Oil in Coolant!!!!!!!!!!!

[mipai]

I bought a 53 2.2tdi elite last month, since buying it the spanner light has come on numerous times and today the coolant lite came on, when i checked the expansion bottle i found a brown gunk in the bottle and it has also leaked down the side. A friend suggested it is the gasket that needs doing .

Any advice and how much the gaskey usually costs would be much appreciated!!!!!!

[ditchp]

how long is a piece of string i'm afraid mate, if the head is warped then muchos money i'm afraid

[mipai]

thought that might be the case. seeing as i bought from a private dealer and he's saying the gasket isnt covered by the warranty id better get riding the bike for a while

[SRimonkey]

dunno bout newer cars but i warped the head on my 1st car........94 corsa and it cost 100 quid to put right........cost a lot more to fix the engine but the head was 50 skimmed an 50 compression tested.......dunno much about it all but i swear it went like a stabbed rat once this had been done

[mipai]

thanks guys!!!!! ive been on a few sites and theres a chance it could be the oil cooler, dont even know where 2 start looking lol

[mark_647]

dunno bout newer cars but i warped the head on my 1st car........94 corsa and it cost 100 quid to put right........cost a lot more to fix the engine but the head was 50 skimmed an 50 compression tested.......dunno much about it all but i swear it went like a stabbed rat once this had been done

A stabbed rat !!!

What mileage does the engine have ??

[SRimonkey]

was about 100k...........dunno ain`t got it no more but they did say sommet bout it changed the compression.....like i said i dunno,maybe it was drivin me dad`s car for a week till it was done that made my car feel better...lol he has got a gay 1.6 astra

[Jacko VXR]

thanks guys!!!!! ive been on a few sites and theres a chance it could be the oil cooler, dont even know where 2 start looking lol

Sorry to hear about this, not the news you need after just buying it!!


I'm sorry but i can't see this being the case. I don't know where on any car other than the cylinder head/block where the water and oil systems could come into contact with each over.



To give you an idea of costs heres a little list;

head gasket set - £100ish
head skim - £100ish
labour - who knows, but i would say its about 4-5hr job?

A head skim may not be required, only if the engine has overheated and warped should you need to get this done, so really, if you know someone who's a keen mechanic then you can save some money as labour will be the biggest cost here. I can recommend a head re-conditioners in Manchester than can do do the head work - let me know if you need there details.

What you don't know is why the head gasket has gone and if any underlying problem is present and you'll not really know this till you start stripping the engine down and having a look. The best thing you could do at the moment is get a compression test and leak-down test carried out. If you're in the AA then get them round to do it for you - at least this will not cost you anything.

Hope you get it all sorted, if it were a petrol i would tell you to pop over to mine and i'll check it out for you but its not, and i've not the correct tools for the job i'm afraid. If i can help in anyway then please don't hesitate getting in touch.

Regs
Jacko

[Jacko VXR]

Please delete

[VauxVeteran]

I know what that is that's causing it, it's an exchanger unit that cools both the oil and the water, had one go on mine @ 35k.