Citroen Berlingo .....thick black sludge in radiator?

[BertieB]

Just bought a 51 plate 1.9d berlingo with 140k and there is a warning light showing low coolant level, I'm hoping it's just a faulty sensor as it's full. However there is a thick black sludge in the tank....what the hell is this? Any ideas?

[stevieturbo]

likely an oil cooler leaking if fitted.

or else oil is getting into the coolant some other way. Strip everything down immediately and throughly flush out, as that will dose all rubber hoses and clog everything.

[BertieB]

I agree, my fear is that the head gasket is leaking oil.

[CDP]

If it's leaking oil would will be white and creamy like mayonnaise if mixed with water.

Could it be a corrosion inhibitor?

[stevieturbo]

CDP said:

If it's leaking oil would will be white and creamy like mayonnaise if mixed with water.

Could it be a corrosion inhibitor?

It's oil and a fair bit of it.

[GavinPearson]

CDP said:

Could it be a corrosion inhibitor?

I would say the likelihood is extremely slim.

[Simon Says]

By pass the water/oil inter cooler(sandwich plate between oil filter & block) and run the engine up for 20 minutes or more if you see oil oozing out of the pipe stubs on the cooler its a good chance the cooler is knackered(yes it happens)failing that its also possible its the headgasket problem arise when the oil feed that passes through the gasket to the head,if the seal breaches it forces oil under greater pressure into the nearest water way(hence dirty oil in the cooling system)i have come across this a few times on the XUD/Pug/Cit engine that the DW shares designs with check the cooler 1st though its a very straight forward test and always bares fruit if its the culprit

Edited by Simon Says on Monday 1st March 15:23

[bryan843]

Rodney mechanic I've just striped down a 1.9 2001 berlingo and found the head gasket at the front end of the engine has failed so it's mixing the oil with the water and there is a big oil leak around the timing belt area this is proberly why you have engine oil in the expansion tank the old petrol engine youse do fail at the thermostat housing which would make you think the head gasket had failed I hope this helps.