Thread: Oil in coolant?

Took a look into my coolant resorvoir today and noticed there is a bunch of oil and sludge built up in it. Any idea what would be causing this and how quick should I get it fixed?

If you're using dexcool, it could just be dexcool sludge instead of oil.

Flush your coolant and see if that clears it up.

Originally Posted by Explicit_Spade

If you're using dexcool, it could just be dexcool sludge instead of oil.

Flush your coolant and see if that clears it up.

It may have been Dexcool, it looked a lot like oil though and it kind of made me wonder what was going on. You think I could do a flush at my house on my own or should I take it to a shop?

If you think your up the the task of flushing your own coolant, go ahead and do it. Its really not that hard.

Another possible problem is maybe the trans coolers side tank cracked and is leaking trans fluid in the coolant.

But I'd flush it out first and see whats going on.

Originally Posted by Fivefingerdeathpunch

If you think your up the the task of flushing your own coolant, go ahead and do it. Its really not that hard.

Another possible problem is maybe the trans coolers side tank cracked and is leaking trans fluid in the coolant.

But I'd flush it out first and see whats going on.

It's not the trans tank, I'm positive of that. I'll try doing a flush on my own tomorrow and see how it goes. Thanks for the help guys!

Trans tank?

What 5F was refering to was the transmission cooler, which is housed inside of the radiator. Over time, the lines crack and can cause trans fluid to get into coolant and vice versa.