Oil in Coolant

[KnowsNothing]

Hello. I have a Saab 93 TID. It has oil in the coolant, how bad is this?

[944fan]

Do you have any other symptoms? Loss of power, rough running, smoke from exhaust, over heating? There are a number of reasons why oil could have got into the coolant. Cracked cylinder head, blown head gasket, faulty oil cooler (think only the Automatic has an oil cooler though). Is there coolant in the sump as well? The oil wil turn a creamy brown colour if it is.

[KnowsNothing]

No there are none of those symptoms. And there is no coolant in the oil. Ours is a manual. First the oil warning came on, and we put more oil in, then a week later a coolant warning came on and we noticed oil in it when we went to refil.

[KnowsNothing]

also all the garages keep saying "I'd be suprised if its the head gasket on such a new car..." but lots and lots of oil is spewing out when the engine is revved.

[klimakool]

it sounds like it can only be head gasket or if your turbo is coolant cooled it could possibly have a seal away, a car doesnt have to be old to be unlucky

[944fan]

The coolant light coming on indicates that you are loosing coolant as well. It is either the head gasket / cracked head or as Klimakool says it could be a seal on the turbo if it is cooled by the coolant system.

You say the garage have said it can't be the head gasket, have they done a compression test on the engine? This should be done.

Also where is the oil spewing from when the engine is revved?

[KnowsNothing]

THats what the garages are saying over phone thaat they've never heard of the gasket going on a car this new (06), Saab want £100 to run tests to find problem, they reckon 680 to fix the gasket (or whatever they do to it)
The oil is spewing out of the coolant.
ANother garage suggesting changing the whole engine as if gasket needs changing its not worth it?!?

Sorry a bit vague but I am just going on what partner is telling me. I havn't looked at the engine myself...oh no! Can he check this turbo himself or is that something garage can do.

THanks for your help so far!

[klimakool]

without a compression tester or a block tester you can really check these things, whatever you do if there is a sensor in the coolant header takk i'd recomend changing this also

[GavinPearson]

The dealer can do a number of quick checks to understand the extent of the problem.

1) a compression test will say if the engine has a head gasket problem or not. If the engine runs it probably will be ok.
2) The oil cooler should be removed, flushed through with solvent and pressure tested. Most likely there is a leak in the cooler.

If the oil cooler leaks then drain the coolant, fit a new oil cooler, change the engine oil and filter. You can then have the cooling system cleaned using a product such as the one below, generally available from a garage specialising in the servicing of heavy duty trucks.

http://www.fleetguard.com/html/en/products/cooling...

Follow the instructions and the cooling system should get clean, without the engine requiring replacement.

Edited by GavinPearson on Tuesday 20th July 10:42

[KnowsNothing]

Thanks for your help.

[944fan]

What ever you do, don't take it to the garage that says it is cheaper to replace the engine than fix a gasket. That is the most insane thing I have ever heard.

[KnowsNothing]

Garage rang today adn said it was the oil cooler, which they've changed they are flushing all the oil out, and waiting for a new air box to be delivered as it was all gunked up. Hoepfully have it back early next week.

Does this sound plausable?

[stevieturbo]

KnowsNothing said:

Garage rang today adn said it was the oil cooler, which they've changed they are flushing all the oil out, and waiting for a new air box to be delivered as it was all gunked up. Hoepfully have it back early next week.

Does this sound plausable?

As Gavin said, a lot more likely to be the oil/water heat exchanger than anything else.

And when the oil gets into the cooling system, it really can make a mess that is very hard to flush out. It can destroy rubber hoses, and clog radiators etc ( including of course heater matrix )

[GavinPearson]

stevieturbo said:

KnowsNothing said:

Garage rang today adn said it was the oil cooler, which they've changed they are flushing all the oil out, and waiting for a new air box to be delivered as it was all gunked up. Hoepfully have it back early next week.

Does this sound plausable?

As Gavin said, a lot more likely to be the oil/water heat exchanger than anything else.

And when the oil gets into the cooling system, it really can make a mess that is very hard to flush out. It can destroy rubber hoses, and clog radiators etc ( including of course heater matrix )

The explanation is plausible, and the good news is that it is cheap in relative terms to repair.

The key to getting the oil is the correct detergent - the stuff I recommended is proven to work.

I would leave changing coolant hoses until the oil is known to be out - maybe 6 weeks after the repair. If the techs in the garage don't use the detergent, or the right detergent, it'll never come out, at which point you might just as well do the job yourself and save wasting 100 quid an hour for somebody who doesn't know what they're doing using your car as an experiment.

My tip is get a quote and do not allow them to exceed that amount.