Engine oil in my coolant, no coolant in oil.

[Wharf Rat McLean]

I have been searching for the reason my new to me 98 XC V70 had oil contaminated coolant, thanx to this forum I think the mystery is solved! First off I like any other mechanic would think headgasket....S..T!!! NOOO!!! But the car is running fine no white smoke, no malted milk in the oil pan, still I didn't know. I flushed the system and gave it a little drink of liquid headgasket and said a little pray to the volvo Gods. All was well for a few weeks driving around town, not daring to hit the highway for a bit. Then I had to take a trip up north and did. No problems, did it again and again, thought I better look at the level this morning and bummed out, there it was again. I took it to a friend and fellow mechanic I know in town and lft there thinking maybe ck online and see if anyone has had trouble with the Turbos coolent getting in the via the oilfeed. Well I didn't see anything there but found out here on this forum that there's a oil cooler behind the oil pan that is most likley the culpret!! I'm doing the Jig!! Thank You Thank You Thank you! This XC is going to have a AIR COOLED OIL COOLER!!!!!!!

[pkc303]

Good for you.

[FlyingVolvo]

Hopefully that is the issue, but keep in mind, a damaged or leaky radiator can do the same thing. On that model, the coolant, oil, and transmission fluid all flow through the radiator. If any cracks develop inside the tanks, there can be mixing of fluids.

[Wharf Rat McLean]

Thanx for the info, I didn't know that they also ran the engine oil through a loop in the radiator. Strange enough to have a marine type oil cooler. I'm old school and have had a few volvos over the years, 240s, a 780 bertone, and a much missed 67 P1800. When these XCs came out I told myself I'd have one when they came down in price.

[FlyingVolvo]

Hmm.. I may be mistaken on the oil thru radiator. Wait for others to chime in!

And yeah, these cars can be a pain, but I think they're fun to work on!

[mikealder]

Auto gearbox goes through the main radiator the engine oil doesn't, it has its own oil cooler to the rear of the engine which looks like it has coolant pipes to and from it but to be honest I have never taken it off, if your car has one of these its on the back wall of the sump - Mike

[Wharf Rat McLean]

Thank you that's what I read in another post where someone had the same thing happen, that being coolant in the exspansion/ fill tank getting oil flim on the surface and after a highway trip turned to malted milk. I realy thought it was a head gasket at first but it had no coolant in the crankcase and didn't smoke at all with the telltail white sweet smelling smoke. This kind of oil cooler is used in boats. I'm just happy that I didn't pull the head and look down at the cooler from above! This forum is great and hope to help others as it sure helped me out shortly after finding it.

[Wharf Rat McLean]

UPDATE: Edward your the winner, my car has oil cooler in the left side of the radiator and a tranny cooler on the right! I still plan on pluging the feeds at the tank and running a cooler out infront of the ac condenser or down low. I'm just happy that my problem is not a head gasket. (knock on wood)

[keepersboy]

I have the exact same problem. Can you please let me know how it went adding an outside cooler? Are the oil lines going in to the radaitor on the bottom on drivers side

[misha]

...Auto gearbox goes through the main radiator the engine oil doesn't...

In fact,engine oil & transmission oil goes through the main radiator if the car is automatic & have a turbo.

If engine is not a turbo but have automatic transmission,then transmission oil goes through main radiator.