Oil where is shouldn't be.

[mrtiffin]

So I have drained all fluids getting ready to replace them and fire her up soon and I have discovered oil in the readiator fluid. So I drained the oil and it was dark but no Water in it. I am looking for answers to what may have caused this:
Bad radiator
bad gaskets
bad something???

I am not as worried as I was with my truck (water in the oil pan and oil in the radiator) because of no sign of water in the oil pan.

So, any takers on giving an explanation???

[MPDano]

Are your Oil Coolers in the Radiator? Auto has 2 Oil Coolers. Could be leaking from one of these coolers. Just thinking out loud.

[rhjames]

if it's motor oil:

oil cooler in radiator tank is leaking
blown head gaskets
cracked head or block


if it's trans fluid:

trans cooler in the radiator tank is leaking




more than likely this is a engine oil cooler issue.








--Russ

[785sp]

I removed the oil cooler lines completely and put bolts and washers into the holes. The holes in the block up around the oil filter were filled by regular oil-pan drain plugs, if I'm remembering right, purchased for a couple of bucks. Had no effect on cooling, and one less thing to worry around leaking. Might be a cheap fix for you. I think I read somewhere that the oil cooler was installed for very long distance and very high speed driving; no place to do both at the same time where I live.

[MPDano]

What do you mean theres no place to do high speed driving in Los Angeles County. I see plenty High Speed Chases in LA on the News all the time . As far as blocking them off, I would reference a highly reliable source that you can in fact do that. I know I wouldn't run without the Engine and Tranny Oil Coolers. IMHO

[Danglerb]

Originally Posted by mrtiffin

So I have drained all fluids getting ready to replace them and fire her up soon and I have discovered oil in the readiator fluid. So I drained the oil and it was dark but no Water in it. I am looking for answers to what may have caused this:
Bad radiator
bad gaskets
bad something???

I am not as worried as I was with my truck (water in the oil pan and oil in the radiator) because of no sign of water in the oil pan.

So, any takers on giving an explanation???

Previous owner may have poured in a little oil to lubricate the water pump.

How much oil are we talking about?

No point in guessing, do some pressure testing.

[mrtiffin]

I have oil coolers in the radiator. I did a pressure test about 2 months ago and most of the numbers were ok. I put rislone in the case and have yet to repeat the test. I think that plugging the system would be a bad idea considering I live in Houston, TX and drive about 30-35K miles alone in the city in each vehicle. 70 mph+ on average.
I don't think (for the amount of emulcified oil in the water) that the PO added any. I think the 25 yr.+ old radiator/oil cooler/ who knows what else, should probably be replaced. If others say plugging is not a bad option, then I might go ahead and do it.
btw, car is almost ready to finally turn over. More updates in another post.

[928 Bro]

flush the cooling system or drop the coolant you have and replace it with new coolant and use the car. Check it every day and see what happens you might be fine but you'll now I'm sure the first day if it's a leak in the oil or tranny fluid cooling system. If you don't want to waste money fill it with distiled water and run that for a couple of days.

[Normy]

Originally Posted by mrtiffin

I have oil coolers in the radiator. I did a pressure test about 2 months ago and most of the numbers were ok. I put rislone in the case and have yet to repeat the test. I think that plugging the system would be a bad idea considering I live in Houston, TX and drive about 30-35K miles alone in the city in each vehicle. 70 mph+ on average.
I don't think (for the amount of emulcified oil in the water) that the PO added any. I think the 25 yr.+ old radiator/oil cooler/ who knows what else, should probably be replaced. If others say plugging is not a bad option, then I might go ahead and do it.
btw, car is almost ready to finally turn over. More updates in another post.

I went through some thing similar to what you are going through about 5 years ago. No oil in the coolant, but I had a bad radiator.

My car is an '85 S2, basically similar to your car. You want the good news or the bad news first? Well, here goes:

1. Bad news: The oil cooler and tranny coolers that are built into the black plastic side tanks of your radiator are probably leaking and they are NOT available anymore. If you search the web enough, I think you might find an article on one of the sites where some guy used gm coolers in his Porsche, but it took a lot of work. YES you need an oil cooler, and if you have an auto tranny, then YES you need a tranny cooler.

2. Good news: It is no trouble at all to get a decent used radiator without coolers from 928 International, and then mount a simple external air-to-oil cooler to the engine via a "sandwich" plate that sits between the block and oil filter. I think Devek still sells the actual plugs that fit in the block and block off where the old oil lines attached. I haven't looked in a while, but I suspect that 928 Motorsports sells a complete kit to do all this. Mount the cooler in your lower air intake, in front of the aux fan and run the hoses around the edge of the radiator.

I bought my oil cooler at Pep-boys, it is just a simple Hayden kit that is designed for V8 engines. Works just fine. If you plan to race, check the rules because the Hayden kit uses rubber hoses and clamps; this is verboten in many racing categories.

-If I were you, I wouldn't drive the car until you work this problem out. If you get the coolant to regular running temperature, it could reach as much as 13 psi. Since your oil is much higher pressure [3-5 bar], you won't have a problem with the coolant getting in the oil while the engine is running. But as soon as you shut the engine down, the oil pressure goes away.....but not the pressure in the coolant! You have a breach in the system between the two fluids, and it is only a matter of time before coolant gets in your oil and that can wreck your day real quick!



N

[Danglerb]

+1 on drain the coolant, flush the system, refill and check periodically.

Does oil in the coolant do anything bad?

[rhjames]

Adam,

you've still got a good way to go yet before start up----

change all the fluids before then.

pull the radiator and have it and each cooler pressure checked.

start fresh without worrying about fluid leaks.

call me if you need more useless advice---







--Russ

[mrtiffin]

Originally Posted by rhjames

Adam,

you've still got a good way to go yet before start up----

change all the fluids before then.

pull the radiator and have it and each cooler pressure checked.

start fresh without worrying about fluid leaks.

call me if you need more useless advice---
--Russ

Where would you recommend going to get the pressure test?

[rhjames]

Originally Posted by mrtiffin

Where would you recommend going to get the pressure test?

any radiator shop should be able to do it.

don't I remember you saying you had one on your side of town?

if not, you could drag it up to my house, and visit the shop I used to repair one of my radiators---fairly inexpensive. I've got to take the one out of my Euro up to them at some point before a motor goes back in it.






--Russ