Oil in the Coolant Header Tank

Gentlemen,

I have recently purchase a 2007 Freelander 2 (96K miles) and so far it has been going like a dream. When I purchased the car (for my wife) I went through it with a fine tooth comb and drove it extensively but I missed one trivial inspection, I didn't remove the cap from the Coolant Header Tank. On checking shortly after delivery I noticed that there was oil deposit in the Header tank and removed about 1/2 cupful, the Header tank was removed and fully cleaned out. I have driven the car now for 1000 miles and there has been no sign of any further oil contamination, the Header tank has remained absolutely clean. I would be grateful for any view on this situation, I have read threads in the past to say that the engine oil cooler can fail but if this is the case surely the problem would show up again by now. The only point I can make is as follows, they gave the car a full service before delivery but on subsequent checking of the oil level, I had to remove (suck out) about a pint of oil to restore the levels to it proper level, could excess oil in the sump find its way into the cooling system ???

It may have had a leaking oil cooler prior to you buying it and what you saw was residual oil in the system that hadn't been flushed out.

I would keep an eye on both the coolant and engine oil over the next few weeks and see if further oil appears

td4van said:

It may have had a leaking oil cooler prior to you buying it and what you saw was residual oil in the system that hadn't been flushed out.

I would keep an eye on both the coolant and engine oil over the next few weeks and see if further oil appears

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+1. This happened on one of my previous vehicles and it took some time to get all the oil out of the cooling system. The oil will go to the expansion tank as this is the highest point for the system

Thanks for all the responses so far (please keep them coming). I certainly haven't seen any further signs of oil in the Header tank in the last 1000 miles so hopefully it may be just an unaccountable mystery. I plan to do a coolant system flush using the Forte Bio-Degreaser solution so anyone who has used this solution before could give me some advice on its use. I gather regular flushing solutions (ie Wynns) are not adequate for removing oily deposits.

Oil floats on/in water so I assume it does the same in coolant. Hence why it finds it's way to the top.

What colour was the oil? If clean then it's possible for someone to inadvertently put oil in the header tank by mistake. You may laugh but it does happen, and much worse!

If the oil was brown or black then as others have said. It could well be residue from a previous cooler leak.

Nodge68 said:

What colour was the oil? If clean then it's possible for someone to inadvertently put oil in the header tank by mistake. You may laugh but it does happen, and much worse!
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I work with someone who did that. Not a Freelander. :doh: