EFFECT OF OIL ON HOSES

[demetris]

Just a quick though got a 4 cyl190 e 130K no idea of it's service history, drove about 2000 miles this year(pretty feeble) and the coolant level seemed to drop by about 700cl I topped up with the heater controls on sqaushed the coolant hoses until the air bubbles were gone and as suggested by haynes manual, and topped up oil too, on examining the car at night I noticed when I shone a torch on the overflow tank that there was a deposti on the side of the container looks oily.  Does anyone know if hoses are really reallyy eaten away by oil in the cooling system, can runs fine, on reaching 90 fan kicks in but I am wondering if the hoses are too hard and compression is getting in?they are squeezable but quite hard not rock hard any ideas?

 

[Andy]

Hi

Sounds like the headgasket is leaking engine oil. The oil has to have a effect on the hoses. The hoses were not designed to resist oil.

Regards

Andy@ www.mercedesservicing.com

 

[white190]

I gota agree , If you have got oily scum in your coolant it's most probably the head gasget on the way out.....
I worked for Ford for Many years... and it was nearly always the culprit.....

sorry ...bad news...

 

[demetris]

Hi there again appreciate the replies, but does anyone know for sure that if I have oil in my water that it follows I will have water in my oil?I checked the oil filler cap and it is clear no foamy mayonaisse stuff that I had on an audi that was screwed up! and the dispstick oil colour is fine, my main concern is that the hoses seem a tad hard when the engine reaches 90 and the fan kicks in, should there be a high pressure in the system or should the radiator hoses be quite hard on reaching this temp?appreciate any replies......

 

[Anonymous]

The hoses are hard because the water sstem mis being pressurised by combustion gases from the leaky gasket.   It doesn't ncessarily follow that water will be in the oil if there is oil in the water.

 

[demetris]

Thanks for the reply, i would realy like the car repaired because it is in good nick however I had a nightmare with gasket replacemnet /head shaving on my last car (an audi) that I am kind of reluctant to do it....how do I know if the block or cylinder head in not cracked?

 

[tonyd]

Demitri, Your block won't be cracked, and you will only know the extent of damage to the head when it is lifted off. With luck you will find the gasket damaged, or head is just scratched. When I had similar problems, my local garage was able to do a quick test that identified which cylinder was leaking.Good luck, Tony.
PS there are lots of threads on this, so do a search.

 

[Anonymous]

I afraid Andy is almost certainley correct , sounds like the head gasget..

why not take the oportunity to get the head off  get it skimmed and give it an over haul , regrind the valves and replace the valve stem seals and hydrolic tappets , clean out the Spray Bar , and decoke the head .

Some thing we used to do as a matter of course if a head needed skimming on one of the performance fords where I used to work.

At least you'll know the top end of the engine is good then.....also give you the oportunity to inspect the Cam shaft for wear.....

All of those jobs except the skimming can be done by a competant Home Mechanic...... and saves alot of money as well.........

One last thing .. check the water pump housing for leaks Before spending out on big money..

I remember One occasion where we had a Cosworth RS500 to repair with the same fault (oil in the water) , assumed it was the head gasget and changed it. but the fault still appeared ... turned out that there was a small leak in the water pump and a slight dent in the suface on the rocker cover.... basically when the water cooled down and created a slight vacuum and sucked in the oil that had been leaking from the rocker cover.....one of the most bizzare things that was....

Any way I ramble too much.

Check the water pump....just in case.....I still recon its the head gasget though....

 

[demetris]

thanks for all the replies looks like I will have to take it to my mechanic after all....as I a far froma competent mechanic DIYer