Date: Fri, 05 Apr 2002 11:45:50 +0100 From: danny <dannynopsamia-esprezzo.com> Subject: Re: Oil in cooling water
Tim wrote: > I'm new to Saabs having recently been given my daughter's 1995 Saab 900 > Auto. Although it has only done 38,000 miles it has unfortunately been > somewhat neglected and has missed a few services. > > I am finding oil in the cooling water and have been told this is likely to > be a head gasket failure but considering the relatively low mileage am not > entirely convinced. I am aware that the auto transmission fluid passes > through part of the radiator and was wondering if anyone had experienced a > radiator fault which could allow the oil to mix with the water. > > Grateful of any views. In my experience, oil in the coolant is always a sign of a blown head gasket. In other cars a check of the oil filler cap usually confirms this - a creamy deposit on the cap, but since my Saab has no filler cap to speak of, I don't know of a way to check this. smell the coolant in the expansion tank - if it smells of petrol or oil, and not of the normal water/antifreeze then that's another sign. A head gasket can fail at any mileage, usually due to overheating - coolant level not maintained in the header tank, or fan failing. -- Regards, Danny http://www.gaggia-espresso.com (a purely hobby site) http://www.dannyscoffee.com (UK advert for my mobile espresso service) swap Z for above characters in email address to reply