View Full Version : Oil in the Water?
Squeaks
25-01-10, 11:01 AM
No Not mine. Phew. but my aunties Mk1 ZS180
i was speaking to my uncle last night & as he don't have a computer I'm asking on his behalf.
he was checking all the levels on the Z Saturday & noticed that the water tank ( expansion tank? ) had oil in it, it was floating on top of the antifreeze & didn't go right down to the bottom of the bottle.he took it out & checked the dipstick & it had no mayo on it. we seem to think its leaking it in from the head gasket, how likely is this to blow? i know with the MGF when it went it put water in the oil. but this is the other way round, is it just more of a annoyance or worse?
any help would be appreciated & ill pass the info onto him, my auntie is so worried as she cant afford it to be major. :(
Thanks.
arwilson80
25-01-10, 11:05 AM
To me it sounds like HGF but i'm no expert. Although on the KV6 it's unusual... Lil sis' 214 put the oil into the water rather than the other way around which is more common.
stamford
25-01-10, 12:10 PM
A rare case if it is. What's the age of the car and mileage? From what I can remember the very early ones had trouble, but these were probably pre-production versions that were registered, but were not updated in some way.
Maybe there is a defect that has caused this, best get a garage to carry out the 'sniff' test to be sure.
Squeaks
25-01-10, 12:31 PM
Its a 2003 with 66k on the clock, oil sits nicely ontop off the antifreeze, got no over heating & runs perfectly still.
Its a 2003 with 66k on the clock, oil sits nicely ontop off the antifreeze, got no over heating & runs perfectly still.
Mayo in the Oil (710) cap? :tease:
petet16
25-01-10, 01:18 PM
Unusual for a v6, but it does sound as though the seal between an oilway and coolant passage has broken down.
Sniff test is a good idea, but if combustion gasses aren't entering the coolant system it may prove inconclusive, it would be worth getting some quotes for a head gasket change, as it will be better to do it sooner rather than later.
Squeaks
25-01-10, 01:19 PM
Mayo in the Oil (710) cap? :tease:
No Mayo in the oil cap or dipstick.
Just alot of oil in the water,
No Mayo in the oil cap or dipstick.
Just alot of oil in the water,
Has the oil level dropped as well? I'd flush the coolant system and refill... get rid of the oil and see how quick it comes back... :)
Squeaks
25-01-10, 01:44 PM
Belive it or not he says the oil hasnt gone down, he said he found it empty about a month back & toped it back up & it hasnt shifted. car runs sweet as a nut aparently.
they are going on holiday to spain in it at the end of next month & need to know if it will be ok to drive there as it is.
I would :) but then I do that sort of thing... driving around on a duff gearbox for example... :tease:
I would :) but then I do that sort of thing... driving around on a duff gearbox for example... :tease:
I can relate to that.. currently mine pops out of 5th while on the motorway
I can relate to that.. currently mine pops out of 5th while on the motorway
Put some more oil into it... Seriously... that's what happened to mine every time it pops out of 5th I put more oil in... fine until it runs out again.
Changed every seal I could... turns out it was the selector shaft seal! and I did that myself (three garages missed it!) so now I do most maintenance myself...
already had it done once, it was cause by a worn o-ring letting too much play in the shaft popping the seal... but Matt checked and re-did all the seals he could (whithout taking te box off) and it is still doing it.
it is also only 5th gear and none of the others which makes it less likely to just be low on oil - and the frequency of it popping out is getting higher - 7 times in the last 200miles and at one point it needed 4 goes to pick up 5th again!
Squeaks
25-01-10, 08:15 PM
Any more thoughts on why theres oil in the water
already had it done once, it was cause by a worn o-ring letting too much play in the shaft popping the seal... but Matt checked and re-did all the seals he could (whithout taking te box off) and it is still doing it.
it is also only 5th gear and none of the others which makes it less likely to just be low on oil - and the frequency of it popping out is getting higher - 7 times in the last 200miles and at one point it needed 4 goes to pick up 5th again!
Exactly the same symptoms as mine.... and it was low oil.... :) Only ever had 5th gear jump out as explained...
Any more thoughts on why theres oil in the water
Dan, have you tried changing the water in the coolant system? I had something very similar on my 180, oil in the water and a mayo substance in the oil cap... Got the belts done, which required water and oil change and for the last 3000 miles its been perfect no oil contamination or water contamination anywhere... (Before anyone complains, it wasn't that much mayo, the garage put it down to evaporation..."
Supercharged_Z
26-01-10, 06:57 AM
lets look at it logicly.
oil in the water... hmmm how can this happen!! oil cooler breakdown? hg? toped oil up in the wrong place?
i would not recomend anybody driving to spain after finding such a thing without it been having looked at by a profesional.
While HGF on these cars are rare, it is not the first case, it does happen, we used to have 03 plate 75's with hgf a lot of the time when i worked for a stealership...
get it checked out, it does sound very much like the begining of HGF, even if the oil dosnt "seam" to of gone down, the car holds over 5 litres, it may be hard to tell it .1 of a litre has slowly got into the coolant system for whatever reason!!
presure test/sniffer test ftw.. probably the latter!!
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