I'm getting oil mixed in with the coolant on my '01 S4. There is no coolant in the oil, and the car has not been overheated in the year and a half that I've owned it (problem just started last week). I know that it's common for the oil coolers to leak, so I temporarily bypassed that, while I wait for the new one,and rinsed/flushed the cooling system out with some dish soap and water. I refilled and bled the cooling system, changed the oil, and put the car back together. After a quick test drive, everything seemed fine. Went out to dinner last night and the coolant level light started flashing so I checked the level, and it had a layer of oilon top of the coolant that was in the reservoir, and it was not low on coolant. Part of me thinks that this oil is just the residual from what was in there before, however, I'm worried that it's coming from somewhere else.

Has anyone ever had this issue before, what was the outcome. I don't want to have to pull the motor apart, replace turbos, etc unless I have to.

 

it could just be residual, the only way to tell is to flush your cooling system again. my thought is that its probably a seal leaking on your turbos. how many miles on your car? chipped? are your turbos making any excess noise when cold?

 

115k on the car, all stock, no noises, and driven pretty conservatively. I was afraid that it was a turbo too. I know that the oil cooler was leaking, pressure tested the coolant side and got bubbles from the oil side, I'm just hoping that the turbos aren't going out too.

 

if that presssure test failed with the oil cooler, then my assumptions is its your oil cooler.

 

That's what I'm hoping, there just seems to be an awful lot of oil left in the system considering that I rinsed it out with dish soap and water.