Oil in Water Tank

rosiesposies

Car wouldnt start had AA out, water tank filled with oil but AA says its the starter motor.
he drained water tank and flushed with kettle water, said should be ok
had starter motor replaced on weekend by local garage.
AA suggested that the oil could be headgasket.
I need a full service and MOT so wanted to brace myself for the cost if anyone has any help.
cam belt and water pump will also need doing.
quoted £375 for the service, mot and cam/waterp.
but wanted to get idea of cost for HG
Its a 206 estate 52 plate 50k on the dot on the clock.

marlot

I can only think of three ways for oil to be in the water
1. someone has accidentally put oil into the wrong filler
2. a car with a combined oil cooler/radiator has a leak [usually a car with auto transmission]
3. the headgasket has failed

Note that oil takes forever to get out of the water system once it is in there - oil and water do not mix, and the oil will tend to float on top.

mattyprice4004

Could be head gasket, the oil could have risen to the highest point in the system (the header tank).

Not a cheap job, £500 for an MOT and the service will seem quite inviting.

If it is the head gasket, most garages tend to charge around £500 for the job, plus of course the cambelt if it needs doing plus the MOT etc.

rosiesposies

how much am i looking at to get the headgasket replaced as well?

colino

The AA man fitted a new starter motor on a car with a header tank full of oil? What type of car is it and how old before you potentially continue throwing good money after bad.

rosiesposies

no not the aa man. i took it to my local garage one the aa got it started and the local garage replaced it.
the aa man flushed the header tank as it was filled with oil, but it wasnt mayo'd in any way. i have no other problems with it, no rough running, no overheating. aa man said it could be head gasket but also said it hadnt been serviced in ages and it couldve been topped up with oil in wrong tank like a poster has said above.
I guess ill have my local guy look again but wanted to know what to expect ££ wise.

rosiesposies

woops edited my problem! 52 plate 206 SW petrol manual.
50K on the clock.

rosiesposies

wee twist to this now, drove down the garage, put pet in and lifted the bonnet sure enough water tank filled with oil.
but checked the oil and there is no coolant in it leading me to believe its not the HG??
no overheats and no running rough either.
hmmmm....

fivetide

If it turns out not to be the HG - Do these have an oil cooler? If so it could be that.

Alternatively, Peugeot used to have liners in the engine, piston runs in a liner with oil on one side and water on the other so a crack in that could cause this. No idea if it is the case on your car though.

Beyond that some sort of other leak between an oil and waterway.

A quick google search says it seems to be fairly common though!

Good luck!

5t.

mattyprice4004

rosiesposies wrote: »

how much am i looking at to get the headgasket replaced as well?

See my earlier post