Small amount of oil in header bottle?

BoardsRanger

Noticed tonight that there was a small amount of oil in my header bottle- is this a sign of a screwed head gasket? There are no other signs of the HK being gone. The fluid level remains constant in the header bottle. Any ideas? Car is a Passat 1.9 tdi.

Frank_Gooding

Could be a head gasket, open the oil filler cap and look for a white gunge.

It is possible to get a mechanic to check this for sure.

BoardsRanger

Yeah checked the oil cap- no gunge. Im hoping its not a HK but sure il wait and see.

Slidey

More likely to be the oil cooler than the head gasket IMO.

Simple enough to find out.

macroman

Sounds like the Head Gasket has failed if oil is getting into the water, get a mechanic to do a sniffer test on it to confirm whether it's the head gasket at fault as it will ascertain whether exhaust gases are getting into the coolant indicating HG failure.

Slidey

The sniffer test as you put it would check for combustion gases in the coolant system.

It would be totally uselss for the OP's symptoms as he has said nothing about about pressurising the coolant.

If the headgasket had failed and was allowing the oil to enter the coolant it would be doing so between two of the seals where the castings in the block meet the head.

BoardsRanger

Slidey wrote: »

More likely to be the oil cooler than the head gasket IMO.

Simple enough to find out.

Cheers 4 the info - how would i go about finding out for sure if it is the oil cooler?

Slidey

I'm not too familiar with the set up on these engines.

If there is separate pipes bringing coolant to the oil cooler that disconnect them and link them together bypassing the cooler. Start the engine and run it for a bit, you will see the oil coming out.

If it is not a separate then it will be a bit more awkward.

BoardsRanger

Slidey wrote: »

I'm not too familiar with the set up on these engines.

If there is separate pipes bringing coolant to the oil cooler that disconnect them and link them together bypassing the cooler. Start the engine and run it for a bit, you will see the oil coming out.

If it is not a separate then it will be a bit more awkward.

Il try and give it a go tomorrow. So to find out if it is the oil cooler that is the problem, i look for oil coming out of the cooler where to pipes should be connected?

Slidey

There should be no oil coming out of the coolant connections. If it is leaking you may find traces on the inside of the water pipes by rubbing your finger in them.

I'll have a look at a Passat in work 2mrw and let ya know the score if no one else can answer definitively by then.

BoardsRanger

Thanks for that. Its a '99 passat if that makes any difference. Cheers again.

Slidey

Right was chatting the lads in the Skoda garage and they agree with me that head gasket would be very very rare in these engines.

Couldnt find a passat but had a look at a VAG lump and the oil cooler is below the oil filter and has external coolant pipes.

Take 'em off and check for oil residue in them.

BoardsRanger

Slidey wrote: »

Right was chatting the lads in the Skoda garage and they agree with me that head gasket would be very very rare in these engines.

Couldnt find a passat but had a look at a VAG lump and the oil cooler is below the oil filter and has external coolant pipes.

Take 'em off and check for oil residue in them.

Cheers- was also chatting to a mechanic friend who recons your diagnosis is bang on.
Just one more thing, if i take off the coolant pipes leading to the oil cooler, will water no start pissing out of them?

Slidey

Yeah you will lose all the coolant. You can collect it if you want or have a bit of steel pipe the same size and join the 2 pipes as quick as possible to minimise the loss.