Oil in radiator???

[Tiger28]

Hi people I have what look's to be oil in the radiator mixed with the coolant which forms a brown colour.It's not the head gasket did a check and not drinking oil and did a pressure cooling test and all is fine. Temperature sit's on normal.Somebody told me could be transmissin fluid as it passes through the radiator.I dont know if he was talking about the trans cooler etc,but he said a part in the radiator is gone so need a reco radiator.He also said it is common on Vy model.Thoughts ???.

[Jacko84]

yep more common on the ford ba, a radiator has a trans cooler inside it if your lucky you will just have oil in your water, replace radiator with a stainless steel core, and all will be good, but if you have water in ur trans ur up for a full rebuild and a new radiator clutches and bands dont like getting water in them, as do ur needle roller bearings.

so i suggest you check ur trans oil, or if your not sure take it to a trans shop maybe get a trans service and go from there, but as said above you may be lucky and only have oil in your water.

[wortus]

I had this problem with my VY. It turned out the inlet manifold bolts had come loose on the cylinder heads. I tightened them up and it's all good for now, just a bit of residual oil but that can be removed over a few days.

[VYMAD]

Also the silly pellets they put in can cause a 'brown sludge' to form. I would do a full cooling system flush before spending any more dollars than just buying new coolant.

[SavVYute]

The pellets (finely ground walnut shells?) holden advise adding to the coolant do make it go a brownish green colour. Some commodore owners also mistake it for rust in the system.

[Tiger28]

Thanks for the reply guys.I did a trans service not so long ago and all is fine they said.I have flushed it twice with new coolant and same crap appears so I dont think it's the pellets. How does the trans cooler leak?So what would a new radiator cost me fitted?Thanks

[VYMAD]

The pellets (finely ground walnut shells?) holden advise adding to the coolant do make it go a brownish green colour. Some commodore owners also mistake it for rust in the system.

Yep and I have never and will never use 'em.

[kizza50]

You have side tanks on ur radiator that ur trans cooling lines will go into,my guess is that ur seal or core has broken, rusted through, causing trans fluid in the radiator and through ur cooling system, I recently did 2 radiators on a VX commodore, take about an hour including a coolant flush and can be done on the floor, quiet easy for a DIY, and eBay radiators in ur state, ring them n pick it up, should coast u bout 120. Shoot me up if ur keen to no more on DIY

[Jacko84]

Replace the radiator is a diy job. Just make sure u bleed the system afterwards and have something to block the cooler lines with when u disconnect them. You will lose sum trans fluid

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[Tiger28]

You have side tanks on ur radiator that ur trans cooling lines will go into,my guess is that ur seal or core has broken, rusted through, causing trans fluid in the radiator and through ur cooling system, I recently did 2 radiators on a VX commodore, take about an hour including a coolant flush and can be done on the floor, quiet easy for a DIY, and eBay radiators in ur state, ring them n pick it up, should coast u bout 120. Shoot me up if ur keen to no more on DIY

Thanks for the replys im in victoria in the western suburbs.

[guyman]

this happended to me recently, mechanic said my inlet manifold gaskets needed replacing as they were leaking, got the job done, no problems for over 4 months now

[Tiger28]

Going to get this problem fixed this week guys.How do I know if it's the radiator or inlet manifold gaskets that need to be done ??? dont want to replace not the existing problem.Can the mechanics test out for either one.Thanks guys.

[Tiger28]

this happended to me recently, mechanic said my inlet manifold gaskets needed replacing as they were leaking, got the job done, no problems for over 4 months now

what did that cost you??

[RiCeY]

If its the radiator the oil will be pink or reddish colour.

[TMM]

Going to get this problem fixed this week guys.How do I know if it's the radiator or inlet manifold gaskets that need to be done ??? dont want to replace not the existing problem.Can the mechanics test out for either one.Thanks guys.

Just do both. They are both going to need to be done eventually. If the radiator has some k's on it (100,000+) then it's going to be ready for the bin soon anyway.

I had a slow coolant leak, no idea what was causing it, replaced radiator, inlet gaskets, thermostat and heater tap all at the same time. Problem solved!

If its the radiator the oil will be pink or reddish colour.

And it'll float. If the gunk in the radiator is suspended in the coolant it's from the pellets, or from the coolant gunking up due to a leak.

