Oil in the water

**rusty998** · Friday 24th July 2009, 12:56

right then i have a 1996 N reg 2.3 T5 (b5234FT)with Oil in the water, i have been driving it for a while now like this as i does not over heat, smoke and there is no smell of antifreeze from the back, there is oil in the water but no water in the engine oil,
i have had someone say that it sounds like the oil cooler as they can crack inside and cause the oil to get into the water system,
went down to the local Volvo dealer yesterday and asked the parts guy about the oil cooler ? he could only find under (oil cooling) the thermostat housing part number 3555285199 but has know idea of where it is on the engine?
so i asked one of the technicians what he thought it might be ?
and he also came up with same conclusion seeing as the car does not over heat that it may be the oil cooler/thermostat housing but even he could not see where it fits to the engine ?
so has anyone else heard of this problem ( cracked oil cooler ) causing the oil/water issue with no over heating etc?
if so am i looking at the right part to cure this ?
and if it is where do i locate the oil cooler/thermostat housing ?
any knolwedge on this problem will be much appreciated,
cheers Alan.

**Filterlab** · Friday 24th July 2009, 13:05

Before you investigate further, have you drained the coolant and refilled with fresh? If not do that and see if the problem recurs.

**rusty998** · Friday 24th July 2009, 13:21

i have already done this but the oil came back as soon as i started driving again, the fan cuts in when it gets up to temp and cuts out with no problems, it drives fine with nothing to show that there is a problem, it's only that im always under the bonnet of my cars checking this and that and thats when i found the oil in the water, the girlfriend says i have some sort of car related O,C,D because i always have the bonnet up, dont know what she means ?

**flyingbrick** · Friday 24th July 2009, 13:30

Hi.
It will be an oil cooler related problem. There has been alot of posts on this site about this problem. Were are you in the u.k. mate...

**Tomcat** · Friday 24th July 2009, 14:00

The oil cooler is built into the radiator so you have to replace that as a full unit. You don't say if the car is auto or manual..

**rusty998** · Friday 24th July 2009, 14:01

ah, so im on the right track then thats good news, do you know where abouts on the engine the oil cooler/thermostat housing is ?
will i need any other parts to do the job ?
and im next to Heathrow Airport,
the car is an auto, just been on to another Volvo Dealers to ask about the oil cooler and they have come up with the same part as the guy showed me yesterday, the part that both the dealers came up with is number 1 in the picture part number 3528199,

the parts man said that it is the only oil cooler on my model car, the auto box cooler is in the radiator but not the engine oil cooler, this is what the dealers have come up with, the oil i have in the water is engine oil and not auto box oil, are the dealers giving me the right part ?
cheers Alan.

**jonno12** · Saturday 25th July 2009, 10:11

sounds to me like the same problem i had a while ago where the oilcooler split into the rad

**iGGy** · Saturday 25th July 2009, 18:31

Isn't part number one just the take off and return for the oil from the engine block? The oil still passes through the radiator core via the two oil lines #3.

I thought all T5 based models had engine oil cooling within the main radiator and the automatic radiator had the extra cooler built in on the opposite side for cooling the fluid.

**Diesel64** · Sunday 26th July 2009, 14:23

yup, I had exactly the same issue with my N reg 854 T5.

I replaced the radiator (about £120 through Rufe via the forums iirc) and it's been fine ever since.

The Oil cooler is on the left hand side of the radiator (as you look from the front) you'll see the large water hoses and two smaller oil hoses held on with metal clips at the top and bottom.

Mine was so far gone that you could manually move the black plastic cover these hoses go into and coolant would p*ss out where it had cracked.

Take the plunge and get it done, flush the engine out a few times and then replace your header tank (mine was grotty with oil stuck to the sides and no amount of flushing would shift it).

Hope this helps - holler if you need any more info mate.

Cheers