2004 S60 Oil Coming Out of Coolant Reservoir

tpractice · Post by **tpractice** » 04 Dec 2010, 00:41

Hello,

New member with big problem. My daughters 2004 S60 (Non-Turbo) with 80,000 miles is pushing a lot of motor oil thru the coolant reservoir. What ever happened, happened quickly as we noticed oil coming from the front of the car while running and upon investigation saw that the oil was coming from the “popped off” cap of the coolant reservoir.

This car has never leaked anything and the only warning light was the red oil warning light when we were looking at it. The car runs great, no misses or noises. I had the car towed to my mechanic who pressure test the oil cooler (passed) and noticed that when the car was running that pressure would build instantly in the coolant hoses.

Being the honest guy he is, he wanted a second opinion and contacted the premier Volvo repair shop in the county and they suggested that no work be performed as the cost of finding the problem would be expensive and even if they did find it, it might mean a new engine anyway. (Thank God for good, honest mechanics)

My question is, is there anything I need to look for less removing the head on this car as I would probably replace the motor myself. Thanks in advance.

RaymanSean · Post by **RaymanSean** » 04 Dec 2010, 05:15

If the oil cooler passed then you probably have a blown head gasket. Of course it could be that one of the oil passages has deteriorated and allowed it to communicate with the cooling system but that is unlikely. Does your oil look like coffee?

Post by **JRL** » 04 Dec 2010, 09:15

RaymanSean wrote:If the oil cooler passed then you probably have a blown head gasket. Of course it could be that one of the oil passages has deteriorated and allowed it to communicate with the cooling system but that is unlikely. Does your oil look like coffee?

Not good at all.
Head hasket at best
Probably will need a new radiator and hopefully your transmission was not comprromised by the coolant mix.
Someone needs to drain (and refill) the tranny fluid to see its condition.
Somewhere along the line it overheated

tpractice · Post by **tpractice** » 04 Dec 2010, 09:57

JRL wrote:
RaymanSean wrote:If the oil cooler passed then you probably have a blown head gasket. Of course it could be that one of the oil passages has deteriorated and allowed it to communicate with the cooling system but that is unlikely. Does your oil look like coffee?

Not good at all.
Head hasket at best
Probably will need a new radiator and hopefully your transmission was not comprromised by the coolant mix.
Someone needs to drain (and refill) the tranny fluid to see its condition.
Somewhere along the line it overheated

Thanks for the quick response. When what was left of the oil was drained, it looked like a sludge. Both of your responses sound exactly as my mechanics and the Volvo tech's answers. Looks like an engine swap. Again, thank you for the help.

RaymanSean · Post by **RaymanSean** » 04 Dec 2010, 10:37

It probably is worth the money to pull the head to see if it is just the gasket or something more sinister.

tpractice · Post by **tpractice** » 04 Dec 2010, 14:34

RaymanSean wrote:It probably is worth the money to pull the head to see if it is just the gasket or something more sinister.

Good plan. I'm kind of interested on what went wrong and like tearing apart mechanical assemblies to see how they "tick". If it wasn't for the cost, this would be pretty cool