My brother has just checked my water coolant and he noticed ( like I did earlier on) that they is what looks like oil in the coolant tank, what is this and is it ok to drive?.

i was about to say head gasket but thats water in the oil.

not entirely sure what the cause will be but i wouldn't say its a good thing, get it checked by a mechanic asap.

Oil in the coolant normally indicates head gasket failure or a crack in the head. :(

Chris

when i take the lid off i put my finger down on the plastic lip there is a gunge of black oil. Coolant is brown colour. Ok to drive to the dealers?.

Oil in the coolant normally indicates head gasket failure or a crack in the head. :(

Chris

Someone will get a crack in the head.

when i take the lid off i put my finger down on the plastic lip there is a gunge of black oil. Coolant is brown colour. Ok to drive to the dealers?.

if it is a head gasket its fine to drive, just keep an eye on the temperature, if it starts over heating you risk warping the head. usually if you have to replace the head gasket you'll get the head skimmed anyway.

Take some water with you - keep an eye on the guage - if it starts to get hot top it up WITH ENGINE RUNNING - less chance of head problems that way.

I am usually a calm person but I am pretty angry, got rid of a decent car for a car which looks like trouble. I paid a hell of alot of money for this used 3 yr car with 2 owners and I want it right.

Take some water with you - keep an eye on the guage - if it starts to get hot top it up WITH ENGINE RUNNING - less chance of head problems that way.

Now you are making me nervous. Will have to take a day off work. :thumbdwn:

Is it a big job?

could be a failure of the oil cooler , this is cooled by the coolant , we have them go on some Ford diesel engines , can be a pain to rectify , all the pipes have to be replaced aswell as the oil cooler assembly , then the engine is run with a detergent (non-bio) in the cooling system to flush the rest of the oil out

if you continue to drive it the oil could block the radiator up and the engine will overheat , not good

My guess too is the oil cooler.

Is the car under warranty of any sort?

Regardless, needs looking at by a professional.

Bought the car on Friday,2 year warranty.

That's my guess too, if you don't use the correct coolant, G12, I believe there is some alloy bit that can corrode causing the symptons you have.

BradfordFabia brother here.the first 2 services were at a skoda independent garage and the third 1 was at the dealer where he bought it from.

could the independent garage have used the wrong coolant ?

my brother has gone to bed in a right mood,he's going to be at the dealer at 7.30 am tomorrow !!! god help them lol

Agree with all above, but don't panic yet. Did the oil suddenly appear, or was it there all along? It's not unusual for someone (including some manufacturers) to put an additive in as a pump lubricator - or even just oil, and if work has been done to the engine, oil can get into waterways. Does the system seem to pressurize and blow out from the pressure release valve? If it does then you've definately a problem, (garage can easily check rad pressures) if not then go through all other possibilities before taking out a mortgage. Are you lhaving to top up oil or water? Is there excessive steam from exhaust? Is there cream on the oil filler cap? Has the engine note changed recently with any loss of power or increase in fuel consumption? If everything else seems OK and the only problem is oil in the water filler cap then probably there's nothing wrong. Hope this turns out to be the case.

pictures from the coolant bottle.he only noticed it last night.there is no white gunge on the oil filler cap.and not smokey.he's went to the dealers 10 mins ago

Well I had a leaking oil/water heat exchanger AND a head gasket failure AND a haircrack in the block. Dunno which one failed first...

Deffo get it checked urgently, if the oil builds up too much it blocks the water circulation (believe me, I had this twice) and then you end up overheating the engine in certain places. Yes you can drive it if it's not too bad yet, but IF it overheats, turn it off, and dont drive it again ideally.

Hope you've caught it in time though

Got back from the dealers, the office staff had not turned up so the mechanics are having a look, I had to beg for a loan car. I had a new cambelt fitted thrown in with the deal.

While waiting at the dealers I was looking at a folder with use cars the dealer has for sale,my car was still in and noticed in the ad it said my car had one previous owner but in the front of the service book it has two names meaning it had TWO previous owners. Will be looking to get

I have been in touch with the previous owner and he was the second owner after buying te car from a work mate. He had no problems with the car.

That's a sickening feeling, even if there is nothing wrong with the car. I've come to hate dealers. Having said that I love my 1.4Tdi and nothing has fallen off in 80K, so here's hoping you feel better about it in a few miles time.

It should say how many previous owners are on the logbook. I'd never consider buying a car where I hadn't seen a copy of the logbook.

Stupid thing is that I looked at the log book but only at the services , but in their ad it says 1 registered owner but it is two. I might replace with a new fabia 2 1.2. I feel I have lost confidence in the car at the dealer, will be looking for a very good good will gesture.

By log book, he means the V5 registration document, it has no information regarding servicing on it, but it will tell you how many legal owners a vehicle has had!

The names are in front of the service schedule book.

Agree with all above, but don't panic yet. Did the oil suddenly appear, or was it there all along? It's not unusual for someone (including some manufacturers) to put an additive in as a pump lubricator - or even just oil, and if work has been done to the engine, oil can get into waterways. Does the system seem to pressurize and blow out from the pressure release valve? If it does then you've definately a problem, (garage can easily check rad pressures) if not then go through all other possibilities before taking out a mortgage. Are you lhaving to top up oil or water? Is there excessive steam from exhaust? Is there cream on the oil filler cap? Has the engine note changed recently with any loss of power or increase in fuel consumption? If everything else seems OK and the only problem is oil in the water filler cap then probably there's nothing wrong. Hope this turns out to be the case.

Bought the car on Friday,2 year warranty.

Think the answers to some of the questions are summarised in the statement above

Should be fine to drive it to the dealer for them to check - assume this has been done now. Await the next instalment with interest...