Thanks Start & JFP. Found the intermix while at work & out of convenience decided to bring it to the nearest google 5 star euro shop. Some backstory... Replaced the center rad because of a small leak. Noticed a bit of oil on inlet/outlet pipes. Kinda brushed it off until i saw the coolant reservoir filled with chunks of oil. Checked the dipstick/oilcap, both were clean, no exhaust smoke either. Still expecting a cracked head but hoping for oil cooler being the issue. Then i bring it to the mechanic and instruct him to drain the oil/filter, both were clean. next check oil cooler and that's when we found the coolant passages were intermixing. Now my mechanic is having difficulty finding the right parts...
Tell him (or her) to go to a dealer, a lot of the aftermarket oil coolers are junk, and you don't want to do this twice. The dealer can also set them up with the four O-rings needed.
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“Anything really new is invented only in one’s youth. Later, one becomes more experienced, more famous – and more stupid.” - Albert Einstein
TLDR oil still shows in coolant. scoop oil out from expansion but oil still shows. had shop pressurize oil/coolant system. shop said pressure remained constant. Any other way to determine if head is cracked without dropping engine?
spent a whole day flushing the system with simple green. Must have done 5 flushes. By the last flush, liquid was looking clean with the exception of a few tiny specs of oil. Expansion tank was spotless. Few days later i see oil return to the expansion tank. The oil is at the surface and can be scooped out. Once the water/coolant is visible it almost looks clean. I've been cleaning the oil from the surface every time after driving and have done some 2 "lazy flushes" (draining only engine coolant/puling the return hose to drain but after every drive oil appears at the surface.
I had a different shop pressurize both coolant(15-20PSI) & oil systems but they told me pressure remained constant.
Either I didn't flush the system well enough, or the cracked head doesn't open up until engine is warm.
Car is a 2000 S 118K miles manual. no overheat, smoke or drivability issues. I've already accepted the worse but would like some assurance before dropping engine/removing heads. Any guidance from the pros?
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