Creamy gunk in water resevior

[rav]

Hi Peeps

Noticed the other day some yellowish coloured water on the drive way where my boxter was parked. It made me a bit suspicious so I went into the boot of the car and took off the cap from the water resevoir.

I was horrified at what I saw......the water resevior was full of creamy stuff (like oil n water mix)!!!. The wierd thing is, the car didn't overheat or anything so I'm ruling out head gasket because I also checked the oil cap and that was clear except for a bit of condensation on it.

Any ideas on what this maybe? Could someone have put oil into the water resevior by mistake? Some other mechanical problem? I've checked the dip stick too but no creamy residue on this what so ever. This creamy stuff appears to be inside the water works of the car.

Please help as I haven't driven the car since this discovery :-(

Many Thanks
Rav

[BadBoyS]

Sorry for the Problem. Do you do your own maintenance. I ask because maybe some did put oil in the wrong place. In my past experience it does sound like a head gasket. Had the same situation on an oldsmobile oil in the coolant but not on the dip stick. Eventually when it got bad enough it it showed on the dip stick. Took awhile though.

[rav]

Hi Mate, in answer to your question NO. I don't carry out my own maintenane.

If it was head gasket, would the creamy stuff show up in the oil?

There is no over heating
No white smoke
No creamy stuff on dip stick or oil cap
No problems from a drive perspective.
No engine management lights coming on either

Any ideas?

[BadBoyS]

Originally Posted by rav

Hi Mate, in answer to your question NO. I don't carry out my own maintenane.

If it was head gasket, would the creamy stuff show up in the oil?

There is no over heating
No white smoke
No creamy stuff on dip stick or oil cap
No problems from a drive perspective.
No engine management lights coming on either

Any ideas?

Once again I think it might be were you are in the process. As in the oldsmobile I saw it in the coolant first no other symptoms. Then it progressed to the oil after awhile. I changed the oil frequently after that and added alumi-seal to bandaid the problem till I could tear it down. I would Change the coolant out and flush R/O a Mistake by someone putting the oil in the wrong spot. The other thing I see from your post is that there was coolant on the ground. This should only happen when and if the car over heats (boiling over) the oil could be causing this. When was the last service done can you trace back. Was it a Porsche dealer or Authorized service or just some one from the Lube Stop. Doesn't sound good. I wouldn't dirve it either as if it is over heating you could warp the heads, block ect.

Hope this helps.... .

[rav]

Thanks for your reply. Something else I forgot to mention, the oil level on the dipstick is reading normal i.e not loosing any oil. So where do you think this oil is coming from? If oil was going from the engine block to the coolant, wouldn't the engine oil level drop?

When I say that the resevoir had gunk in it, I mean it was really thick gunk. It looks like a very thick cream rather than water.

I've booked it in with my local porsche garage next week and maybe they can shed some light on it. But even they suggested flushing out the coolant system and re-filling. Think I will give that a try.

Thanks for your advice

[BadBoyS]

Maybe it was contaminated by someone... Unfortunately the dip stick isn't exact so you might not be seeing a big change. Best bet is to flush and see from there. That will be the least expensive opton and good place to start. Let us know how it goes..Good luck!!!!

[MNBoxster]

Hi,

Oil in the Coolant has been covered pretty well. One thing to do is a leakdown test of each cylinder and mark the results, this will tell you more of what's going on. Likewise, a Coolant Pressure Test will also help. If the Cooling System fails to hold pressure, then it leaking somewhere. If no visible leaks are found, then one must suspect the HG.

But, I'm wondering more if two incompatable Coolants weren't mixed? The Porsche uses a Phosphate-free Coolant, like Sierra or Prestone 5/150. If mixed with Phosphated Coolant, the two chemically react and form a Gel like substance which could also be emulsion-like.

Do the headgasket tests and if nothing is revealed, then suspect this unless you know that the possibility exists that there was a coolant mix. Hope this helps...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

[rav]

Hi All

Just to let you know, my local Porsche garage took my car in over the weekend and they performed various tests on my boxter including a wet/dry compression test on the engine and found that everything was fine.

However, what they did find was a small hole in the water resevior through which the system was loosing pressure. Still, they were unable to tell how the oil got into the water.

They have now fully flushed the system added fresh coolant and special anti-freeze coupled with a new water resevior. They still think that someone put oil into the water resevior as they are unable to explain the presence of oil in water. According to Porsche (Birmingham UK) it's a common error people make. They get a large number of cases where new owners have put oil into the water resevior.

Anyway, all I got to do now is pay for the work which is around £500.00 and drive the car around for a while. Clearly, if more creamy stuff appears after a while then it needs to go back for further analysis.

Thanks to everyone for their advice on this matter. I'll let you know if about 4 weeks how I get on.

Gracias Amigos!!!!

[BadBoyS]

Rav Great news it wasn't too major.. keep us posted and Good Luck....