few days ago are brand new, so I am out of ideas. Any help? This car is killing me!

I think I'd be calling up the local parts yards, to see if I could find a replacement engine

Really, you think go an replace the whole thing? No ideas on anything smaller I or my mechanic could be missing? I have searched the internet and forums but couldnt find anything...this car's system has been flushed over and over, so I know this is the newer oil coming through...

I had a blown intake gasket once that caused oil in the water. Perhaps that's what's happened to yours. Mine was on a POS Chevy Astro with the 4.3 liter engine. I hated that thing.

Well, you are there, and I am not - I have to rely on your observations. You state:

"I checked the oil ... oil is empty, I mean bone dry" ...

At a minimum, that engine is gonna have to be opened up again, and the source of the oil traced down. With a "bone dry" condition, it's possible that all the bearings are gonna have to be replaced. Which is gonna be cheaper, rebuild or replace?

what are the compression readings?

Maybe a bad head gasket install?
Maybe a crack in the block/etc where oil and coolant channels come near each other?

Just guessing

But if you are down off the oil dipstick, you're down at least 1 quart for a 4 quart engine......

I am assuming when you say you checked the reservoir you are reading the oil level dip stick. Not the over flow reservoir for the radiator that you have been talking about. If you are reading the dip stick, it is never "Bond" dry, at least from the dip stick. The quantity of oil held in the engine is 4 quarts. The dip stick probably shows empty or none at about 2 quarts down.
That means there is still 2 quarts in the engine.
while that is not good, it is also not bone dry.
Bone dry is usually accompanied by loud expensive noises coming from the engine just before it stops running completely and is generally accompanied by finding misc. small parts lying on the road instead of living up inside the engine where they belong.
You need to:
1. Find out what is going on and
2. Describe it so no one is guessing at what you are trying to say.

Is the Oil In the Water RESERVOIR solved?
If so than the parts replaced fixed that problem.

Does BONE DRY mean the water reservoir has no water in it?
Than it means that you probably need a new mechanic and a second opinion as to what is going on.

Or does it mean the oil dip stick shows no oil on it? If so is the engine making loud expensive noises? If so it is broke. Sorry. Those two things go hand in hand.

But if there is not loud expensive noises than add oil and see how much it takes to show up on the dip stick. And at this point in time, not just any oil and certainly not oil that is somehow marked with the number 5 as part of the weight, such as 5W20 as it says to use on the oil cap on the engine. That lies.
Use the heaviest oil you can lay your hands on that meets the Viscosity vs heat range charts. And if you do not know what that means, buy and use a 10w30 or a 10w40
And start paying attention to things. The car may be consuming oil and you need to know how to live with that before it makes loud expensive noises, not afterwards when it is too late.