Oil in Coolant

'95 850 non-turbo, 130,000 km, auto

I just noticed some oil in the coolant tank and after a bit of reseach
figure it is either the head gasket or the oil cooler in the radiator. There
doesn't appear to be any coolant in the oil though. Is there any relatively
easy way to determine which? I would hate to do one only to find out that it
was the other. Any idea of the hours involved for a head gasket? A radiator?

One other odd thing is that it looks like clean oil. I would expect that it
should be about the same colour as the oil in the engine which even after
only 1500km is quite black?

TIA for the help

 

Odds are it is transmission oil from the cooling loop in the radiator
(requires radiator replacement.) The next step is to drain the transmission
oil and look for sign of milkiness. If there are milky swirls or even
cloudiness the radiator needs to be replaced and the transmission oil
changed. Don't put it off.

Mike

 

Doesn't look like transmission fluid. The oil is that yellowish engine oil
colour and not the reddish tinged transmission colour. The transmission
fluid appears to be uncontaminated on the dipstick as well. Thanks though.

 

I don't know about your make and model, but the car I am familiar with
(244 Turbo) has an oil cooler which is NOT integral with the radiator,
it is a separate application and thus could not contaminate the
coolant.

Assuming yours is integrated in the radiator (?!), I would first try to
eliminate that as a possible cause; drain the radiator, undo the hoses,
unbolt the radiator and remove it the radiator.

Take it to a radiator shop to be tested and if it is OK, then focus on
a blown head gasket or warped cylinder head.

Of course, if you'd rather take it to a shop, go right ahead, but for
me part of the fun of Volvos is diagnosing and repairing them myself.

 

Turbo models have a separate oil cooler for the engine oil, but those
equipped with automatic transmissions have a heat exchanger in the
radiator to cool the transmission oil. Some will have an external
transmission cooler as well if it was used for towing.

 

'96 850 turbo, 75k mi, auto

I have the same problem with my car and haven't found the solution yet.
I had the head removed and inspected and no problems were found. Once
the oil gets into the cooling system, it's very difficult to get all
the oil contamination removed from the system. I still have some traces
of oil in the cooling system but nothing like it was. I should mention
that the radiator was also removed and tested at a reputable radiator
shop, no trouble found.

The only other strange symptom is a noise when the car is first
started (almost sounds like a bad bearing and varies with engine rpm).
the sound disappears after engine warms up (after driving a couple of
miles). This has been going on for at least two years and hasn't gotten
any worse. The Volvo dealer has no idea what this is about and I'm not
sure that it's related to the oil in cooling system problem.

Hope someone has seen and fixed this problem for both our sakes.

 

I had the same with a 760V6 auto, it turned out to be the cooling loop
through the radiator. To prove it I disconnected the in and out pipes and
got the local hydraulic boys to make up a bit of pipe to link them together,
also fitted cap-end nuts to the radiator threads to blank it all off.
Took a lot of washing out of the engine coolant system but it eventually got
virtually clear and has been ok since. Mind you my car also has the external
oil rad fitted so this loop is pretty well not needed in my case.
For the cost of a piece of pipe, [which a local hydraulic man will be very
pleased to do for very little, especially if you let him get involved as
well as it will make an interesting change from his normal boredom] you will
be able to rule out headgaskets and get a good nights sleep!!!
Look for a local firm that does oil industry pipe work or bits for diggers,
farm machinery etc, I believe the nuts were 1/2" thread?
Good luck, Bob Green, UK.