More Oil in the coolant (looking for help)

rob83944 · 04-21-2003, 07:05 AM

I replaced the oil seals for the oil cooler, flushed the system, but sill notice oil mixing with the coolant.

What should my next steps be to determine the cause of this?

I don't see any coolant in the oil.

The car is an 83 944 with 114,000. Previous owner didn't do much. First project was to replace the fan switch to get the cooling fans working.

Could this be a blown head gasket due to over heating? I don't see any white smoke from the exhaust, so I'm stumped.

If it’s the head gasket, how much time do I need to replace it and do I need all new exhaust, intake and cam gaskets along with the head gasket?

porsche85 · 04-21-2003, 07:30 AM

I had the same problem. I replaced oil cooler seals and started noticing a little oil in coolant too. I think what you're seeing is actually oil that was left over on the inside of your hoses and engine that didn't get flushed completly out. What I did was removed the coolant resevoir without draining the system and since the oil floats ontop of the coolant when I dumped it most of it came out. I also cleaned out the resevoir. But when you do this you will notice how hard it is to get all of that oil out of it. That also helps make me believe that the oil that I'm seeing is just left over inside of the hoses. I've done it a couple of times and I can't hardly see the oil in it anymore. And I don't have any coolant in my oil either. And no white smoke. Hope this helped.

rob83944 · 04-21-2003, 08:01 AM

Thanks for the update. I will clean the coolant tank and see if that helps.

I don't use the car that much, only on the weekends, but that driving is mostly local, 5 -10 miles.

How long did it take before you stopped seeing oil in the water? I'm about ready to replace the head gasket along with the other gaskets in the front of the engine, but maybe I should wait a few weeks before doing this.

porsche85 · 04-21-2003, 08:35 AM

I don't think changing your head gasket would help your oil in coolant problem. That just causes white smoke. I had both give out on me at the same time. Just dump and clean the resevoir and get the motor to opperating temp to recirculate the coolant in the engine and watch for more oil. Doing this several times should remove most of it. I've done mine twice and there is just a hint of oil in there. And it's been like that for about a week and my car gets drove quite a bit. So I think one more time for me and it's done. Removing the resevoir without getting coolant everywhere is kinda tough. Make sure to clean it good. That oil is hard to get out. Good luck.