Oil in the water?
Discussion
At the 42,000 mile service of my chim 4.0 they pointed out that there was a brown sludge in the water which could be oil. I have kept an eye on it and it does seem to collect half an in inch of the stuff in the water but I don't seem to be using any or little oil and the oil colour itself is nice and clear. Performance is as good as ever, the temperature seems fine (rarely gets over 80 degrees) and oil pressure is the same as ever.
Any suggestions?
An increasingly worried owner!!!
Any suggestions?
An increasingly worried owner!!!
Might be worth draining the water out of the cooling system, cleaning it out as much as possible (think you can buy something for just this job in Halfords) and re-filling with new water/antifreeze mix.
I'd only REALLY worry if you have brown or whitish sludge on or around the oil filler cap, that could mean head gasket!!
Good Luck.
I'd only REALLY worry if you have brown or whitish sludge on or around the oil filler cap, that could mean head gasket!!
Good Luck.
quote:
Don't want to upset you, but oil in the header tank could also indicate head gasket failure. Depending on how a gasket fails it can lead to oil in water or water in oil. I would suggest that you investigate further.
Quinny.
Totally agree as it then doesn't take much to turn into a cylinder head failure and then a rebuild.
Don't mess about get it looked at!
Steve
www.tvrbooks.co.uk
quote:
Mechanic once told me there was a characteristic smell to the coolant if it was contaminated with oil. Is this a load of old bollocks or does anyone know what he was talking about?
Might be... might not. I would put more faith in a visual inspection and a hydrocarbon chcek than anyone's sense of smell.
Steve
www.tvrbooks.co.uk
I just wanted to complete this thread in case anyone has the same problem. I had the cylinder head gaskets changed (and the heads pressure checked just in case), an oil change (now running Mobil 1 motor sport), cooling system flushed and new water/antifreeze.
I was told it was impossible to completely flush all the oil out and that a residual amount would remain.
I have since done about 700-800 miles. At first on a long run on a hot day it blew out some of the residual oil out of the header tank cap. Since then it has run fine with no problems. It still has a very, very fine meniscus of oil in the header tank (I might try clearing it with blotting paper unless anyone has a better idea) but the coolant is nice an clear (I check regularly with a clear plastic turkey baster...2.99 from tesco). Over the 700-800 miles it has used about an eighth of an inch of oil on the dipstick (however much that is).
Note that I have been using optimax for a long time and they remarked how 'clean' the internals were for a 42,000 mile engine.
Anway the weather is great and its all smiles at the moment.
I was told it was impossible to completely flush all the oil out and that a residual amount would remain.
I have since done about 700-800 miles. At first on a long run on a hot day it blew out some of the residual oil out of the header tank cap. Since then it has run fine with no problems. It still has a very, very fine meniscus of oil in the header tank (I might try clearing it with blotting paper unless anyone has a better idea) but the coolant is nice an clear (I check regularly with a clear plastic turkey baster...2.99 from tesco). Over the 700-800 miles it has used about an eighth of an inch of oil on the dipstick (however much that is).
Note that I have been using optimax for a long time and they remarked how 'clean' the internals were for a 42,000 mile engine.
Anway the weather is great and its all smiles at the moment.
It's not necessarily the head gasket. If you only do short distances and don't drive the car very hard it may only be condensation which is causing the problem.
Basically, you can have a situation where condensation forms inside the rocker covers after a brief run. It doesn't take a lot of working out that this will very quickly contaminate the oil with the symptoms you have described.
The solution if this is the case, is nothing more technical than more frequent oil changes, maybe every 2000 miles or so!
Jas.
P.S. This problem is more common than you might think!
Basically, you can have a situation where condensation forms inside the rocker covers after a brief run. It doesn't take a lot of working out that this will very quickly contaminate the oil with the symptoms you have described.
The solution if this is the case, is nothing more technical than more frequent oil changes, maybe every 2000 miles or so!
Jas.
P.S. This problem is more common than you might think!
Oooops,
Sorry, misread your original post, yes you're quite correct! Oil in the water does sound like one of the head gaskets after all!
I hope it turns out to be something less painful for you though and any decent TVR garage should be able to find the problem with a few system pressure checks.
Jas.
Sorry, misread your original post, yes you're quite correct! Oil in the water does sound like one of the head gaskets after all!
I hope it turns out to be something less painful for you though and any decent TVR garage should be able to find the problem with a few system pressure checks.
Jas.
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