After 90k the head gasket finally gave up on my Rover 416. The gasket fails in a rather drastic manner and hence there was considerable mixing of the oil in the water and water in the oil. Getting the water out of the oil has not been a problem. However, getting the oil out of the water system does appear to be a problem. Although the car is now running OK all of the insides of the pipes in the water system and in the radiator are covered in a brown sludge. I have flushed the system through a couple of times and it is getting better. However, I cannot see that this will ever get rid of all of it.
The car runs OK but does have this muck floating on top on the water in the expansion tank. I could just keep drawing it off. However, I was wondering if there is an easy way of getting rid of it? Is there something that I could put in the system that would break down the oil, not damage anything else. I have considered detergents (dishwasher soap) but they would presumably foam up.
Any suggestions would be gratefully received.
Gordon