hi

I have a fault with an 1996 1.8 petrol audi a4 (Just Baught it)
maybe you can help

there seems to be a large ammount of oil in the water reservior almost 90% if not 100% at a guess.

tha car is not overheating and drives fine so im ruling out head gasket.

is it possible someone has put oil in it by mistake.

someone told me that it could be someting to do with the oil filter housing which is water cooled, and if the seal goes that the water reservoir can fill with oil. Has anyone else heard of this or had this problem and can shed any light.

i can confirm that there is a water cooling housing on the car i just checked.

please help

 

Either way, this is not good.

Immediately check your oil to make sure that water isn't getting in the oil. Could be oil exchanger or head gasket, or even worse, a cacked enngine block. I guess it is possible that someone put oil in the

Are you sure it is engine oil in the reservoir? If you mix the wrong antifreeze (green) with audi antifreeze) it will turn a brown colour.

Do you have an automatic transmission? The transmission cooler is integrated with the radiator.

Get the source of the fluid and the leak reparied ASAP.

 

Hi

I have checked to engine oil straight away it was the first thing i thought of. It was fine

the oil or what i think is oil inthe water reservoir was like a guiee brown color.

The transmission is manual.

today i took the water reservoir off and cleaned it out, it seems the oil? was about 1 cm think on the top of the water in the reservoir.
then I took a hose to the out let pipe of the w.reservoir and ran it through the engine for about 5 mins untill the water ran clear from the inlet hose.

connected everyting back up and run the car untill temp guage went up to middle.

the car didnt overheat but at the same time it didnt overheat before, thats why i ruled out the head gasket.

i have then drove the car for about 5 mins and dont see any more oil like substance in the water reservoir. so i hope thats it sorted.

im gonna flush the system a few more time using a radiator flush to help make sure there's nothing left.

1 thing i was still curious about is that i have climate control and it's the first time i have had it in my car and it never really gets hot, before or after this problem.

i was told that it is normal....?????

any ideas...!!

 

Refill with distilled water and G12 coolant. Do not use regular antifreeze.

I posted on the heater this Am in another string. Could be and air lock in the heater core, or a broken valve or could be a problem with the air deflector which directs the air over the heater core.

1. Once you fill the system, there should be a bleeder hole for letting air out of the system. Search for instructions on how to bleed the coolant system.

2. If that doesn't help, turn the temp up to full blast and let the engine warm up. Check the coolant hoses where they enter through the firewall into the car. If they are not hot, then either the valve is broken the heater core it totally blocked or there is an air lock.

Just because the car doesn't overheat doesn't mean the headgasket isn't blown.

 

A blown head gasket would cause coolant to mix with your oil, not vice versa.

Are you sure someone hasn't mixed non G-12 coolant into your reservoir? If that happens it turns into a nasty dark brown sludge.

 

As I said

 

opps, didn't see that David.

 

i hope you're embarrassed

 

hi all


flushed it again with rad. flush and and were all clear no oily substanse.

so i presume either it was a mix of anti-freeze as a kind member made me aware of, or some prat put oil in the water reservoir.

either way were sorted lads

thanks for all your help

also gave the engine a steam clean for piece of mind and confirm there is no leaks etc.

 

Excellent, that is good news!