Oil In The Water Header Tank

[credowan]

Hi on checking the water and oil at the weekend on my c3 1.4 petrol desire 53reg it looks like there could be oil in the water, water level looks ok, oil level bit down off top mark its small amount but still thought id ask

 

My question is id possibly think HG but is there any other ideas of what it could be and if not would people just recommend compression test or heard a sniff test

 

 

Thanks in advance

Gary

[fishears]

Hi on checking the water and oil at the weekend on my c3 1.4 petrol desire 53reg it looks like there could be oil in the water, water level looks ok, oil level bit down off top mark its small amount but still thought id ask

 

My question is id possibly think HG but is there any other ideas of what it could be and if not would people just recommend compression test or heard a sniff test

 

 

Thanks in advance

Gary

It's your head gasket - get it done quickly

[credowan]

Thanks for the reply, is the sniff test or compression test a good idea to check it is the HG as suspected and has anybody got a idea on price for doing the HG, Ill try a few places and get the my finding on here asap

 

thanks again

Gary

[credowan]

Do these cars have water cooled oil ?

 

Thanks

Gary

[paul.h]

Sealey do a combustion leak detector kit for £70 shown in an ad in Oct 2010 Car Mechanics, part no. VS0061. It detects CO2 in the coolant header tank by sucking up the gases in to a fluid which changes colour if present. The fluid on its own is £25. Like a compression test, this will only show up head gasket failure between a cylinder and the coolant but not if just between the oil and coolant. Something else you could check for is 'mayonnaise' in the oil on the dipstick and oil filler cap which would indicate water in the oil. I am not aware of an oil cooler on the 1.4 petrol engine.