oil looks like milkshake

angelglo · Post by **angelglo** » 28 Sep 2005, 18:29

first off, i have a 97 850 GLT. ok, i have a milkshake consistance oil. now, i konw that my oil and water are mixing somewhere. my first guess would be the head gasket. the only problem is that there is milkshake in the overflow reseviour for the radiator also. from my understanding, the radiator is under pressure whish would cause everything to be dumped into the motor and only causeing a milkshake effect in the engine block itself. am i wrong to believe this? can someone shed some light? would there be any other problems besides a headgasket?

thanks
angel

Post by **kelvin6** » 28 Sep 2005, 21:41

My uncle's S70 recently had this problem, just fixed as a matter of fact. It was some seal, but he didn't specify. You definitly are on the right track, though. Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

850newguy · Post by **850newguy** » 28 Sep 2005, 21:53

Sounds like you do have coolant and oil mixing and circulating through your systems since the foaming is evident in both the crankcase and radiator. The headgasket is the most likely culprit, and the fact that the foam is circulating through both systems suggests that the leak is near a cylinder and between an oil and coolant passageway. I'm not a Volvo expert, but this is a common problem in many cars and you can try using Bars Leak (a cooling system internal sealant), but a head gasket (and a valve job while you're in there) are the ultimate solution.

If you try the Bars Leak treatment as a quick fix, I suggest you drain the cooling system and flush it before adding the Bars Leak, and also changing the oil when you have done that. It really sounds like you need to replace the headgasket.

JMHO

White850Turbo · Post by **White850Turbo** » 01 Oct 2005, 06:20

Whiteblocks are very solid on their head gaskets unless they overheat. The most likely culprit is the radiator. The barrier between the oil cooler and coolant part of the radiator has broken down, thus allowing the two to mix. This is not really an uncommon problem. It seems to be happening a good bit lately w/ 850's.

angelglo · Post by **angelglo** » 02 Oct 2005, 18:11

ok,
so, i guess i should first start by getting the radiator pressure checked. this would be the fastest and easiest thing to do befroe replacing the head gasket. hopefully this is the problem. one of my friends also suggested that it might be a leak in the radiatyor but i dont know of anyway to checkit while it is still all together.

angel

turbotim2 · Post by **turbotim2** » 03 Oct 2005, 06:18

If I am not mistaken, the engine oil does not pass through the radiator. The transmission fluid passes through the radiator so if your engine oil is milky it should not have anything to do with the radiator other then the fact that you can see the mix in there. My guess is head gasket.

angelglo · Post by **angelglo** » 03 Oct 2005, 12:46

can anyone else confimr this for sure? i do not know much about the volvo design so i dont konw if the there is an engine oil cooler in the radiator.

angel

slashferd · Post by **slashferd** » 03 Oct 2005, 20:46

On my 1995 850 turbo there is an oil cooler. This oil cooler is on the left side of the radiator (facing car). I had oil milkshake and feared a blown head gasket. Turned out the oil cooler had failed and anti-freeze/oil was mixing in the radiator. Drop in a new radiator. Flush engine with Dawn dishwashing soap mix, followed by prestone flush. Back in business.

angelglo · Post by **angelglo** » 03 Oct 2005, 21:51

slashford,

that is what i was hoping to hear. i will be checking that and hopefully i dont have to pull the head.

angel

angelglo · Post by **angelglo** » 04 Oct 2005, 15:48

ok,

i need to back step for a bit. i was thinking about everything that could be wrong and just thought about one of the symptoms. i recall a few days before i noticed the oil/water mixture, i rememberseeing black smoke coming from the tail pipe. i think this changes things alot. i think that it might be a headgasket. do you guys concur?

thanks
angel