Engine Oil in Coolant

[Jamesozzy2001]

I need advice!

I have had the cylinder head pressure tested skimmed etc.. new radiator and water pump due to oil in coolant but I have still got the same problem.

Any ideas?

I own a E34 BMW 520I, 6 Cylinder, 112,000 Miles. 1988.

thanks

[bimmerd00d]

that's a blown head gasket.

[tim]

No mistaking that one

[632 Regal]

hopefully not a cracked block from some mechanic assembling the head without cleaning the cylinder head bolt holes.

[winfred]

m20 heads can crack under the cam and unless you know to look for it it's hard to find, this usually happens from overheating badly

[Jamesozzy2001]

Everything has been tested but it still does it

[Jamesozzy2001]

im not losing water, im gaining oil into water, but have had all the top of the engine of skimmed and pressure tested by a garage

[elnegro735il]

I Got The Same Problem. Rebuild The Head And It Was Ok For About 2 Weeks. The Oil In My Coolent Again... Still Don't Know Send Any Info This Way Please...735il 1989 3.5l 170000

[Kalevera]

Did whoever rebuilt the head check the block for cracks when it was apart?

It sounds like whoever did the work just put things back together incorrectly. Did the car overheat since then? Even if they used non BMW coolant...I think it'd take longer than two weeks to mess it all up again.

[Randell]

same problem here... i just kept opening the coolant resoviour every morning, scooping out the mud from the top and kept on driving... now it's stopped, but i put that down to the oil getting thicker as it's pretty old now... i'm gonna take it in for a new head gasket, but i've seen a couple of stories just like yours, now i'm a bit worried!

my mechanic said he worked on an E28 525e that had the same problem, oil in the coolant but no coolant in the oil, and that turned out to be a crack in the oil gallery (?) in the head...

mine wasn't overheating or performing badly (no smoking etc), which is why i've left it for so long.

i've also read a web page (don't have the url sorry, found it on google by typing 'E34 coolant in oil' or something like that), where the guy went to an autocross and found oil in his coolant, had the head gasket done, still had oil in the coolant, so he sucked it out with a turkey baster every morning for a month or so, and hasn't had the problem since... maybe try that, assuming you're not experiencing any negative operation of the engine

please update if you do find the cause, i for one would be very interested in knowing!

[Randell]

http://www.boston-bmwcca.org/bimmer/2001/07/head.asp

that's the link to the story i mentioned, sounds like the head gasket job did the trick, but there was just oil in the cooling system that took awhile to float to the top...