Poss Head Gasket Or Oil Cooler

[barney1]

hi i have a synergie with what looks like the old pug 1.9 td engine.after recent jouney oil light kept coming on and going off.just thought low on oil.went to fill up but there was black oil all over engine coming from water reservoir.when released cap masses of thick black oil streamed from reservoir.no loss of power and got me home fine.flushed the water system put knew water in a filled oil.took it for run to local petrol station(less than a mile).opened bonnet oil allover again drove home and the engine water had all gone and been replaced with oil.does anyone know if it is head gasket or have been told it may be oil cooler.i have done head gaskets before but never seen this ammount of oil blown through in such as short time.

[since1875]

Hi Barney, its could well be your head gasket although it is so much easier to check the oil cooler first. Drain the oil and water, slide off the hoses to the cooler. Remove the oil filter and there is a nut in the centre holding the cooler to the block, remove this and the cooler, there is a wee clip also holding the cooler in place at the top. Id maybe be tempted to do that first and have a loo at it, you might want to flush and change the engine oil anyways. Good luck Gary