its more common on vw's but its a flaw in the design of it (one of many) but more than likely thats your problem replace it and do what i said in the last post clear your codes and see if the problem persists.

 

Cool, was your car leaking out of the oil cooler or at all?

 

no idea right now i took it in for service cause i have to much to do right now 685 in parts in labor. Just to warn if you dont have money.

 

Thanks for the heads up, I'm kinda screwed right now for time and money. Just another day in paradise.

 

well I pulled the head off my car and all 4 cylinders were clear of what I would claim as being "steam cleaned" Reinforceing my decription of what happened, (no coolant in the oil) And I was unaware of any of the tell tale signs of blown head gasket. Therefore I am going to have too further as suggested by Tip5, remove and inspect the oil cooler and hope for the best. Best being that I have no internal cracks in the head or the block. It's all good even when it's bad I have to think about all the good times i've had...Nate

 

Let me know if you may need help with anything im getting mine out on saturday with all the info. Oil cooler oem for a 97 1.8l is around 190 but ive seen performance ones cheaper if you want to go the route which i dont recommend.

 

Head gasket it seems would not "leak" oil onto the ground
But just because there is no coolant in the engine oil does not mean your gasket is ok.
Oil in the coolant reservoir can also point to that.

I like the idea of the oil cooler tho

 

so where was it leaking from????