Technical Engine coolant

[Neil Barker]

Doing my regular checks of my car - oil levels etc, I thought I'd have a look at the coolant visually, rather than just look through the transparent expansion tank.

Looking at it and dipping my finger in to 'sample' it, it's akin to a thick dark green/black goo - almost oily in consistency.

Now to a degree, this has the hallmarks of a head gasket failure with oil contaminating the coolant, but I'm not losing any quantity of oil, nor overheating, nor seeing any steam from the exhaust pipe.

Can anyone who's got the time just have a look at the coolant in their expansion tank and tell me what it looks like in yours ?

Thanks.



--
Neil Barker

 

[Stumpy]

Hi Neil,Well if i were you, for what it costs, i would do a change of coolant and flush the system thoroughly beforehand. My old Punto was the same when i bought it but i did notice that it had had a new radiator fitted , so i presumed someone had thrown in some sealer of some kind to fix the previous leak. Use Paraflu from your dealer then check it again in a month or so, it will probably cost you about £6, but will give you peace of mind.B)

2000 ELX , (1998 60S got mashed)

 

[mals]

I have a Ulysse and when I first bought it I noticed that there was a tiny sludgy oily mixture in the coolant. I used this to barter the price.. When I investigated further I found that in the service history it was documented that someone had topped the coolant up with oil due to the fact that it is in the place where the oil is usually placed on other vehicles. The Head gasket was then reeplaced and system flushed but there is still some residual oil that builds up every now and then. I have found out that this has happened to a couple of other vehicles after chatting to a mechanic at my local Fiat dealer. So this may clear up the mystery.

 

[Neil Barker]

Well, my car's anti-freeze problem was examined a few days ago and the mechanic flushed it all out, cleaned the system and then refilled with anti-freeze. No oil present, nor combustion gases - testing kits proved negative for either, so there's no 'problem' per se.

Neither him nor any of the other mechanics had seen anything like it before.

Still, it's all fine now.

--
Neil Barker