[RiCeY]

Just do both. They are both going to need to be done eventually. If the radiator has some k's on it (100,000+) then it's going to be ready for the bin soon anyway.

Have to disagree there, my radiator has clocked 170,000kms still going strong

[WELSHH]

Have to disagree there, my radiator has clocked 170,000kms still going strong

agreed, mines done 150,000 and hasn't missed a beat.

[monkeys437]

Have to disagree there, my radiator has clocked 170,000kms still going strong

My original radiator let go at 230k

[Tiger28]

Took the car in to the mechanic and he had a good look at it.Did a pressure test cooling system check all was fine ,checked trans cooler and and trans oil and engine oil all was fine.He said oily brown residue on overflow dipstick and radiator cap is from the pellets holden put in and nothing is wrong with the car.

[Sean880]

Took the car in to the mechanic and he had a good look at it.Did a pressure test cooling system check all was fine ,checked trans cooler and and trans oil and engine oil all was fine.He said oily brown residue on overflow dipstick and radiator cap is from the pellets holden put in and nothing is wrong with the car.

If it was the cooling system pellets causing the "OILY" contamination then this should show up on every car that has the pellets added. It does not because it's a faulty diagnosis.

I have NEVER had any sign of brown or other contaminant in my cooling system in my VY and I added the pellets myself with the last cooling system flush I carried out. 20 months later the coolant is very clean. There is no sign of any contaminent whatsoever on the coolant dipstick, in the radiator or on the radiator cap. The coolant is very, very clean. This is how it has always been on my vehicle and is how it should be.

The "oily brown" residue you refer to is not due to the cooling system pellets as the mechanic maintains. For starters the formulation of the pellets is completely non-oily. Buy some, crush one up and add it to the correct spec coolant mix and you will see that there is absolutely no "oily" substance formed in the sample.

In any event you have indicated above that you have flushed your radiator twice and the "oily" contamination re-appears each time. It will until the real problem is addressed.

Oil obviously floats and, as you have found, if an oily substance has found it's way into the coolant some will eventually attach itself to the radiator cap, the top of the inside of the radiator and the coolant dipstck.

[Richard Moss]

I wouldn't be surprised if it's a problem with the lower inlet manifold gasket - a known weakness, after all.

[Tiger28]

I wouldn't be surprised if it's a problem with the lower inlet manifold gasket - a known weakness, after all.

So what a the tell signs for this problem ???

[Tiger28]

If it was the cooling system pellets causing the "OILY" contamination then this should show up on every car that has the pellets added. It does not because it's a faulty diagnosis.

I have NEVER had any sign of brown or other contaminant in my cooling system in my VY and I added the pellets myself with the last cooling system flush I carried out. 20 months later the coolant is very clean. There is no sign of any contaminent whatsoever on the coolant dipstick, in the radiator or on the radiator cap. The coolant is very, very clean. This is how it has always been on my vehicle and is how it should be.

The "oily brown" residue you refer to is not due to the cooling system pellets as the mechanic maintains. For starters the formulation of the pellets is completely non-oily. Buy some, crush one up and add it to the correct spec coolant mix and you will see that there is absolutely no "oily" substance formed in the sample.

In any event you have indicated above that you have flushed your radiator twice and the "oily" contamination re-appears each time. It will until the real problem is addressed.

Oil obviously floats and, as you have found, if an oily substance has found it's way into the coolant some will eventually attach itself to the radiator cap, the top of the inside of the radiator and the coolant dipstck.

Thanks for the feedback I'm just going on what he told me.He checked the car out properly as I said trans cooler,oil etc.

[smudgy]

how u going mate i work on cars all the time and this is a common fault with the vs to vy engines, its the inlet manafold, it is more common on the super charged vx commo's but it does do it on the rest of them, the good thing is its not a hard problem to fix

[Tiger28]

how u going mate i work on cars all the time and this is a common fault with the vs to vy engines, its the inlet manafold, it is more common on the super charged vx commo's but it does do it on the rest of them, the good thing is its not a hard problem to fix

Thanks mate for that.So how can I tell thats the problem ?? as I went to another 2 mechanics today and told me the radiator might be gone.I dont want to change things thats not the issue.What's it worth to fix?.