Hi,

Looking for some advice on this, please. We have a 2009 TDi with about 80k, FSH, mostly driven on motorways (and not driven hard).

Soon after its recent MOT, the oil warning and coolant light came on. When I checked, the coolant was full of oil. Took it to the local Skoda garage ... after a lot of tests, nothing wrong could be found and they put a repair liquid through the system, then flushed it all out several times. They seem confident it's cured the problem, but the coolant is still black! The garage say it is impossible to get all of the oil out, and while I appreciate it is hard to get it all out, surely there must be ways? Also, if we want to p/ex the car in the future, no one is going to buy it with black coolant ... any suggestions?

I'd also be interested in Indy recommendations in the north west (Manchester to Chester corridor).

Thanks in advance

It will have to be drained and flushed through until it becomes clean. I have heard in the past of people putting washing up liquid in with plain water (running engine for a short while) and then draining it off.  I have never done it so cannot comment.  Just make sure your anti freeze strength is correct before winter.

 

Now down to the crux of the problem.  Where did the oil come from. I would have some more investigations done, try a local independent skoda specialist rather than a main dealer this time and see what they say, if there is a large amount of oil it must have come from somewhere (headgasket ?)

It could be a faulty oil cooler,this could cause the fault you have described. 

Oil cooler? The oil is cooled by the regular water coolant. Not unknown.

If you are planning to keep the car, then it's best to keep flushing the coolant side until it is clean. Even small amounts of oil will degrade the rubber in any hoses.

I don't know if there are any specialist flushers for this.

Thanks for the replies

Skoda had the car for over a week and said they'd ruled out the oil cooler. The head gasket was never mentioned, but this is clearly a concern for us. There is no 'smoke' when driving at all and in every other way the car seems fine.

Definitely worrying!

Sorry, meant to add, is flushing the coolant a DIY job? Thanks!

Dishwasher tablets! Crumble them up and put them and in drive for 5 miles. Drain then repeat if necessary. Had brilliant results myself.

Sorry, I also meant to ask ...

What sort of test would/could the Skoda garage done to see if the oil cooler was at fault? Is it possible to eliminate it from possible causes with a test they would routinely do? They have said they've tested it and can find no fault - need to know what this means just in case other options might be available. Indy has suggested this to be most likely cause.

Thanks in advance

The oil cooler is a weak point on older PD170 engines. Mine went and I too had the issue of black sludge in my coolant.

 

You don't mention which engine you have but on a 2009 it is unlikely to be the PD170.

 

Still, this might make for interesting reading...

 

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/249569-oil-in-coolant/

Thanks silver! Makes for interesting reading ...

I guess I need to know what the dealership might have tested and how ... they said they tested the oil cooler and no fault found but would they routinely pressure test? That's thr question, as if we go to an Indy, that's what they're going to want to change first, and it isn't cheap! They used a 'sealant' and think it's solved, even though the coolant is like black Quink ink!!!

I had a similar problem on a mk2 passat ,tried a lot of different products but a pint of traffic film remover added to the coolant and a 10 mile blast down the motorway cleared all the crap out.

Thanks Roman! I will look into doing this (or something similar) over the weekend Time to check out how easy it might actually be to drain/change the coolant myself!