Motor oil in radiator.

I have had the head gasket replaced. What else might cause this?

Reply to
Pat
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Somebody poured oil in the radiator or oil got in your coolant passages when the head work was done. Sloppy work by mechanics that didn't flush the cooling system out.

Its more common to have transmission oil mix with the antifreeze if the trans cooler leaks inside the radiator tank.

Good Luck.

H
Reply to
Harry Face

Some cars use a coolant that is non-silca based. Uses organic components, that over time, seem to create a 'slick'.

What color coolant do you have?

later,

tom @

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Reply to
Sharon K.Cooke

Door swings both ways with head gasket problems. Pull your oil dip stick, if it loose 'frothy' then you could have a real problem.

later,

tom @

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97 Ford Aspire with 93,000 miles. Found oil in radiator and coolant overflow. Ford replaced head gasket and flushed. I took it back to Ford a month or so later and they flushed again. Still got oil a month later. 1 inch or so in overflow.

Reply to
Pat

Good a time as any to introduce myself.... Ford Senior tech... getting close to 40 years breaking my back.

It might help if we knew what you're working on.... year - model - engine - trans...Even WITH that info, it can be a guess... without it......

A lot of late Ford products are equipped with fluid to fluid oil coolers...

Jim Warman snipped-for-privacy@telusplanet.net

Reply to
Jim Warman

Reply to
Sharon K.Cooke
97 Ford Aspire with 93,000 miles. Found oil in radiator and coolant overflow. Ford replaced head gasket and flushed. I took it back to Ford a month or so later and they flushed again. Still got oil a month later. 1 inch or so in overflow.
Reply to
Pat

Usually it is the head gasket, but not always. Here are some of the things it could be: Warped head, cracked head, or a cracked block. Probably other things too, but these are the most common.

Hank

Reply to
Hank

Ford wants to put another motor into it now and they are not sure if a replacement motor can be found. I am not sure if I want to pay for one. They charged me $1100 for the head gasket.

Reply to
Pat

If you paid for a service and they didn't do it, then shouldn't you be refunded? Or atleast credited the amount to another engine?

I mean, you didn't intend to pay for a faulty job, so there is an implied warranty.

Just thinking out loud...

later,

tom @

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Reply to
newsgroups01REMOVEME

Rather than a repeat failure, I would consider neglecting to flush the cooling system properly. This guck will cling on to the cooling system internals only to surface later. I work on a lot of diesels with oil to coolant oil coolers. When these go bad, I can spend several hours flushing the cooling system properly. Low susdsing detergent (like those for a dishwasher) help, but it is still a lengthy process.

HTH.

Reply to
Jim Warman

Ford flushed the radiator when they did the work and again a month later. They told me the flush included some sort of detergent. I am going to drive it another month or two and monitor it.

Reply to
Pat

Last one I did was subsatntially larger in cooling system capacity (not to mention oil capacity).... 6.0 litre diesel. Coolant strength and temperature ranges play into the equation. Bottom line was something over 6.5 hours of flushing and coolant exchanges (no, I didn't use antifreeze until I was happy with what was coming out). I have another with over 11 liters of oil in the cooling system..... I expect to have a bit more trouble with this one.

After two different subsystems have "swapped spit", it can be hard to clean up the remnants but it must be done to avoid any confusion in repeat concerns. I understand that your repair was a retail job? This makes it even more difficult as the financial burden of a lengthy clean up will fall dorectly on the consumers shoulders.

One piece of advice I offer up regularly..... the cheapest thing that any of us will ever do with a car is buy it.

Reply to
Jim Warman

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