So originally I had thought the reason that my coolant was discolored and oily was because my transmission cooler in the radiator had broken. This is unfortunatly not what I belive to be the problem anymore. After I reaplace the radiator and flushed the coolant, I found out that I was still getting oil in the coolant. I am left with the following questions..

Is it possible that I would have oil in my coolant but no coolant in my oil?

Could the oil and coolant be mixing in the turbocharger instead of the head gasket? (broken center section?)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

Did you just drain the coolant, or did you literally flush the system with clean water? Reason I ask, is that when you just drain it, there will still be a certain quantity of old coolant left in the system. And if there is any oil present (from the possibly shot radiator), you might still see traces of oil after refilling with new coolant.

Just an idea.

Erling.
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My 240 Page

hi
just do a compresion test on each cyclinder it will tell u straight away or pull the plugs with head gaskets if it has gone there will be water on the plugs takes about 15 mins top

The newer B230FT engines ('93+??) have a liquid cooled heat exchanger for the oil cooler. I don't think the '89 turbo cars had any connection between the oil cooler/radiator and cooling system.

If it is the headgasket and you have any mechanical ability, it really isn't that hard of a job. A "big job" with some pitfalls but if you follow the direcitons in the FAQ, it's a piece of cake.

Good luck,
Bean
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'80 242GT 93k, '94 945T 139k, '89 765T 68k (new '94 B230FT)

But I am pretty sure headgasket is by far most likely. Pull spark plugs and look at each. Get a compression test. A headgasket is not so bad a job, really. Cost depends on head damage.

the engine oil cooler might have blown, also. that tank looking thing where the oil filter screws onto. vw had had a problem with that. never seen a volvo blow 1, but i wouldn't be suprised, either. good luck, chuck.

How does coolant interface with the oil by the oil filter? I had the impression that the oil was pumped through a small oil cooler next to the radiator. Is this not the case?

http://www.jennifertrade.com/picture/068%20117%20021B.jpg


this link shows a vw cooler similar to the 1 on the later cars. this is not on your car but hopefully you'll understand what i was lying about, i mean confusing you with. again, my apologies, chuck.

my bad-it's the later cars that have 1 i'm talking about. didn't notice the 1989 you posted. i think it's 91 or 92 they started that.

you have a seperate radiator next to the cooling rad. sorry to mislead. good luck, chuck.

Both of those are possible, i picked up a car a few months ago whos owner blew the head gasket and he had not water in the oil nor any oil in the water, so anythings possible it just depends on where the gasket blew and how bad. it is possible your turbo is leaking also but i would invetigate the head gasket before that. For someone whos donw a head gasket before changing them on these car's isnt really all that hard, if you havent done it before this is the car to do your first one on, the FAQ has GREAT instruction's on DIY, i recomend if your up to the task you read them and have fun, i used them my first time, now i can replace the gasket in a matter of a few hours.

I suppose, with 150,000 + miles on the car, its probably needs a valve job? When do these cars usually need them? I know I could just check the compression but I was just wondering when these cars were usually ready for a valve job.

It wouldnt hurt any, i just picked up a complete refurb head off Ebay for $250 including shipping, valves were redone the whole shabang, i just needed to add the front seal., i would do a valve job on any head i put on if i plan on running the car for more then 50K with the head i put on, I believe it cost's more to have your own head machined so if you can find a deal like i did go for it. i typicly dont have the cash to hand over for head machining and have done just normall head swap's until i picked up that head from ebay, i have yet to ever have any problem's but as always the recomendations for sanding and machining have good merit as you could increase your chance of having a problem if you dont, its all up to the person doing it and if you can afforde to what is recomended.

When you do your head-gaskets, do you finish the head before doing it like the FAQ article suggests ? If so what do you use ? The FAQs mention a jidder bug. What the heck is it ?

My head has no warpage at all, so I wasn't planning on machining it - just on achieving this very-slightly-rough finish. Is this a good idea (not machining it) ?

Thanks !

Typicly for me i just clean the head up as best as possible with gasket cleaner and a metal putty knife ( if you use one be carefull not to scratch the alum head ) and i do the same with the block, be carefull not to get the gasket cleaner/remover on anything else as it may eat it up. once done if no warpage of the head you should be able to reassemble with no ill effect's just follow the tourqe specs to a T which are listed in the FAQ. thats what i have done, people do it all different ways.

That's exactly what I was originally planning on doing (minus the finishing sanding too) except for using a bunch of old credit cards instead of a metal putty knife. Tougher to do - but guaranteed not to scratch the surface.

Glad to know it's worked for others before using the method myself.

The 'jitterbug" is a small orbital sander. Sometimes called a palm sander or random-orbit sander. Basically an electric buzzy thing that'll give a decent finish on the aluminum free of any gouges, lines, or scratches.

I can't believe that any of these solutions is equal to having the head machined however. Cheaper certainly, but how much will it cost to do the job AGAIN?

With this scale of a job you want to do it right the first time.
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Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: '87 244DL/M47- 234K, '82 245T/M46-182K, '89 244DL/AW70- 212K Not too distant past: 86 244DL 215K, 87 244DL 239K, 88 744GLE 233K, 88 244GL 147K, 91 244 183K

The FAQs article recommends finishing via a belt-sander or a jitterbug in addition to getting the head machined. Hence my curiosity.

Myself, I would lap it flat on a large oily piece of 600 grit sandpaper on top of a granite table. You want to lessen or eliminate those tiny machine grooves left by flycutting, each one of them is a tiny scratch waiting to form into a crack when heat and stress are applied.

Take a large chocolate bar and on the smooth bottom, scribe a jagged scratch across it with your fingernail. It doesn't even have to be deep. Then, briskly snap the bar, and watch where it breaks. You'll get the idea.
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80 262C Coupe- (FSO black, M46, original) 82 244GLT- (auto)