1998 S70-oil in water, water in oil

[j-dawg]

Ken..my 1999 T5 manual did not have connectors on the radiator for the transmission oil cooler..I wonder if that radiator of yours is a replacement?

as a note on this many moons later, the parts sites and dealers i consulted told me that the 99+ T5 radiator was identical for automatics and manuals, and installations into manual cars should just leave the oil cooler lines open.

it's possible that this is a more recent development which volvo implemented to simplify the parts stream. for what it's worth, FCP only stocks the Nissens radiator with trans cooler taps, and the same instructions are given.

ken, be aware - the pan-integrated cooler is fed, i believe, by two taps off the hard line that also feeds the turbo. i don't think earlier cars have these.

[phils94850]

The tan color at the bottom of the dipstick is common on Volvo if you do a lot of short trip type driving due to condensation. As far as oil in the reservoir are you sure the coolant system was flushed and cleaned when he did the headgasket it could be just left over oil residue building up in the tank. Does the car overheat? Are you losing coolant? If neither is happening I would try flushing out the cooling system and go from there.

[abscate]

Ken..my 1999 T5 manual did not have connectors on the radiator for the transmission oil cooler..I wonder if that radiator of yours is a replacement?

as a note on this many moons later, the parts sites and dealers i consulted told me that the 99+ T5 radiator was identical for automatics and manuals, and installations into manual cars should just leave the oil cooler lines open.

it's possible that this is a more recent development which volvo implemented to simplify the parts stream. for what it's worth, FCP only stocks the Nissens radiator with trans cooler taps, and the same instructions are given.

ken, be aware - the pan-integrated cooler is fed, i believe, by two taps off the hard line that also feeds the turbo. i don't think earlier cars have these.

My original 1999 T 5 radiator had no transmission cooler attachments, but my replacement did, I just left them open.

If the turbo casting were cracked, wouldn't it show up on the cooling system pressure test?

[Cincyken]

I have now completed the flushing of the cooling system (no sign of oil in coolant). The coolant was very oily when i flushed it. It is hard for me to beleive all that oil was residual from after the head gasket and radiator were replacement because i know it was flushed after the repair...but i have been wrong before.
I will drive the car for a couple days, if the oil returns to the coolant, it will be time to go to the next step.

[mecheng]

I have now completed the flushing of the cooling system (no sign of oil in coolant). The coolant was very oily when i flushed it. It is hard for me to beleive all that oil was residual from after the head gasket and radiator were replacement because i know it was flushed after the repair...but i have been wrong before.
I will drive the car for a couple days, if the oil returns to the coolant, it will be time to go to the next step.

Are you sure it is engine oil. Prestone has an oily feel to it as does some other coolants.

[Cincyken]

yep, it be oil in my coolant.

[Cincyken]

As a freind of mine said, you may have done a piss poor job of flushing the cooling system when you replaced the radiator and head gasket. Why did he say that? He has been the service manager of a local VW dealer for 30 years and convinced me to do one more test before i took the engine back apart.
He is what he wanted me to do:
Put my pressure gage on the coolant resevoir.
Run the engine till it is completely warmed up.
Turn off the engine, and watch the pressure gage (not for 10 minutes like i did but for 2 hours).
I did and these are the results
Engine turned off - pressure is 12 psi
after 30 minutes - 10psi
after 1 hour - 8 psi
after 1-1/2 hours - 6psi
after 2 hours - 6psi
I then went even longer..and after 3 hours - 5 psi.
Now, what's the point? If i still have a leak allowing oil to get into my coolant, how can the system be soooo tight?
The last time i flushed the coolant it looked like the Ohio river after a heavy rain (tan).
I guess i need to do alot more flushing...as he said, it takes a while to get all that oil out after it gets in the coolant.
Time to do more flushing.

[Cincyken]

I know it took me a long time to get back to y'all with the outcome.
History:
Oil in the coolant, coolant in the oil.
1. Replaced the head gasket....no change
2. replaced the radiator...no change
3. Did a 3 hour coolant pressure test and after 3 hours i still had 5 lbs pressure.
4. Replaced the turbo with a rebuilt spare i had...no change.
5. Pulled the head again, had it pressure tested, and it passed. The shop said it had a slight warpage (.005"), so they milled the head. Replaced the head gasket with a genuine Volvo head gasket.
6. flushed the system, changed the oil.
7. One week later, brown blops of oil stared to show up in the resevoir. The bottom of the dip stick was tan.
8. Drained the oil and there was coolant present.
9. Conclusion...somehow, i had a cracked block.
10. sold the car to a friend of mine who is an auto mechanic and loves a challenge.
PS, it was a great car, but at 67 i dont have the energy to replace an engine.

[mecheng]

Shit buddy, that is a lot of work for nothing. I feel for you. I haven't heard about too many cracks in these blocks. If a car lead me astray as much as that I would have sold it as well before cursing it to no end.
How much mileage did it have? Did you move on from Volvo?

[Cincyken]

My S70 had 240,000 on it. I still have my 1995 T5-R