If the oil is a chocolate milk shake, there is an internal leak. Don’t drive the car in this condition as the oil is degraded and may result in additional engine damage (bearings, etc.).
Changing a head gasket is time consuming but a DYI job, pickup some kind of service manual. If you were going to do the work yourself, looking into the cause of the leak (maybe head gasket or cracked head) would the way to start. You could pull the head, and see what’s up. Best case, a head gasket or rebuilt head. Worst case is replacing the engine. Find out what the cause is first, then see what the parts/repair costs are. Compare this to cost of a GOOD used engine.
If you are going to have a shop do the work, the labor costs start to add up fast with pulling the head, diagnostics, etc. Or pulling and replacing the engine.
Changing a head gasket is time consuming but a DYI job, pickup some kind of service manual. If you were going to do the work yourself, looking into the cause of the leak (maybe head gasket or cracked head) would the way to start. You could pull the head, and see what’s up. Best case, a head gasket or rebuilt head. Worst case is replacing the engine. Find out what the cause is first, then see what the parts/repair costs are. Compare this to cost of a GOOD used engine.
If you are going to have a shop do the work, the labor costs start to add up fast with pulling the head, diagnostics, etc. Or pulling and replacing the engine.