Oil on my radiator cap seal and in the water outlet it is on.

[idkiliketurbos]

I have been noticing a little bit of oil in my coolant lately. When I take off my radiator cap there is some oil on the seal and in the outlet pipe the cap comes off of. After doing some research I have narrowed it down to the oil cooler and the turbo. The reason I don't suspect the head gasket is because the car doesn't over heat at all under any conditions. The oil cooler SOMETIMES I will notice, has a drop of green coolant on the bottom of it but not heavy enough to fall, just hanging there. The turbo is a 14b with some decent shaft play and it smokes a little bit under boost. I found out it smoked a little after I had my buddy drive the car down the street and I saw the smoke. I read up that the shaft seals on the turbo could be going bad, causing the smoking/oil getting in the coolant. I didn't notice any coolant in my oil when I changed it the other day. Any input would be great!

 

[TurboJimbo]

Since you mentioned that the turbo does have decent shaft play, that is most likely the problem...on the bright side, time for a turbo upgrade

 

[donniekak]

Pretty much impossible to get oil in the coolant from the turbo, even if it exploded. The oil cooler, from an overtightened filter, or headgasket would be my guess.

 

[idkiliketurbos]

Well would the white smoke at boost have anything to do with the oil in the coolant problem? Its not a lot of smoke, just a little bit.

 

[TurboJimbo]

I seen some crazy stuff due to turbos going bad...oil and coolant in intercooler pipes and exhausts...yes it is kinda impossible but hey, you never know, haha

 

[smrogers5771]

White smoke means COOLANT IS BEING BURNED!! id say your head gasket is TOAST.....

 

[idkiliketurbos]

So the old 14b with the shaft play is pretty much out of the picture then it sounds like. Will a compression test possibly tell me more about the head gasket then?

 

[Hesh724]

I have oil in my coolant but no coolant in my oil. No symptoms of anykind exept its hard to build boost and ther is oil in my coolant not coolant in my oil. did compression test and 175-177 on all 4. so i hope its my turbo or oil cooler. fresh head gasket too.

 

[idkiliketurbos]

Anybody else with some input?

 

[spydergotboost]

a cylinder leak down test is more accurate than a compression test.

 

[ReYnd]

How long has it been since you changed your oil filter? Over-tightening it will crush your oil cooler and all your fluids will look like chocolate milk in short order.

If you haven't disturbed the oil cooler, things are looking bad. Do compression and leak down tests if you can. White smoke may indicate that you're pushing coolant.

The least likely, but still possible, culprit is the center section of your turbo. Take it off and test it like you would an oil cooler. Plug one coolant hole and shoot air in the other while it's underwater. If you see bubbles, it's time to get rid of that sucker.

Finally, I can't stress this enough. Just baaarely over snug is fine for the oil filter. No 3/4 to 1 whole turn more. The genius I got my car from said he changed oil and everything... yeah, you know the rest of the story. Caused me so much grief. Good news is that my bearings are just a little scored, not bad enough to replace yet.

 

[idkiliketurbos]

Well I just changed my oil filter and it did have one of those fram shitty ones with the black coating on the end to turn it off by hand. I needed the oil filter clamp/wrench definatly to turn it off. The oil was dark but expected since I held off the oil change a little longer than I should have. The mobil 1 filter I put on I got it hand tight and thats all. The old filter was on there pretty tight.

 

[idkiliketurbos]

Update. My oil seems to be normal color still and there doesn't seem to be any coolant in the oil. I did notice some gross liquid in the intercooler piping though. Turbo has pretty decent side to side shaft play and same with in and out shaft play. I am still getting dirty coolant with a little bit of oil in it. I just started the car with adding more water to the coolant system and after a while it started to bubble somewhat so I put the cap back on. No over heating at all under any circumstances. Still seems to run strong and still has power. Any body have any idea's?