Oil in coolant - 2000 328i

[yayagad]

Getting a light colored creamy chocolate mixture in my coolant. No visible signs on the oil dipstick or under the oil cap. Dealership has replaced transmission cooler, expansion tank, radiator, water pump and pulleys, but suspect a head gasket leak, warped head or cracked block. They have drained the system 3 times, thinking that it might be residual oil in the coolant that somehow got in there when the water pump seized. Compression is great on all 6 cyl. Radiator pressure test is good too. Car has 64000 mi. Engine runs GREAT, hot or cold. Can it possibly be transmission fluid in the coolant? Or would that be a reddish color? I have added about a gallon of coolant in the past week. Where is it going? No leaks on floor, no change in oil level. Can it somehow be going to the transmission? What's your opinion on trying Bar's Leak Gasket Fix, not as a long-term solution, but to see if it is the gasket?

[theruss1an1]

Have you had the oil drained? Any water in there?

You need to have a leak down test done. Basically it pressurizes the cylinder to see if it has any leaks. If you have a little coolant leak into the cylinder you should see air bubbles in the overflow tank. It is best to have this done after the car is warmed up. I am not sure where the transmission oil cooler is on that car, but if it is integrated into the radiator that could be your leak. Does your car have white smoke come out of the exhaust after it has been warmed up?

Not all transmission fluids are colored red.

-Serge

[yayagad]

Thx 4 your reply. No white smoke. Dealer technician checked the transmission fluid when the coolant system repairs were made, by simply pulling the plug and touching the fluid with his finger. Told me everything seemed OK. What is the color of the original BMW transmission? It has never been changed?

I did not change the oil since the repairs as it was changed just about one wk before the water pump situation. Wouldn't there be telltale signs on the dipstick or under the cap?

What baffles me is that the oil level is not changing at all and has no odd coloration, and engine runs great without overheating. Dealer wants $4000 to repair HD, "IF" that's all it needs. Warped heads shoot it up tp $6000. Cracked block=$10000. Those were the estimates I got. I am in Florida, but cannot leave without resolving this issue. Over a barrel!!!

[yayagad]

I forgot to add that the transmission cooler (new) is at the bottom behind the rad (driver's side). It was apparently dripping fluid, so they replaced it. I was not getting leaks on my floor. dealer suspects it was damaged when the pump went and belt snapped and caused havoc in the rad area (pulleys, belt tensioner, water pump hanging by a thread, rad, tranny cooler... yuk $2700)

[EMC]

You can probably buy a low mileage 2.8 liter complete for $1500 and definitely under $2000. Then it shouldn't be much more than $1000 to have it installed.

[yayagad]

I took a chance and poured in Bar's Leaks Gasket Fix. I chose this particular product over their other product that requires a coolant system flush first. Instructions say to pour into a cold rad, into the existing coolant. Only used 2/3 of the pint. Before doing this I syphoned and blotted out any oil floating at the top, waited and repeated about 10 times until I could see no more floating to the top, then used the Bar's Leaks. Took 2 short drives of about 20 minutes each over a 2 day period. Wow! Almost no more oil residue. What little bit rises to the top of the expansion tank can be blotted out in 5 seconds with the corner of a paper towel. A far cry from what I've been syphoning for a week!

What next? Can this be harmful in the long-run?.. short term? Should I drain the system and replace with new coolant, or does this stuff have to stay in to continue to work? I can't afford to pay for a HG job at this time, given that I have just spent $2700 on other repairs.

Your advice would be greatly appreciated.

[icheeban17]

Ruin from the Bmw Stealer Wha part of Florida do you live in. Find a private BMW mech who you can trust.

[hecuter]

Hm, I don't know how you're getting that chocolate colored liquid in your coolant, that one baffles me. Try asking in the BMW general mechanical help forum.

As far as the HG is concerned, Don't take it to the dealer! Unless it's under warranty, that's a bloody ridiculous price to pay. I just (as of 2 days ago) had my warped head resurfaced, got a new HG, lots of different parts and fix ups, and the whole HG job (not including the other clutch work I had done) came to $1800. And that was taking it to the priciest independent shop in my city. A cracked head would really f* your bag, but you could probably buy a new top end and have it put in there instead.

As far as the bar rad goes, I tried it once, but after taking to the shop the mechs there told me never to touch it. They found a lot of residual gunk throughout the system and said that it might fix minor leaks for a short period of time, but overall it's going to cause more harm than good.


Try getting a leak down test like the other member suggested. Is there any puddles of liquid under your car after leaving it overnight? How is the operating temperature? Open your oil cap and take a look - is there a browny/green swamp mixture in there? White smoke, high temps (ie: overheating), filmy residue under your oil cap and poor performance are all signs of a cracked head. If you don't have those symptoms, get your car double checked before you sign up for a head inspection. GL

[ptarditi]

You are getting moisture build-up in your oil from either not driving it long enough to burn the condensation out of the oil, worst case scenario is a bad cyclone (PCV) valve. You probably don't need a new motor. This advice coming from a dealer tech, less vitriol will better suit this forum.

[325bob]

You are getting moisture build-up in your oil from either not driving it long enough to burn the condensation out of the oil, worst case scenario is a bad cyclone (PCV) valve. You probably don't need a new motor. This advice coming from a dealer tech, less vitriol will better suit this forum.

HUH?The oil is in his coolant tank, I suspect a weeping head gasket, try retorqueing the head bolts, Bars leak shouldn't help. you have oil pressure getting into the cooling system 60 psi into 15 psi.

[hecuter]

HUH?The oil is in his coolant tank, I suspect a weeping head gasket, try retorqueing the head bolts, Bars leak shouldn't help. you have oil pressure getting into the cooling system 60 psi into 15 psi.

The problem with that is that he said Bars Leak did help, which I don't get either...

[thejlevie]

If I'm correctly interpreting everything, there was a cooling system failure in the past and an associated overheat. That history coupled with the presence of oil in the coolant strongly suggests a head or head gasket problem. The only other possibility would be a failed transmission inter cooler, but the new radiator should reduce that to a very low probability.

The stop leak may help, for a little while. If there is damage to the head or head gasket problems will reappear shortly. And cleaning the residual stop leak from the system will be an additional task on top of the head repair.

[yayagad]

Thank you all for a very helpful exchange of ideas. I think I'll have the system drained asap to minimize the long term effects of the Bar's Leaks, if that's not too late. If the problem returns, I'll try some of the suggestions made in this forum. By the way, the BMW dealer in question is located in SW Florida.