I have coolant in my oil.

[wohlmeyer]

I have 53K on my 95 S4s and I have coolant in the oil.  Oil looks like butterscotch and the dipstick is covered in Mayonaise.  No smoke in the exhaust.  Verdict?

[Bibs]

Pressure test?

[wohlmeyer]

had a pressure tester on it for a week.  no leaks.

[mdw]

If its not been used for some time it could just be condenstation.

[Sparky]

What's the oil like in the cam carriers?

[Roy Lewington]

Sounds like head gasket.        If you are having to top up the coolant after use----head gasket.   If you are not loosing coolant get the engine nice and hot and give it an oil change.  Roy.

Just had another thought.  Take it to somewhere that has an exhaust emission gas analyser.    If they put the probe in the steam from the header tank and there is any trace of HC (hydro carbons) then it's head gasket. Roy.

[wohlmeyer]

IF it were the head gasket or an intake gasket should cause a misfire or excessive steam from

tail pipe or pressure in cooling system?   Has anyone reading ever had a turbo crap out and start to mix oil and coolant then dump it back into the engine?

[Vulcan Grey]

I had a massive head gasket leak on the race track, with a gallon of coolant going into my exhaust, and some coolant in my oil, and I couldn't seem much steam out of the tail pipes.  The engine did start to run very rough with no power.

 

I let it cool down and filled it back up with coolant and then could easily see lots of bubbles in the header tank with the engine running.

[Mike6]

Have you resolved this yet. Presumably the coolant level is dropping which must mean head gasket or water getting passed liners or possibly turbo. If coolant level has not dropped try changing for a cheap oil and see what happens

[dodge1979]

From the sounds of.things its nothing to worry about..if it follows the same. Symptoms I experienced over the winter.... Normally my esprit is garaged, but as im restoring the triumph it has to live outside...so the extreme damp/cold from last year is a factor. Ive experienced 'sludge' in the dipstick tube...looks like the dreaded mayo..but no coolant loss at all, cam cover internals completely clean, power (proven on recent rolling road runs) to be great. Driveability and reliability 100%. This leads me to the following conclusion...because of outside atmospheric conditions..ie wet as fcuk...the temperature and atmospheric conditions are different in the sump and dipstick. Dont forget the dipstick tube is external from the engine, it wi experience a different temperature, different atmospheric conditions. And different cooling rates. This can well lead to oil cooling in the tube, minute atomized oil perhaps combining with a condensed atmosphere creating the mayo effect...

I experienced this, then went through the basics. I am.now happy its purely because the car is unfortunately having to live outside at the moment, and after a good run (as it always is...) it cools rapidly due to external damp.atmospheric conditions..clean the tube out, the sump oil is clean, a week later having sat unused, the dipstick tube is again skanky...clean it out, sump.oil is clean,...etc...

[wohlmeyer]

I have had to add a gallon of coolant and it all ended up in the oilpan.  The dipstick is 1 inch above the full line.  Starting to float cyl.  Not drving it.  It ships tonight to Drew's Garage in Chicago to be checked out.  Dodge1979 on another note, my brakes work great!

Edited February 7, 2013 by wohlmeyer

[wohlmeyer]

Update.  Engine completely rebuilt by Drew's Garage in Chicago and these were the findings during the rebuild: Roll pins glued in Axle, Water Pump Leaking, All Belts Poor, Charge Cooler impeller No Good and Leaking Into oil pump with Sealed Hole, Exhaust Manifold Cracked at 3/4 and Hardware Broken, Head Gasket newer but not Torqued, Head Bolt and Rod Bolt Stretch and Thread issues, 1 cylinder liner too tall, 1 pistons rings broken, bearings wiped, valves intruded with oil and guides extremely egged, oil in intake and all ductwork, cylinder base seals show leakage stains.

 

Fun...

[ramjet]

What's right with the engine?

[rogerch]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAZtEAb6n3c

 

Nothin' too serious then.

[wohlmeyer]

Just an oil change and Ill be good to go.  ;-)

[wohlmeyer]

What's right with the engine?

Everything now that it is rebuilt.  :-)

[s4simon]

Mmmm.  53K is not much out of an engine.  This has been discussed many times over my 10 years of ownership and the general consensus was a minimum 100k before any issues would raise their ugly head.  Looks like a previous service / owner may have contributed to the early demise.

[wohlmeyer]

Mmmm.  53K is not much out of an engine.  This has been discussed many times over my 10 years of ownership and the general consensus was a minimum 100k before any issues would raise their ugly head.  Looks like a previous service / owner may have contributed to the early demise.

Indeed they did. I don’t blame the car or the engineering at all in this case. There is evidence that someone went into this engine on at least 2-3 other occasions. There was evidence of bolts and screws being glued into the engine instead of repaired properly. There was evidence in the cylinder liners that the wrong binding agents were used thus causing the liners to leak. It was a mess. It seems (I’m speculating) that the previous owners would discover the coolant leaking into the oil, realize this was going to be a big and EXPENSIVE job, would do just enough to patch things up and then sell it to the next guy until it landed with me. Anyway, I have a fresh engine now so F**K them for buying a car where mm count and then F'n it all a up due to laziness, ignorance, lack of funds, all of the above.  This Lotus is mine now and Im going to keep it on the road and functioning properly.