tr6 Oil in cooling water

[andy taylor]

Having had to drain off some of the water to replace my water pump I have found what seems to be quite a lot of oil in the water I drained off. I drained off the water by removing the hose from the water pump housing. There is no mayonnaise in the rocker box and the car runs very smoothly. The is no sign of any water on the dip stick. Have I blown a head gasket and should I replace it immediately.

 

Andy

[Nigel Triumph]

It's unusual to find oil in the water without the oil being similarly contaminated with water.

 

It could perhaps be the oilway to the rockers through the head gasket leaking. This isn't uncommon but usually the oil leaks out from the rear left corner of the head joint and runs down the back of the block, not into a water way. Any trace of oil leakage there?

 

I would be inclined to do a compression test. If all readings are similar and respectably high (I get about 150psi on my CP series engine) it's unlikely there's a major head gasket failure. In that case, I would try flushing the cooling system and refilling to see if the problem recurs. To save the cost of anti-freeze, you could temporarily refill with water until you know if oil is definitely still getting into the coolant. Don't forget to add antifreeze later if the water remains clean!

 

 

Good luck,

 

Nigel

[andy taylor]

Thanks Nigel, there is oil on the left hand corner but I thought this was from the rocker cover. I will flush the coolant this weekend if weather holds out and then check again.

 

Andy