Oil in my expansion tank

[EFCLee1]

Helloo

My engine coolant is a mirky colour, nothing else is in the water like foam or sludge or froth etc....just mirky colour!!

Any ideas

Thanks

 

[Burnerman]

The coolant maybe just old....but I sure wouldn't like to see any oil or emulsion in it!
What vehicle are you talking about? Some manufacturers use different colours from the usual - Nissan green, renault yellow etc.
John

 

[smashngrab]

Could be a head gasket leaking.

 

[EFCLee1]

Vauxhall Zafira 1.8 Petrol

Water has always been blue!! so this has happened within the last 4-6 weeks that was prob when I last checked my fluids

Is there anything I can do myself to give me more clues or is it a grage job to do some compression tests on my pots?

 

[Mursal]

Drain coolant and fill with water . Flush out with garden hose, You will need anti freeze later.

Ensure no air locks (heater works) and keep topping up until full. Do a few short journeys and see if it changes appearances again. See what happens?

Using engine oil?

Automatic transmission?

 

[EFCLee1]

Drain coolant and fill with water . Flush out with garden hose, You will need anti freeze later.

Ensure no air locks (heater works) and keep topping up until full. Do a few short journeys and see if it changes appearances again. See what happens?

Using engine oil?

Automatic transmission?

Yes automatic

My thermostat doesn't work so it doesn't get up to temperature not sure what affect that is having on this

And yes again, I am using oil, had it 4 years and all that time it has used oil, 1 Litre every 1000 miles so I use the little mileage counter to check this and top up when need to

If oil is getting in should I also be getting coolant into my oil, would I see this on the dip stick?

It would cost me around 20-25 for oil change and maybe 10-15 for new coolant so its a dear do to drop both?

Thanks for your help

 

[Mursal]

Oil can leak into the coolant and still have no water in the engine oil, just depends on the fault. The oil goes milky on the dip stick with coolant in the engine oil. Don't suppose you are loosing transmission fluid from the gearbox? Some auto boxes have oil coolers in the coolant rad which could be a source of oil in the coolant. Lack of thermostat should not cause this problem, I don't think.

Change the coolant with water from the tap and see how you go.
You will definitely know in a few days driving, if its worth new coolant/oil