Oil in the coolant, but no coolant in the oil??

[gsxrdan]

Tried searching this, but havent found anything specific - so the radiator cap on the VR V6 has some claggy gunk on it, but the dipstick and oil fill cap are fine - no iced coffee there... is this still indicative of head /gasket?; valley cover gasket? No coolant loss that ive noticed; oil level hasn't changed... Ideas guys please...
The bugger was i only found out when a fella was looking at buying it!!! He took off the cap and he looks at me like maybe i'm trying to rip him off, Bloody embarrassing!

[hako]

This can be quite normal - the tablets that are added to the coolant can cause a brownish greasy deposit on the cap as can residual oil/grease from previous engine work. It only take a tiny bit to make it look bad. I'd clean it and look again in a few days but it's probably quite normal.
Good Luck.

[hsv91ss]

I have the same problem, looks as if my gasket is shot, having the gunk on the cap and if I run my finger along the top inside the radiator there is grease.

However there are no signs of head gasket problems, temp is fine, nothing in the oil, doesn't blow water or white smoke from the exhaust.

[gsxrdan]

Yep - i did the same, finger inside radiator, grease up on the inside of the top, almost 1 cm thick it seems - yuk! I think it's a slow leak - but which gasket?! And should we stoop to chemiweld?? Would it even work?

[hako]

My opinion only but I think you're counting your chickens before they've hatched. Before you rip the motor apart try running a cleaning agent thru the cooling system to get rid of all traces of grease/oil then refill with coolant and then see if it re-appears.

[gsxrdan]

Cheers Hako, will do - i'd love for you to be right, but theres a lot of 'trace' residue!! ie over a cup of clag in there!
Hang on , heres another chicken - Theres a trans cooler in the radiator - could it leak into the coolant? would it make the same colour as oil in the coolant?

[Scooter79]

My suggestion is it will be your lower intake manifold gasket. I replaced mine last week. The plastic gaskets will break around the water jackets and allow the oil and coolant to mix. Oil will seep into the water jackets and start to mix with the coolant. You can do a flush but will only be a few days before you start to see the same thing again.

[gsxrdan]

I pick that one, does it mean the whole valley cover comes off to fix it? (have done that on the womans VP, only 1/2 days work and the heads can stay on - yay!!)

[social]

Oil in the coolant but no coolant in the block? Simple answer. If shes an automatic. Its probably transmission fluid. inside your radiator maybe the piping has worn away or something.

[gsxrdan]

Yer but that's a more expensive answer Social (dammit!) see what happens when you try hatching chickens?!
Any way of testing that?
Anyone got a V6 Radiator for sale???

[social]

Not sure of a way of testing it mate, it was only an answer to ur question lol, but i would assume seeing as there is oil in the coolant (in the radiator) there would be water in the transmission of your car too.. Which is again not a good thing lol. It shouldnt be too hard finding a repalcement radiator for a possible fix, post up and dnt pay anymore than $30 or so, someone will have one.
Goodluck.

[hsv91ss]

I have flushed my system before, it was clean then returned

maybe ill try replacing the lower manifold gasket and checking oil return lines etc.

I doubt its a radiator problem as it was replaced a few months before I purchased the car so i was told

Thanks for the suggestions guys

[gsxrdan]

Har har, yer i've been told lotsa things that aren't even close to the truth when buying cars!! My rad looks brand spanka still, but who really knows, the whole engine bay looks clean.

And social, c'mon, you call yerself an apprentice spanner monkey?? I want answers man!! lol - nah serious thanks for the input! will check trans dipstick...

[daron]

ill go trans tank split between water and trans fluid in radiator very common I'm told mine did it a few years back
was like ice coffee color and slimy
i was lucky and caught it in time to flush block and a new radiator and alls good again

[hsv91ss]

Checked my Transmission dip stick and there doesn't seem to have any traces of water in it.

[hako]

If you suspect the trans oil cooler inside the radiator is split or leaking, rather than replace the entire radiator (which is time consuming and costly) you can bypass the cooler and fit an external oil cooler. Wreckers sell then for ~$30 and they are usually easy to fit plus they are more efficient than the ones inside the radiator.

Re water in the transmission - if this happens you can blow the trans as water will boil once the transmission oil reaches operating temperature.

[vncruzr]

ill put a tenner on it being your inlet manifold gasket mate. ive done 4 of them so far, same symptoms...........

[Scooter79]

Have you needed to top up the coolant overflow bottle lately or do you notice a coolant smell when the car is hot? What may be happening is the coolant can work it's way up though the thread of the Intake manifold bolts and leak externally. It's very difficult to see because on a hot engine it dries as quick as it leaks. That what was happening on mine.

[hsv91ss]

Has never smelt of coolant after a drive and I havent had 2 top it up since I changed the coolant 6 months ago

Ill change the gasket next weekend

Should I also change my oil while at it? since I will flush the system out to remove the gunk

Thanks

[Scooter79]

Well I had to top up the coolant every few days. The gasket around the water jackets had broken along every every side so coolant was getting out everywhere. It never hurts to change the oil. I do mine every 5000kms anyway. Have you had a looked under the oil cap for any signs of water in the oil? In your case you don't seem to have an external leak and if there's no internal leak then possibly it is not a failed intake gasket.

[crazy.vr]

Oil in the coolant but no coolant in the block? Simple answer. If shes an automatic. Its probably transmission fluid. inside your radiator maybe the piping has worn away or something.

Happened to me the other week. If the fluid looks like a strawberry milkshake then it's transmission fluid mixed with coolant. There is a leak inside the radiator where the two parts seperate.
Solution is to replace the radiator and flush out the whole cooling system about 10 times until it runs clear.

[blownba]

+1 inlet manifold gasket leak.
I do HEAPS of them every year on all V6 from VN to VY

[hsv91ss]

There is no Coolant under the Oil cap, only a small amount of iced coffee looking crap and grease along the inner top of the radiator.

It isn't a strawberry coloured and the coolant is still Green

[gsxrdan]

Yep - thanks for the heads up on looking for strawberry colour - i rekon that concludes that mine is gasket as well. Cheers all, i'll do the fix tomorrow and post the results!

[hsv91ss]

cool i am keen to know how it goes, and if that fixes your prob I will do it for sure on weekend.