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

gsxrdan

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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

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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.
 

VZ57SSZ

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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???
 
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